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Of all the large African mammals that wildlife veterinarian Pete Morkel has had to capture over his career—lions, forest elephants, white rhinos—giraffes are the most stressful. “With other animals, you’re trying to give just enough anesthetic to immobilize them, but with a giraffe, we use a total overdose to chemically knock them off their feet,” the sun-leathered 59-year-old tells me as I stalk him stalking a two-year-old female giraffe somewhere in the Nigerien bush, about 60 miles east of Niamey, Niger’s capital. He is wearing a camo hat and a pair of torn, purple-checkered boxers that he’s been wearing as shorts for the past several days.

Every year since 2013, on 10 August we celebrate World Lion Day. In South Africa we have cause to celebrate this year, as we applaud the decision taken by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment to end captive lion breeding and associated industries.

Armed with headlamps and flashlights, a team of researchers in northwestern Madagascar searched through the night for an elusive chameleon, Voeltzkow’s chameleon (Furcifer voeltzkowi), which hadn’t been spotted for more than 100 years. On the sixth day of their expedition, they found it. But the species wasn’t in the forest as they expected: it was in a large, uncultivated hotel garden.

As wildlife authorities on the continent work with nonprofit organizations to secure ecologically valuable landscapes, populations of large mammals have grown. The earth’s sixth mass extinction, scientists warn, is now well underway... But now the numbers tell a different story, and it’s one with lessons for the world. In Gorongosa, African wildlife is making a comeback.

When discovering a new country, most travelers are inclined to take the path well-trodden: a train ride, a road trip, perhaps a bike tour. French explorer and writer Alexandre Poussin, 49, and his wife, Sonia Poussin, 47, are not those people. The couple and their two children recently completed a four-year journey around Madagascar on foot and by oxcart. The couple is no stranger to long walking expeditions. Between 2001 and 2004 they traversed the African continent from Cape Town in South Africa to the Sea of Galilee in Israel, covering almost 14,000 kilometers (8,700 miles). Their Madagascar trip, dubbed Madatrek, was different: this time they brought along their daughter, Philae, now 15, and son, Ulysse, now 12.

With over 100 members from 25 countries around the world, we were delighted to host such a broad collection of members during our inaugural ATTA Indaba yesterday. We have all left with a big "to do" list and ATTA is here to support yours.

The men and women on the front lines of wildlife conservation in Africa inhabit a world few outsiders truly understand. These brave rangers spend weeks at a time on foot patrols away from their families. living with only the most basic of comforts and facing threats from poachers and the very animals they have dedicated their lives to protecting.

There can be no environmental justice without social justice. A very short sentence, with millions of lives and stories behind it. The story of Fatou Samba and hundreds of courageous women fish processors, fighting against the plundering of the oceans by international industrial vessels sent to suck up the fish populations they rely on to survive.

"Never has the work of rangers been more important and necessary than it is today." These were the words of famed primatologist Jane Goodall in her World Ranger Day message as she expressed her support and thanks to those tasked with protecting the world's wildlife. In the last year, over 140 park rangers have reportedly lost their lives in the line of duty. In reality, that number may actually be far greater as many deaths go unreported. For most of us, environmental crime is something we read about in headlines or hear about in panel discussions – it's easy to overlook the tireless work carried out by park rangers across the globe who commit their lives to the preservation of the world's wild species and places.

The South African government, conservation organizations and local communities have decided to pool their efforts under the "Wildlife Zones" initiative to strengthen the protection of rhinos from poachers.

The new version of Zambia Airways has taken to the skies and the airline has ambitions to fly to Johannesburg and to service at least two routes in Zimbabwe.

A rare newly born Zebra has been spotted in Kenya and tourists can’t get enough of it. The zebra has a rather amazing dark colour due to a genetic abnormality linked to the amount of melanin, affecting the pigmentation of the fur. On Sunday 15 September, Mr Antony Tira – a tour guide-cum photographer – at Matira bush camp located in Maasai Mara came across the one-of-a-kind genetically mutated baby zebra. However, upon closer examination, Mr. Tira realised that what he was seeing was actually a zebra with melanin disorder. It was hardly a week old, it appeared weak and very different from the others and was stuck close to a female adult zebra, probably its mother.

It seems there is no stopping Africa’s cleanest city from taking off. Rwanda’s capital has just unveiled its latest attraction, a brand-new sightseeing double-decker bus worth Rwf160 million ($177,472). In a colourful ceremony organised by Kigali City Tour Ltd, Rwanda Development Board, and the City of Kigali last week, the bus was unveiled. With an average 1.3 million foreign tourists visiting Kigali City every year, the country is keen to tap into this market by continuing to diversify its products even further and offer tourists a chance to sight-see Kigali at the comfort of an air conditioner bus equipped with a toilet, Wi-Fi, charging portals and digital screens.

In South Africa's biggest national park, a camouflaged system of radars, cameras and sensors stands guard. The solar-powered technology is helping to protect Kruger National Park's rhinos from poachers, and the country's tourism industry as a result. The network can distinguish between human and animal movement and even includes an infrared sensor, so it can spot poachers at night and alert park rangers to their presence. Standing almost 12-feet tall, the system is known as "Postcode Meerkat," after the source of its funding — European postcode lotteries — and the meerkats of southern Africa, who live in family groups protected by one of their own standing on its hind legs and watching for predators.

The African Association of Visitor Experiences and Attractions (AAVEA) is pleased to announce its new partnership with South African Tourism (SAT), the marketing agency for the Department of Tourism. SA Tourism will partner with the association for the organisation of its popular annual conference, which will be presented in a new virtual format this year, on 20 August 2020.

Two adorable baby caracals were recently rescued by the Owl Rescue Centre after being found abandoned in the North West province.

Country's parliament elects Abiy Ahmed as new leader a week after his nomination as chairman of ruling coalition.

The wild addax antelope is perhaps the loneliest mammal on the planet. These majestic, snow-white antelope once roamed across North Africa but poaching and industrialisation pushed the wild population to extinction. By 2016, there were just three left in the wild and these were only discovered after a 700km ground search and an 3,200km aerial survey led by the International Union for Conservation of Nature - an international conservation organisation based in Switzerland. But the species is about to get a second chance.

In order to increase operational efficiency and on-time performance for luggage processing, O.R. Tambo International Airport has embarked on an awareness campaign through a soft launch to enable departing passengers to comply with acceptable baggage restrictions. Round bags, bags with long hanging straps and those without flat surfaces are the largest sources of jams in the baggage handling system, causing shutdowns, delays and inconvenience to passengers and airlines. Global best practice indicates that large international airports are increasingly adopting acceptable baggage standards.