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Umuzi

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Archive for the ‘Nature’ Category

At the Heart of The Seed Thief by Jacqui L’Ange: The Fight Against Corporate Control of Natural Resources

by Amanda on Oct 1st, 2015

The Seed Thief“I am not a scientist, or an expert in agriculture. I am a concerned citizen with a voice. I wrote a work of fiction with seed banking at its heart, because I care about our natural world. And because I think seed banking is sexy. And exciting, and magical, and noble.”

So writes Jacqui L’Ange in an article on the blog dedicated to her new debut novel The Seed Thief. It tells the gripping story of botanist Maddy Bellani who is asked to travel to Brazil to collect rare seeds from a plant that could cure cancer. At the heart of this novel lies the issue of corporate control of natural resources – a much bigger and more threatening reality than most people would think.

Read L’Ange’s article for more on the South African context of this issue, an outline of genetically modified organisms and links to important organisations fighting the cause:

When a company tries to control something that has been free for citizens of this earth since its beginnings (and I include animals among those citizens), when they try to ‘own’ a genetic code they didn’t create, and try to stop others from sharing the earth’s generosity so that they can profit from those restrictions, I think we have a problem.

And when the ‘codes’ they are claiming are the ones that provide basic foods for the people who live closest to the ground, who have the least in terms of material goods but who have the most honest conversation with the earth, when that conversation is silenced, and people go hungry as a result, then we have a problem.

Is Monsanto the bad guy, or just a victim of bad press? The best way to answer this question is to get informed.
In the South African context, which is the one in which I live, the African Centre for Biosafety is an excellent starting point.

Also read:

 

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“As Full of Life as the Ark” – Lauren Smith Reports on the Launch of Green Lion by Henrietta Rose-Innes

by Amanda on Aug 19th, 2015


 
Green LionBlogger Lauren Smith attended the launch of Henrietta Rose-Innes’ latest novel, Green Lion, at The Book Lounge recently.

Drawn to the book by the beautiful cover, Smith was fascinated by the things that were said during the conversation between Hedley Twidle and Rose-Innes. The shout on the cover by Ivan Vladislavić, “Lyrical, deftly plotted, and as full of life as the Ark,” set the tone and directed the theme of the evening – the relationship between humans and animals.

“Animals are fetishised and idealised, symbolising what is beautiful, meaningful and lost, but these ideas are divorced from the reality of the animals themselves. We need to rethink our ideas of pristine nature, which often exists in isolation from nature,” Smith writes, reporting on what Rose-Innes said.

Read the article for more on what was said during the launch and to see photos of the book and author:

It’s also a novel about Table Mountain and Cape Town, but she sought to subvert the usual images and approach it from a fresh perspective. The wilderness she depicts is hybrid and corrupt, abutted by human construction. Having destroyed so much, people are now fenced off from nature in an attempt to save it. Rose-Innes describes it as the poignant human impulse to stop death, but emphasises that that cause is fraught with contradiction. We seek to preserve animals not for their own sake but because of the emotional and symbolic meaning they hold for us. Animals are fetishized and idealised, symbolising what is beautiful, meaningful and lost, but these ideas are divorced from the reality of the animals themselves. We need to rethink our ideas of pristine nature, which often exists in isolation from nature. I’m guessing then, that this is how a man gets mauled in the beginning of the novel – because his idea of the lion is a fantasy far-removed from the reality of a dangerous carnivore.

Related links:

Image courtesy of Violin in a Void

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George Bizos: Nelson Mandela’s Will Prompts Us to Walk in His Footsteps

by Amanda on May 21st, 2014

Odyssey to FreedomGeorge Bizos, author of Odyssey to Freedom, says Nelson Mandela’s will is “proof of his generosity and the values he embraced”.

The details of Mandela’s will were revealed in early February and Bizos, Madiba’s former lawyer and friend says the wishes laid out in the will are “a summary of his wishes in life”.

To say in a will I leave these sums of money to education institutions because it is my wish that people of South Africa should get proper education is evidence of what his thinking was, unlike some of his successors who say they are following in his footsteps. It’s a good reminder as to what he meant of what he said about his footsteps.

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Tony Park Pays Tribute to Clay Wilson

by Amanda on Jan 8th, 2014

Bush VetTony Park, who co-wrote Clay Wilson’s memoir Bush Vet: My Hidden Battles to Save Wildlife, has written a post on his blog saying goodbye to Wilson, who passed away on 20 December 2013.

Park writes about Wilson’s career as a bush vet and the issues he experienced in Botswana, writing that “the fact is that there are elephants, waterbuck, impala, buffalo, eagles, hyena, lions, leopards and even a tortoise (whose shell he super-glued back together after it had been run over) that are probably still alive today solely because of Dr Clay Wilson.”

My mum paid me what I think is the ultimate non-fiction writer’s compliment the other day. She said my latest book ‘Bush Vet’, by Dr Clay Wilson and me, read like a novel.

Mothers are not known for dishing the dirt on their writer children, and it would be a rare parent or other loved one that said ‘this book is crap’. It’s not that they don’t offer frank assessments – if your nearest and dearest reader says something such as ‘Hmm, I’m not so sure about that bit’, then you know that’s code for ‘crap’.

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In Memoriam: Clay Wilson, Author of Bush Vet

by Amanda on Jan 6th, 2014

Bush VetIt is with great sadness that we mourn the death of Dr Clay Wilson, wildlife veterinarian and author of Bush Vet, an account of the difficult, dangerous and important work he did tending to injured and sick animals and fighting against the forces driving poaching.

Wilson passed away on Friday 20 December 2013. Bush Vet was published in September 2013. Tony Park, co-author of Bush Vet, said he was shocked to learn of Wilson’s passing.  ”I’d known for some time Clay was ill, but I had not realised the seriousness of his condition. The animal kingdom has lost a real champion and I’ve lost a good and loyal friend.

“I first met Clay when he was the wildlife veterinarian at Chobe National Park in Botswana. He had recently been appointed an honorary game ranger, no mean feat for a South African-born American. For a while he truly was living his dream,” Park said.

“Friends of Clay in the United States, where he passed away, have told me that right to the end of his illness, even when he was in great pain, his thoughts were always with Africa and its wildlife, particularly his beloved elephants. Clay was a larger than life character whose passion for wildlife and outspoken stance on various conservation issues often rubbed people the wrong way.

“However, for all his faults he was a true wildlife warrior who dedicated himself to saving animals in distress and raising awareness of the plight of wild animals under stress from human encroachment. I will miss him.”

Fourie Botha, Publisher of Umuzi, said: “We will remember Clay Wilson for his passion and drive. He worked tirelessly to protect and care for animals. Condolences to those who knew and worked with him.”

Wilson was born in Johannesburg, but moved with his family to Mexico when he was two. He graduated in Zoology from the University of Florida and qualified as a veterinarian at Onderstepoort. He owned a veterinary clinic in Florida before moving to Botswana to volunteer as wildlife veterinarian for the DWNP in Kasane. Wilson was a worldwide wildlife consultant through his non-profit organisation, International Wildlife Rescue.

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RIP Clay Wilson

by Amanda on Jan 2nd, 2014

Bush VetDr Clay Wilson, wildlife veterinarian and author of Bush Vet, sadly passed away on Friday 20 December 2013 after a struggle with pancreatitis. Wilson was the founder and director of the International Wildlife Rescue (IWR).

“Clay told me more than once that he liked animals more than people and whatever his faults there is no denying that his single passion in life was the conservation of Africa’s wildlife,” Tony Park, co-author of Bush Vet, writes in a forum thread on Safaritalk. “Goodbye, buddy – I will raise a beer and light a cigar in your honour, just as you would have wanted me to, and I will miss you.”

HEARTBREAKING NEWS: Dr. Clay Wilson, a true wildlife’s lover and great conservationes passed away on Friday morning December 20th.

He was a veterinarian and honorary game warden volunteering his time in Chobe National Park -Botswana – to promote wildlife conservation and anti-poaching, and to heal and rehabilitate wounded wildlife. He was kicked out of the country two years ago after President Ian Khama declared him a prohibited immigrant with no reason provided.

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Videos: Clay Wilson Shares Footage and Photographs of His Wildlife Rescue Work

by Amanda on Nov 26th, 2013

Bush VetClay Wilson, who tells his story in Bush Vet: My Hidden Battles to Save Wildlife, has shared several videos documenting the work he did during his time in wildlife rescue at the Chobe National Park. Wilson is the director of the International Wildlife Rescue (IWR), which conducts work in the Chobe National Park.

Watch this video of elephants enjoying their bathtime and click through to see more videos, including ones featuring Wilson’s Canine Distemper Vaccination project:

The IWR has also shared pictures of the animals they encounter and Wilson has shared a number of Facebook albums documenting his work:


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Image courtesy International Wildlife Rescue


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Excerpt from Clay Wilson and Tony Park’s Bush Vet: My Hidden Battles to Save Wildlife

by Amanda on Nov 22nd, 2013

Bush VetInternational Wildlife Rescue has shared an excerpt from Bush Vet: My Hidden Battles to Save Wildlife by Clay Wilson with Tony Park. Wilson was working as a wildlife veterinarian in Botswana when he was told that his work permit and visa were being cancelled. In the extract he returns to the Chobe National Park from Botswana’s capital Gaborone after sorting out the issue and following three months of not being allowed to work.

Read about Wilson’s first day back on the job, where he and the head of research at the park are called out to deal with a wounded leopard:

We’ve got a wounded leopard, let’s go,” Mogau said. “I’ll come to your place.” I ended the call and got my veterinarian’s bag and my dart gun and went outside to the Land Cruiser to wait for Mogau. It was my first day back on the job, and man, it was good to be back. I had just got back the night before from Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, where I’d met with my lawyer and, after much toing and froing, the permanent secretary of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks. My status as an honorary game warden had been suddenly revoked three months earlier, at the same time as I’d been told my visa and work permit were being cancelled.

The letters had come like a lightning strike at the beginning of the rainy season – malevolent and without warning – and they had exploded my world. I had been given no reason why the government of Botswana wanted me gone, Edmond Mosweu, the permanent secretary and spokesman for the Minister of Wildlife and Tourism, Ketso Mananga, had now told my lawyer, Leezo Nbane, that it had all been a mistake.

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Excerpt from Bush Vet: My Hidden Battles to Save Wildlife by Clay Wilson and Tony Park

by Amanda on Nov 4th, 2013

Bush VetThe Wild Card blog has shared an excerpt from Bush Vet: My Hidden Battles to Save Wildlife by Clay Wilson and Tony Park. Divided into two parts, this excerpt relates how Wilson, a wildlife veterinarian, is called out to treat a trapped leopard inside the cook house at a hunting lodge.

Wilson describes how he darts the animal, which has been shot and is badly injured, through a mesh ventilation panel on the wall. Read the excerpts:

It was October and the air was hot and heavy, expectant with the promise of rain. The grass on the side of the road was long and yellow, almost brittle from the months without moisture. The mopane trees’ butterfly-shaped leaves had turned red gold, but soon the whole park would be rejuvenated and cloaked in a lushgreen cloak. A fresh start.

Although the road was wide and tarred smooth, the speed limit was 80 kilometres an hour and I stuck to it. I had treated too many wild animals that had been seriously injured on this main route through to the Namibian border crossing. I took a left, onto the dirt road heading south towards the famous Savuti plains.

As I pulled, I saw its blood being smeared on the floor of the kitchen. When I had it clear of the table where it had been hiding, I saw that it was a young female. I rolled her over and saw that her right shoulder was a mess of matted, bloodied fur. There were numerous puncture wounds, which told me she had been hit by a blast from a shotgun.

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A Leopard in the Kitchen: Excerpt from Bush Vet by Clay Wilson with Tony Park

by Amanda on Oct 18th, 2013

Bush VetIn Bush Vet, wildlife veterinarian Clay Wilson, with adventure writer Tony Park, share Wilson’s experiences working in the Chobe National Park.

In the following excerpt, made available by Random House Struik, Wilson is called in to help with a wounded leopard who has taken over the kitchen of the hunting camp at the edge of Chobe:

It was October and the air was hot and heavy, expectant with the promise of rain. The grass on the side of the road was long and yellow, almost brittle from the months without moisture. The mopane trees’ butterfly-shaped leaves had turned red gold, but soon the whole park would be rejuvenated and dressed in a lush, green cloak. A fresh start.

Although the road was wide and tarred smooth, the speed limit was 80 kilometres an hour and I stuck to it. I had treated too many wild animals that had been seriously injured on this main route through to the Namibian border crossing. I took a left, on to the dirt road heading south towards the famous Savuti plains.

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