First Outing
Saturday 20th June 2009
Hi. I’m Jocelyn
I’m the guest anthropology researcher on the Great Primate Handshake. I’m interested in conservation, culture and communication, or rather primatology, anthropology and filming, so the primate handshake seemed like a great venture to join. Emirates kindly left my bag in Dubai and I had already had managed to break the hose pipe in the shower, so the arrival of the team was a welcome distraction.
Saturday was the first outing by the anthropology research team. Peter, the Colobus Trust’s volunteer officer, accompanied Lisa, Victoria, Jamie, David and I to the hotel grounds around Diani Beach. The main mission was to conduct colobus checks, but it was interspersed with some great conversations with hotel workers and land owners.
We were lucky enough to see Angolan Black and White Colobus in 3 of the 5 locations we visited. Troop numbers observed varied between 4 to 8. Victoria’s video camera picked out one of the adult females was pregnant. We were also blessed with a sighting of a white infant aged about 2 ½ months. In the places we didn’t spy monkeys there were reports of earlier sightings. Landowners, gardeners and escaris (security guards) gave their opinions of the Colobus, Vervets, Baboons and Sykes. Vervets and baboons were viewed as trouble-makers who stole food at the slightest opportunity, Sykes were generally tolerated, while the Colobus mainly got the thumbs up. Not only are the Colobus beautiful, but more importantly they don’t compete for food.
We met some wonderful characters along the way. James had lived in the same place for 35 years had a made a conscious effort to conserve the trees. Other hotels and developments had cleared their land, so unsurprisingly, with their habitat destroyed, the Colobus had to move on. James was shortly to retire so was worried for the future of the land and the monkeys which he dearly loved.
Safari, an escari at the mission, showed us his football skills, and then delighted us with his singing and dancing.. The reason for this line of questioning was to discover what kind of music was liked by local people so that future videos can have the most appropriate type of musical accompaniment. All of which was a great first outing.
Conclusions
- Black and White Colobus monkeys are largely regarded as acceptable, as they do not take food from hotels or peoples houses. (The slight exception is Colobus sometimes eat the leaves surrounding maize on small family farms, known as shambas.)
- Sykes monkeys are less tolerated as they sometimes take food. They are less recognisable by the local population, as they have a passing resemblance to Vervet monkeys.
- Baboons and Vervet monkeys are regarded as pests as they steal food and other items.
- The main threats to Colobus monkeys include road traffic accidents, and electrocution through uninsulated wires. Also loss of habitat, due to building new hotels, housing developments and general deforestation.
- Websites work best internationally, attracting volunteers and tourists.
- Promotional Colobus Trust videos can be shown to a captive local audience waiting for the Mombassa Ferry and can be sent to hotels and safari operators.
- Radio is the most accessible media to spread message the message within Kenya. (Many radio FM frequencies are taken up by music stations, so composing a conservation song might be possibility. For local groups looking to fund radio programmes themselves, radio is still regarded as slightly expensive.
- Drama/ stories are a good way to spread the conservation message to communities and schools.
- Open village meetings (known as Barazais) are another good way to pass on the message.
- Cyber cafes allow some Kenyans access to technology, but due to their expense, they are mainly used for accessing E-Mails.
- TV is only used by a certain percentage of the population near Diani Beach, estimated by a Colobus Trust employee at about 40 %. It is very expensive to get programmes made and accepted. 5 TV channels are available locally, though some expensive hotels have around 52 channels.
- Buying newspapers is out of the reach of many Kenyans.
- Consistency of managers would enhance the long term running of the Colobus Trust.
- The education programme at the Colobus Trust and school visits are very important for spreading the conservation message, promoting recognition of the Colobus and reinforcing the reforestation message.
Written by Jocelyn Murgatroyd
