When we arrived we funneled into the interactive Learning Center;  this room was especially impressive with brightly colored wall paintings and materials used for visiting school children. Weekly, the Trust works with visiting school children to educate them on local conservation issues. Pupils get to see the animals that are being rehabilitated, walk the nature trails, and even visit the beach and learn about ocean ecology and conservation. For schools that cannot afford to visit the Center, the Trust goes out on Thursdays and Friday and brings the education to the children.

In the educational outreach, children learn about how all things in nature are connected and what negative impact human development can have on the primates of Diani Beach. They learn that by cutting down trees, primates like the colobus have nowhere to live and can more easily get hit by cars and electrocuted by power lines.  The primates that are being rehabilitated at the Trust are mainly orphans that have lost their parents to such accidents.

Besides environmental education, the Trust makes it a point to talk to the children about the illegal keeping of wildlife as pets. This has proven to be a very productive act as it has opened up communication with children who know neighbors who have pet primates. Not only is the Trust then able to rescue and rehabilitate more primates, but children can feel like they had a part in making a difference. Another bonus benefit of outreach education!

After the Interactive Learning Center, we took a walk in a Coral Rag Forest. We learned how the strength of a tree is highly dependent on the other trees surrounding it creating a strong web of root systems to hold it strong, and how the trees provide more than just homes for primates, but also sources of water, and travel above and away from ground predators.  We were amazed at how cool it felt under the shaded canopy of the forest. Diani Beach is a hot and humid place but it felt tolerable and even comfortable under the trees.  Our guide reminded us that if Diani Beach continues to develop and cut down trees, life with out shade will not only be very miserable but we will eventually change the region into a desert environment; no longer a thriving environment for wildlife OR people.

Our guide named Peter, who has been with the Colobus Trust for 5 years now, explained some of the other community projects the organization has initiated. Bridges above roads have been built to act as safe cross walks for primates in an attempt to decrease road accidents.  PVC piping has been cut to cover electrical lines to lessen electrocution. Weekly, volunteers find and remove snare traps from the forest.  A current project of growing a “tree corridor” for arboreal animals to safely travel above busy shopping areas is also in the works; nine hundred trees have already been planted and two thousand more are being prepared for the next rainy season.

The Colobus Trust works strictly off support from volunteers, donations and guided eco-tours.  So, if you ever find your self in Diani Beach, or looking for a place to donate your time while enjoying white sandy ocean beaches and friendly passionate people, the Colobus Trust is a perfect choice. Check it out at www.colobustrust.org

Jeremiah Muramba

Jeremiah Muramba is a resident of Bore, making his living from small-scale farming and devoting his spare time to helping with efforts to reforest the area.  As he puts it, his role is to make sure the existing forest and newly-planted saplings cannot be destroyed, either wilfully or accidentally.  One of the main ways in which this is achieved is the creation of firebreaks around the perimeter of the forested area.  In other words, shrubs and bushes in this area are completely removed, leaving a section of bare earth which is less likely to catch fire than dry vegetation; this means that even if a fire takes hold near the forest, there is a barrier to help keep it from spreading quickly into the forest itself.

The other major way in which Jeremiah and other community members concerned for the future of the forest help to safeguard its future is through education.  Conservation of the forest is an important part of the syllabus in the local primary school, and Jeremiah feels it is important for this to remain the standard, as it seems that the younger the people, the more accepting they are of being told how to manage and care for their environment.  However, adult education is also something that is taken seriously by everyone involved in the reforestation effort, with Jeremiah and his friends taking every opportunity to remind people of the importance of the forest for their livelihoods and survival.

Some 400 residents of Bore rely on the water from one river for all their water needs – drinking, cooking, washing, and watering crops.  The river is only usually full in May and November, and water levels fall quickly during the dry season. This year, there has been less rainfall than usual, so the river didn’t even fill in May, and the community is struggling for water. The forest acts as water catchment, so the bigger the area covered by trees, the longer the water would last each year before people had to start making the six kilometre journey to the next nearest source of water.  Whereas before the reforestation project started, people would cut down trees to make charcoal or for firewood, they now have an understanding of the consequences of doing so; namely, loss of the water so desperately needed to keep their crops alive and their families and animals watered and cleaned. They also have an incentive to nurture the saplings planted in the area, as they can sell the fruits of trees such as cashews and mangoes.

The community's water source.

Though it is clear that the community itself is having a strong influence on the fortunes of Bore’s forest, Jeremiah was also keen to emphasise the benefits of having support from Treeflights , the carbon-offsetting company used by the Handshake to offset the carbon from volunteer and staff flights and emissions from the truck and generator.  As well as providing seedlings of indigenous trees and putting up funds for the purchase of land on which to plant them, the organisation enabled the local school to have solar power, allowing lessons to continue even when it is dark, and giving the teachers better communication with the world outside Bore, as they are now able to keep their mobile phones charged.

With continued support from members of the community and from Treeflights, Jeremiah hopes that the reforestation project will continue to benefit Bore as a whole; not just the people, but the ecosystem and animals within it as well.

Baboon on the Cape Peninsula.

An article on the BBC News website on 25th August 2010 had the headline “The criminal baboons terrorising South Africa”, and goes on to describe the baboons of the Cape Peninsula as “intruders”.  This got us at the Handshake thinking about the now-widespread problem of human-wildlife conflict, and the rights and wrongs of criminalising the animals involved.

When you consider the fact that human-wildlife conflict is worsening because of the explosion in human populations all over the world, it seems grossly unfair to label the baboons in the Cape as “intruders”, when as a matter of fact, it is humans that originally encroached on the baboons’ natural habitat.  Last year, the Great Primate Handshake reported on Bart the baboon, a rogue male who left his troop and, instead of finding a place in a new troop of baboons, made his home on the campus of Cape Town University, living on food stolen from bins and shopping bags, and eventually being tagged for euthanasia when the authorities decided he posed a risk to people.

Bart’s story captured the imagination of many people around the world, with petitions being set up to spare him from death.  Many people in the UK were outraged at the thought of an animal being killed just because it’s a slight nuisance to humans, but would we have this attitude if the “problem” animal was raiding our bins and making a mess of our carefully planned towns?

After two babies were attacked by an urban fox in London last year, some people called for a cull of foxes in towns and cities, and others reported that they sometimes set fox traps to combat the problem of foxes coming into their gardens or even their homes.  However, fox attacks are extremely rare, while attacks by domestic dogs number in the thousands every year in the UK.

Another “problem” animal in the UK is the seagull, which hit headlines in June 2010 for disrupting mail deliveries in Devon, as seagull parents tried to protect their fledglings after they fell from rooftop nests.  The Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs can issue licences to cull problem seagulls, and few people seem to be upset by this idea.  Perhaps we would feel differently if the animal concerned was a hornbill in Africa or a kakapo in New Zealand; does this make us hypocrites?

Should we criminalise animals that are just trying to survive in a world to which we have made irreversible changes?  Why do we feel strong emotions about the death of attractive, exotic animals and detachment from the fates of our own native species?  What do you think can be done to ameliorate the effects of human-wildlife conflict as it becomes progressively more common with the growth of human populations?

The meal included authentic Kenyan chicken wings, goat, chapatti’s, rice and number different varieties of vegetables. A number of the volunteers have dietary requirements but this proved to be no problem for Ombaye who took this into account and still prepared a fantastic meal. To conclude the feast, the volunteers were treated to two beautiful cakes hand crafted by the host himself. A laughter filled night was had by all and it was a great opportunity to experience a traditional Kenyan meal within a local home. Every volunteer felt privileged to be invited by Ombaye and his entire family, spending the evening in their company and feasting on the delightful food they had prepared. Everyone invited was definitely a fan of Ombaye’s food and will become followers of his facebook page which a link can be located at the bottom of the page.

As a thank you gesture, Ombaye came and said a final goodbye to Laurence and the volunteers at the Karen Camp. We presented him with a framed picture of everyone at the meal. Thankfully, he brought a delightful chilli chocolate cake and a currant sponge to once again spoil everyone.

Click Here to visit Ombaye’s Facebook Fan Page.

The research team and 3 members of the video team were given the opportunity to accompany two researchers who were studying the Blue Monkeys located in the area. This allowed the Handshake volunteers to study both the animal and how the researchers go about gathering information.

On a hot Friday afternoon, the volunteers entered the rainforest along with the researchers. First the researchers underlined what type of information they usually gather. DNA is collected from faeces in the hope of determine the genetics of juveniles. This is collected as a study which aims to find out if alpha males are the only males within groups to breed. The results which have been collected over time have come to the conclusion that this depends on group size. If the alpha male is the head of a small group with limited females, he will usually only have breeding rights. If the group is large, he won’t usually be able to satisfy all his females and therefore beta males will gain the opportunity to breed. Other information which is collected includes confrontations between different groups, diet preference and general behaviour.

To aid the collection of data, the researchers use high tech equipment such as GPS. They mark out their journey through the forest.  When they spot groups or certain behaviours they record the location. When the researchers come across a group they will firstly mark down the individuals who can be seen. This allows them to make sure that none of the individuals have succumbed to predation or disease. Predators include eagles and dogs. Any noticeable behaviour is also marked down.

Inter Group Encounter’s (IGE’s) are also monitored. These moments are extremely important to researchers as they show the behaviour when two opposing groups of animals confront each other. Interestingly females and juveniles perform most of the fighting or physical contact. Alpha males often stand by and watch the altercations. After the fighting has taken place, grooming will often occur so any injuries can be tended to.

The location of the groups can be relatively easy to determine as blue monkeys have around 10 different vocalisations. These are often mimicked by the researchers so they can establish the where about of the animals. Females are followed by the researchers. An individual is often picked out and followed for around 30 minutes, up to 10 different females are tracked each day and their behaviour recorded.

The two researchers, Mildred and Calub, accompanied the volunteers into the rain forest. Mildred who has grown up in the local area, now has a career conserving the forest and its organisms. She has witnessed poaching within her community and this has spurred her to involve herself within the field of conservation. She worked educating the local community on primates until her potential was spotted by a visiting professor who asked her if she would like to be involved in the research of Blue Monkeys. The research performed by the pair and the entire research group at Kakamega is extremely important as it is sent to the Columbia University in America for analysis. Apart from the handshake volunteers, they will often be accompanied by students from the university who travel to Kenya to see the data that has been collected and studied first hand.

After around 2 hours of observing the Blue Monkeys, the volunteers left the researchers to study the primates further. With a wide array of intresting video, the team left with large amounts of content which would make up some the Handshakes educational videos. The research team on the other hand gained an insight into primate behaviour and how professional researchers approach their work.

For much of us that live either in North America or Great Britain clean water is simply at our disposal. With the turn of the tap we are able to drink, clean, and cook to our hearts desire. Maybe even take a ten minute shower or a nice bubble bath.

Here in rural Kenya, the idea of clean water is different. For many people it can mean walking miles to fill a container or resorting to nearby streams.

Just outside of Ol Pejeta conservancy in Kenya lives a group of woman working tirelessly to source their own fresh water. Coming from four surrounding villages, these two hundred and seventy woman gather on the 15th of every month to further their cause. They call themselves The Irura Woman’s Self Help Group.  Irura, being the village where the group meets is joined with the others from the villages of Mburugutia, Wem-ini, and Matanya. Through a process called “rain harvesting” the woman have been able to provide their families and neighbors with fresh water without having to resort to a less favorable option of the nearby river which can carry disease such as Typhoid.

The materials needed for rain harvesting are simple: an iron roof, a simple drain system,  and a water tank. The process is simple as well; fill up during the rainy season and save as much as possible for the dry season. Yet the complication sets in when funding for the materials are hard to come by. Needing metal sheets and larger run off containers (The preferred size holds 2500 liters), the woman devised a project proposal to help them find financial support to further their progress.  In 2007 the project applied for a grant from Ol Pejeta conservancy as well as gifted eleven tanks from Water Resources Management Authorities. On their own income, the group has been able to pool together enough to purchase a total of forty tanks between the villages, as well as replace the roofs on twenty homes from straw thatch to the iron material needed for proper rain run off.

Although this group has proved successful in their efforts, they are not yet complete in their broader mission to help their community. Twenty more homes need new tin roofs as well as water tanks. But they are adamant in continuing their mission to aid the most in need members of the villages. People suffering from AIDs are helped first, then the old, widowed and single mothers are cared for as well.  If any person in the community cannot donate to the monetary pool each month, no questions are asked and they will still receive a new roof and water tank. It has become apparent that these women are doing more than water conservation; they are out to heal and nurture their fellow neighbors. With clean water they can do more than cook and wash-the sick can be properly cared for and vegetable gardens can flourish year round even during the dry season.

Today the woman of the group are still working to find ways to pay for their water conservation project. They have added costs of yearly renewal fees from the water Resources Management Authorities and continue to need materials. They hope that their story can help inspire others to donate to their cause.  With more funding there is opportunity to expand their aid to more communities and educate other villages on rain harvesting.

This grassroots project is a prime example of how the efforts of local people can grow to impact an entire community.

For more information on community programs supported by Ol Pejeta conservancy and how you can help donate to important causes like this one, please follow the link.

The tree planting site

Kakamega rainforest is all that remains of a vast rainforest that stretched over Kenya and into Uganda; it is now only 230 square km in size. Much of the rainforest has been destroyed in order to utilise the land for financial gain, farming being the main economic benefit for local people.

KEEP (Kakamega Environmental Education Program) has created a sub project called the Forest Again project. The primary aim of the project is to get local people involved in the restoration of their rainforest. The livelihood of the 57 villages around Kakamega forest are being improved through restoring their natural habitat. As well as being a very positive initiative for local people due to the financial rewards, the Forest Again project is also helping to sequester carbon from the atmosphere and retain it in the trees to tackle climate change.By creating wildlife corridors between the fragmented parts of the rainforest (Kakamega, Ikuywa and Yala) the Forest Again project is also looking after already depleted biodiversity.

The project has been running for 4 months and 75000 trees have been planted so far. The research into the project has been running since 2008, where there was an in depth look at the areas proposed for reforestation. Many issues had to be taken into consideration. Firstly the areas would have to be within the national forest boundary and devoid of forest; this is to ensure correct reforestation. Another point was that no evictions should take place. If evictions took place there would be a backlash from the community and the whole project would suffer. There have been cases in other countries where national park protection has involved the removal of communities from their ancestral land. In Kalimantan in Borneo, for example, entire communities were relocated in order to provide safe areas for wild life. As aforementioned, the areas were also to be used as natural wildlife corridors to connect the main forest patches. Finally sites must be close enough to the established nurseries in order for the workers to be able to monitor and transport seedlings from nursery to reforestation area.

Group of Forest Again workers.

Four questions were posed to some of the workers at the Kakamega reforestation area. From the interviews with the workers it was clear that they thought the project was a vital part of their lives, as their earnings allowed them to purchase sheep, pigs and in one case Philice Ashiola bought materials for dress making. They were very excited about the project but were afraid of the possibility of outsiders taking their jobs. The workers spoken to were all from the local area and had no jobs prior to working on the reforestation project.  Geoffery Anyika said that there were many benefits from the project including less hunger and an increase of income from the ability to buy sheep and pigs. Their hopes for the future were that the project would continue to bring more money to the community so that they could educate their children and continue to fund their own personal businesses.

From this it is possible to see that the reforestation of the area looks very possible, with such support from local communities there is an outcry for these projects to continue. A knock on effect should soon be seen from these communities, more trees being planted, more carbon stored, increased biodiversity and increased wealth in the area.

Fred Shisanya treating a child for jiggers.

In 2005, a small group of people in Kakamega East District formed the Community Health Volunteers Initiative, having noticed that many in their community were struggling with HIV and AIDS and needed help to cope with their situation.

The group began by visiting homes around the district and offering support, medication and food to those in need, but in the process of doing so, realised there were many other problems facing the community.  One such problem was a parasitic infection known as jiggers which is caused by fleas burrowing under the skin and sucking the blood, usually starting in the feet or hands, and spreading over the body if left untreated.  Jiggers cause severe itching and pain, swollen and misshapen limbs, disability (as the pain can make walking difficult or impossible), anaemia or even death, as the anaemia allows opportunistic infections to attack the immune system.  Aside from the physical symptoms, jiggers cause social problems such as poor school peformance or truancy, family separation, mental illness and stigma.

Many households in Kakamega East District are affected by jiggers due to poor hygiene practices.  The average income for a family in the area is around 2000KSh per month, and this just doesn’t stretch to things like soap, washing powder or new clothes and bedding, especially when many families have six or seven children to feed.  In addition to this, many people keep their cows, pigs or chickens in their houses with them at night to avoid having them stolen, and this introduces more fleas and dirt into the home.

A child's foot with severe jiggers.

The Handshake Research team was given the opportunity to go out with volunteers from the Community Health Volunteers Initiative as they visited households to administer treatment for jiggers.  Fred Shisanya, the chairman of the organisation, treated a family of nine by washing their feet with soap and water, then mixing a solution of potassium permanganate, in which they soaked their feet for 15 minutes.  After this treatment, it takes about two weeks for the jiggers to completely disappear from the skin, and this can be a permanent cure if hygiene practices improve.  Fred also sprayed inside the family’s house with the potassium permanganate solution, and spoke to them about the importance of sweeping and cleaning more regularly.

An example of the hygiene conditions that can lead to jigger infestations.

As well as visiting individual homes to offer treatment for jiggers, the organisation is sometimes able to afford to hire a vehicle and gather people in larger numbers in a school or church, in order to treat more people at once.  Treatment for 100 people costs around 500 shillings, and hiring a vehicle is also expensive, so it is not often that the organisation is able to reach this many people at once, as they rely solely on donations from well-wishers.  Fred’s dream is for donations to increase enough for the organisation to reach the entire district; around 2 million people would then benefit from the volunteers’ services.  Donations currently come mainly from friends of the volunteers, or the volunteers themselves.  Some of the friends are tour guides in the forest, and tell tourists about the organisation’s work, leading to larger donations being made, but this is not a reliable source of income.

The organisation’s vision is “a healthy community that enhances sustainable conservation of the environment while improving the livelihood and health of people”, and its mission is to spearhead the implementation of community health and conservation projects.  It aims to play a large part in setting up community health projects in the district, to raise awareness of sustainable natural resource management and promote practices such as tree planting, and to facilitate the sharing of useful information among the community and other agencies.  Gladys Awino Onyango, a Voluntary Counselling and Testing worker for the organisation, explained to us the wide range of activities in which the organisation’s volunteers engage.  Running on very little money, the volunteers raise awareness of HIV and AIDS in order to reduce stigma and try to slow the rate of infection; run other health programs such as jigger eradication, water and sanitation education and help with victims of malaria; and finally social and paralegal work such as fighting for the rights of mentally ill children who suffer abuse from their adoptive parents or guardians.

The organisation faces many challenges, not least the fact that volunteering for it is a huge commitment and many people just can’t afford to do so, especially when a counsellor like Gladys has the potential to earn 1,000Ksh per day.  Relying only on a small amount of donations means that affording the necessary drugs, nutritional supplements, clothing and other materials needed to support families or orphans in the community is very difficult.  Even affording the 2,000KSh monthly rent for the organisation’s office is a struggle, and volunteers often have to support people with money from their own pockets.  In addition to the financial issues, the large distances between different villages in the district, and poor infrastructure, makes it hard for volunteers to reach everyone in the time available.  Dealing with HIV is also made difficult by the cultural beliefs held by some community members who think that the symptoms of HIV and AIDS are caused by witchcraft, and therefore won’t ask for medical assistance.  Gladys wants to start a support group for HIV clients; as well as counselling, this would include a vegetable gardening project to help with their nutritional needs and educate them about maintaining a healthy diet for themselves by growing their own food, but the funds for this are currently lacking.

Despite the challenges facing it, the Community Health Volunteers Initiative has already made some impressive achievements.  The organisation has tested 519 people for HIV and referred for treatment 20 who tested positive, along with treating 350 children and 200 adults for jiggers.  Its health education work has involved the distribution of 10,000 condoms throughout the area, the creation of strong links between the community and the Ministry of Health, and the reduction of school dropouts by 15% by working to reduce the stigma associated with HIV and jiggers.  Finally, the organisation has started a community poultry farming initiative, and supported many orphans by giving them clothing and counselling them through their trauma.

In the future, the leaders of the organisation hope to get more funding, both through writing proposals and through donations.  This will enable them to better equip their office, improve and extend their outreach activities and support more orphans and vulnerable people.  Eventually, they would like to build an orphanage or childrens’ home and a Health Education Centre, and raise enough funds to train a new generation of Community Health Workers, Voluntary Counselling and Testing workers and peer educators.  Clearly, this will all require a big turnaround in the financial fortunes of the organisation, so it can only be hoped that people both here in Kenya and around the world will be moved by the seriousness of the situation and give what they can to help the inspiring work of the Community Health Volunteers Initiative continue.

If you would like to make a donation, please email communityhealthvolunteers@yahoo.com and copy in gladys.basicd@gmail.com and gabroglado@yahoo.com

We first arrived at Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary early on the Tuesday morning. The Education Team was excited with about the opportunity to see such a majestic primate up-close and to learn about them.

We soon discovered on arrival about some of the chimps backgrounds.  Some had been rescued from the pet trade, orphaned because their mothers had been killed for bush meat, used in experiments, exploited through the tourist trade or had been smuggled out of their native country.  It was frustrating and upsetting for us to think that peoples pure greed and stupidity could cause such suffering for Chimpanzees and even worse when the animals had been so badly mistreated.  It made me really thankful that there are sanctuaries such as Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary who provide a second chance for these poor creatures and allow the chimps to behave like chimps again, and roam in vast, luscious protected enclosures.

After our introduction to the chimps and the sanctuary’s history we visited the information centre. This centre contained a number of interesting facts about chimps. Some displays showed the dangers that chimps faced, others showed the similarities between chimps and humans. There was an actual cage one of the chimps had lived in for 9 years.  The cage was so small it was almost unbelievable to think that a chimp could have lived in it for so long.

Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary works with schools by allowing them to visit the sanctuary. There are a number of benefits for this, including the education of pupils; about conservation and chimps, something they wouldn’t have otherwise experienced and to gain an understanding about how to help protect chimps by not eating bush meat and not having chimps as pets.

Our visit to the PASA-accredited  Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary began with a guided tour from Antony Kamau, one of the sanctuary’s caregivers.

Antony described to us the sanctuary’s origins; it was set up as a collaboration between the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya Wildlife Service and the Jane Goodall Institute in 1993, to care for a group of three orphaned chimpanzees evacuated from Burundi when the civil war there broke out.

Over the following decades, the sanctuary continued to receive orphaned chimpanzees from Sudan, Rwanda, DRC and Burundi, bringing the current total at the sanctuary to 42.  The capacity of the sanctuary is 60, so the female chimpanzees all have contraceptive implants under the skin of their shoulders.  This isn’t 100% effective, so there have been a few babies born at the sanctuary, the most recent being two year old Ajabu, whose name means, appropriately, “surprise” in Kiswahili.

When a rescued chimpanzee arrives from outside the sanctuary, the process of integration into one of the two groups already in existence can take three months to a year, depending on the age of the chimpanzee that is being introduced.  Generally, the younger a chimpanzee is when it arrives, the faster it will be able to integrate into the group.

Most of the chimpanzees at the sanctuary are there as a direct or indirect result of the bushmeat trade; either their mothers and many other family members are killed and they are found alone and brought straight to the sanctuary, or they first end up in the pet trade or circuses, before being confiscated or donated to the sanctuary when they become ill or too difficult to handle.  Without exception, the chimpanzees arrive at the sanctuary traumatised, stressed and often physically ill as well, and it takes a lot of dedication from the sanctuary staff to nurse them to a full recovery.

As Antony guided us around, I took the opportunity to ask him more about the effects of the bushmeat trade on chimpanzees, and to find out what he thinks can be done to improve the situation.

Antony thinks Kenya’s stable government and enforced prohibition of bushmeat is a major reason for the trade being less of a problem within this country than in others.  Nevertheless, he said that conservation education starts at an early age in Kenyan schools, and that he feels this is the most useful tool in the fight against the bushmeat trade and other environmental and conservation issues, not just in Kenya, but in other countries as well.

I asked him what kind of resources are most effective for conservation education, and he said that photographs and films really help to drive the message home, but that the most important thing is that the message is repeated, and repeated often, rather than just being something that is occasionally mentioned.

The overwhelming feeling among the Handshakers at the end of our trip to the sanctuary was that it carries out amazing work, and is really a safe haven for the chimpanzees, where they can act as naturally as possible and recover from the horrendous traumas they’ve suffered.

However, we all agreed that, as wonderful as it was to observe them, and as fantastic a job as the sanctuary undoubtedly does, it would be better if their natural habitat was safe enough for sanctuaries not to be necessary at all.