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Dambari turns 20!

On 22 July 1997, the Marwell Zimbabwe Trust was registered as a Zimbabwean wildlife conservation and research Trust and is administered by an honorary board of trustees. Our inaugural chairman Mr John Knowles, OBE, founder and CEO of Marwell Zoo and Preservation Trust had been supporting conservation work in Zimbabwe for some time.  However, it [...]

Team Dambari wins WEZ’s Pro-Am quiz for the third time

Wildlife and Environment Zimbabwe (WEZ) Matabeleland Branch hosts a Pro Am Wildlife Quiz in July every year.  The competition was fierce this year, with the top three teams within a point of each other.  We're delighted to report that Dambari triumphed this time (for the third time since 2009) and get to display the floating [...]

Student work-related learning (Zimbabwe universities)

Dambari has been committed to assisting with the development of young Zimbabwean scientists since 2002.  This primarily takes the form of hosting third-year students for ten months during their work-related learning modules of their university degrees.  Students following a wildlife-related course at a Zimbabwean university may apply. Application procedure We accept applications, either in hard copy [...]

Wildlife Management Workshop at Mushandike Sanctuary

At the beginning of October, Nicky Pegg delivered a seminar on rhino monitoring and population management at the Mushandike Sanctuary near Masvingo.  This seminar was part of a 2-day wildlife management workshop organised by Cheetah Conservation Project Zimbabwe.  The 46 students were staff from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA) who are reading for diplomas [...]

Happy World Rhino Day!

Today - 22nd September - is World Rhino Day.  It is a day for us to celebrate the survival of five species of incredible large mammals that have ambled across the Earth for millions of years.  It is also a day for us to reflect on how we, as humans, affect other life on Earth. [...]

Wildlife messaging

Wild animals use a variety of methods to communicate with each other.  Visual displays and vocalisations require the recipient animal to be nearby to be effective, but there are more subtle (to us) signs that are used as well that are effective after the sender has left, and may remain effective for days or even [...]

Spot the newbie

Three and a half years ago, around February 2013, we had a report from guides in the Matobo Hills area that they'd heard spotted hyaena.  They were reliable sources, so we were confident that they were right.  There were also reports of severe hyaena conflict issues South of the Hills near the Botswana border, with [...]

Wildlife Quiz Winners

TEAM DAMBARI returned victorious on Thursday night, having won the Vic Bouwer Memorial Wildlife Quiz trophy at the Wildlife and Environment, Zimbabwe (WEZ) Pro-Am Wildlife Quiz.  We last won the trophy in 2009, and have been runners-up a couple of times since then.  Congratulations to the team, comprising Adele Edwards, Verity Bowman, Tafadzwa Tichagwa and [...]

The animals came in two-by-two…

Another first!  Two aardvark photographed together. Aardvark are photographed frequently in Matobo, but are usually solitary.  This recent photo of two animals together is a rarity.  They are about the same size, and look like adults, so it is possible that they're a pair. Camera trapping can reveal really interesting information.  For example, we got [...]

Appreciating the role of the little guys!

The Matobo Hills support the densest known breeding population of Verreaux’s (black) eagle (Aquila verreauxii) in the World, and it is often quoted (possibly erroneously) that the Matopos National Park has the highest leopard (Panthera pardus) density on Earth.  Regardless of whether Matopos comes first in these stakes, there is no denying that there are a lot [...]