News

News and information updates from popular websites, newpapers, magazine articles, books, scientific findings and researchers across the globe.

Locust Swarm: Plagues triggered by Serotonin January 30, 2009--Dark-colored in their more social, swarming state and green when solitary, desert locusts switch into swarm mode when levels of serotonin—a natural chemical also found in humans—spike in their bodies, a January 2009 study says. The insects usually avoid each other, but dire circumstances, such as drought, can force the locusts to swarm. The bugs transition to swarm mode when they see or smell other locusts, or when their hind legs are jostled. (Get the fullstory: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/01/photogalleries/locust-swarm-theory-serotonin/index.html)

"On Earth, microorganisms thrive 2 to 3 kilometers (about 1.2 to 1.9 miles) beneath the Witwatersrand basin of South Africa, where natural radioactivity splits water molecules into molecular hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O). The organisms use the hydrogen for energy. It might be possible for similar organisms to survive for billions of years below the permafrost layer on Mars, where water is liquid, radiation supplies energy, and carbon dioxide provides carbon," See: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/15jan_marsmethane.htm

CAUGHT IN THE ACT Have you ever caught wildlife at its best, incredible kills, hilarious moments or nail biting escapes? Aquavision want your amazing wildlife footage! This is a once in a life time opportunity for you and your footage to be broadcast around the world. You will be paid for your footage and also get the chance to win incredible prizes, holidays in idyllic locations. Whether you’re an amateur cameraperson, a game ranger, a holiday maker with a camcorder or just in the right place at the right time, now is your chance to make it count. Aquavision accepts any format. Your selected footage and interview will join many others from around the world to be part of a National Geographic production that will be broadcast to over 165 countries. Episodes 1 & 2 are currently being shown on National Geographic Wild on DSTV Channel 261. So what are you waiting for, send in your footage and get the chance of a lifetime to be on this legendary award winning channel. Charge those batteries and clean that lens, it’s time to make your television wild! If you have a wildlife clip and want it shown to the world, then please contact us on: Tel: 0027 (0)11 275 0900/1/2/3 Fax: 0027 (0)86 631 6394 Email: bghewett@aquavision.co.za Website: www.caughtintheact.co.za

Selous National Park: offers this new product to all Pro-Guides. Lukula Selous is a private photographic sanctuary of over 300,000 acres where only one group of guests is permitted into the entire area at any given time. The group may be an individual, a couple, a family or a private group of friends or colleagues, up to a maximum of eight people, with no age limits. We only host guests for five months of the year, from July through November, during the dry season when the animals concentrate along the waterways that meander through this sector of the Reserve. Privacy and complete freedom capture the spirit of Lukula Selous. Select, small groups and individuals have the opportunity to explore this wilderness in complete privacy and with complete freedom under expert guidance only. The minimum stay is four nights, but if guests wish to enjoy longer canoeing safaris and camp-outs with an authentic ‘portered’ fly camp to explore the different sectors of the area, we recommend longer stays of up to one week or more. Lukula Selous boasts a diverse habitat ranging from open flood plains interspersed with dense riparian forests that border the Lukula, Luwegu and Chi rivers, to open savanna, which recedes to forested, rolling hills and steep ridges of exposed rock. A landscape seldom visited and unchanged by man, rich in wildlife and spectacular with nature.

Jenman Safaris is an exlusive overland safari operator and is looking for guides keen on this type of guiding experience. They operate a fleet of 14 vehicles. They have 11 Toyota Landcruisers, 2 Toyota Quantums and 1 Toyota Hino truck. The cruisers seat a maximum of 10 clients, the Quantums 11 and the truck 24. The cruisers and the Quantums are operated with one guide per vehicle. The truck normally operates with two or three crew members (drive, guide and a cook). They only do tours throughout Southern Africa, specialising in Botswana. Their tours are small group, semi participation camping safaris. And only make use of registered guides (with DEAT) as they are a responsible and sustainable tourism company. They prefer their guides to have done at least FGASA level 1, but if the guide has the experience and knowledge then this is not always a must. Guides who conduct the tours need to drive, guide and cook for their clients for a minimum of 2 weeks. Target market is the middle to upper income group with the average age of the clients being 35 - 40 years. For guides that are starting to work at Jenman Safaris, they have to do a familiarisation tour. This is done so that the guide can learn the route, how to deal with your clients, how to cater for clients meals, how to drive and pack the vehicle and off road trailer, how to set up camp, and everything else in between. The familiarisation tour is paid for by the guide. After a year or 6 tours that the guide has done for Jenman, this amount is reimbursed to the guide. So, basically they are looking for guides who are qualified and have experience in running overland tours. They are able to assist guides to make the transition from working in parks, reserves and lodges to overlanding - but only if the guide is really good and is committed to becoming an overlanding guide. The most that they are paying their freelance guides is R450 per day. For the duration of the tour (which is generally 2 -3 weeks) the guide has no food, accommodation and living expenses. On average, their guides are making about R5600 for a 2 week tour. This excludes the tips which can be anything from R1500 - R4500, which is entirely up to the guide. So, in total for a 2 week tour the guide could walk away with almost R8000. Call Stefan 082 326 6292 for more information on how to become an overland guide.

Male hummingbirds, swooping in an effort to impress females, achieve speeds "faster than fighter jets", according to a study. A US researcher has captured the birds' dives with super-fast cameras. He lured them into their impressive displays using stuffed models of female birds. The feathered acrobats reached speeds of almost 400 body lengths per second. The findings are reported in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Males were driven to spectacular displays by model females Christopher Clark from the University of California Berkeley filmed the courtship dives of male Anna's hummingbirds on cameras able to capture 500 frames per second. When measured relative to the length of their bodies, the birds' top speed, he said, was "greater than [that] of a fighter jet with its afterburners on, or the space shuttle during atmospheric re-entry". Jet fighters, however, are able to out-accelerate the little birds. In the latter stages of their dives, when they spread their wings to pull up, the hummingbirds' "instantaneous acceleration" was, said Mr Clark, "greater than any organism previously recorded undergoing aerial manoeuvres". And that was all without the help of a powerful jet engine. The study, Mr Clark said, was an example of how such displays, triggered by the prospect of a mate, could be used to study the very limits of animals' abilities. See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8091944.stm for the actual article.

Understand the facts about Nature Guide training, qualifications and registration HOW TO BECOME GUIDE Being a professional guide requires the following: 1. Obtain a legal guide qualification. This means you must do an approved guide qualification through a THETA accredited training provider 2. Get a First Aid Certificate 3. Register as a guide with DEAT (Dept of Environmental Affairs & Tourism – this Dept is the National Registrar for Tourist Guides) A lot of uncertainty and misconceptions exist about this issue. Many people’s understanding of the National Qualifications Framework, NQF, and being registered as a guide stops at the cliché “you must have FGASA”. What is this and is this true? Let us look at the facts. ACCREDITED TRAINING PROVIDERS A number of training providers in South Africa have full accreditation with THETA. At the successful completion of their programmes, all these providers issue their learners with THETA qualifications. All accredited training providers work as follows: • They obtain independent accreditation with THETA, a rigorous process • They train learners using their own approved programmes and training materials • They register learners directly with THETA • They achieve learners directly with THETA • They issue learners with THETA certificates and their own internal certificates after successful completion WHO IS THETA? Theta is the government body responsible for education and training in the sector of Tourism, Hospitality, Conservation and Guiding. They are the only body entitled to accredit training providers and issue qualifications. All learners trained and registered (irrespective of training provider) are issued with a THETA qualification. The only legal qualifications recognised by the Provincial Registrars of Tourist Guides are THETA accredited qualifications. WHAT IS A LEGAL GUIDE? Legal guides have to comply with two criteria: 1. They must have a legal guide qualification – issued by THETA only after being assessed and found competent by a THETA accredited trainer/provider against the SAQA and THETA accredited Unit Standards. 2. They must be legally registered as guides – registration is done by DEAT (Dept of Environmental Affairs and Tourism) only. You are not a legal guide unless you have the tourist guide badge from DEAT and you identity card issued by DEAT. 3. This will only be issued after you have submitted the correct documents, which are: • a THETA qualification certificate issued by THETA, or • proof of competence issued by a THETA accredited training provider • a valid First Aid certificate. WHO IS FGASA? A lot of misinformation exists about FGASA. It is an accredited training provider, accredited with THETA, Tourism Hospitality Education Training Authority, as are a number of other training providers, e.g.: The Nature College Drum Beat Academy Boland College, etc. A. FGASA does not accredit training providers and by law may not; this is THETA’s task in terms of the relevant legislation. B. FGASA has a group of associated training providers called Endorsed Training Providers, with the majority of these not accredited with THETA. They operate as follows: 1. Endorsed trainers pay an annual endorsement fee to FGASA 2. Endorsed trainers buy their training materials from FGASA 3. Endorsed trainers use these FGASA materials to present their training programmes 4. The majority of these Endorsed training providers do not have independent accreditation directly with THETA 5. Learners trained by these Endorsed Trainers are registered by FGASA with THETA, as is required by law, by using FGASA’s accreditation with THETA C. Because FGASA is also an association, a FGASA member gets awarded a FGASA membership category (incorrectly referred to as a FGASA qualification). FGASA members pay an annual membership fee. D. Then where does the cliche “you must have FGASA” come from? FGASA has a long track record (it was constituted in 1991). It has been known to people in industry for a long time. Knowledge of THETA and its controlling role is not well understood by most people in industry, a situation which is aggravated by the lack of correct information and general ignorance in the market.