Remarkable conservation projects in Northern Kenya
February 22, 2016
Most people have never heard of the hirola. The fawn-colored antelope is a shy animal, with a long thin face and spectacled eyes. And yet this unassuming creature is the center of what may be one of the most successful conservation efforts in recent history, as well as the heroes – the equally unassuming Somali pastoralists who live alongside them on the East bank of the Tana River.
The Abdullah Somali community that run the Ishaqbini Conservancy in north-east Kenya have always had a fondness for the hirola, whose docile nature has earned it the nickname of ‘the stupid antelope’ in other communities. It is endemic to north-east Kenya and south-west Somalia, but populations have declined by over 80% since 1990. Numerous factors, including disease, hunting and loss of grasslands, have contributed to this.
Stevenage councillor speaks out on pensioners allotment fees
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Stevenage pensioners anger over allotment fees
thecomet.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thecomet.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
RELAXING in a beer garden recently, reader Geoff Crowley overheard two chaps in their twenties discussing romance. Said one chap to the other, “I’ve met this girl called Natasha and she wants me to call her Tash.” “So what’s the problem?” enquired his chum. Gesturing to the resplendently fuzzy area under his own nose, the first chap said: “I’ve already got a ‘tash. I’m not sure I need two in my life.”
All at sea WE continue with our seafaring tales. Ian Craig from Strathaven once overheard a bosun, a McNeil from Barra, say to the newly-appointed able seaman: “I never saw you before today, unless, of course, you saw me.”
(Photos: Facebook/Rufford Old Hall) SPRING is in full swing and beautiful wildflowers are beginning to bloom in England. This means that you might also be able to see carpets of bluebells in woodland and countryside areas. Bluebells usually flower from mid-April to late May depending on the weather. The flower itself is slow to establish and it can take 5-7 years for them to develop from a seed to a flower. The bluebell is also protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981), meaning it’s prohibited to dig up the plant or bulb in the countryside is prohibited and landowners are prohibited from removing bluebells from their land to sell.