by Mark MacAllister
September 20, 2005
On September 16, 2005, Dr. Michael Kuwong successfully collared an elephant in the Bolo Bai, which lies in the southwest region of Lobeke National Park, Cameroon. The 20 to 25 year-old male is named Charles in honor of Charles Mouang, a colleague of ours at WWF-CARPO who died in late August 2005.
Dr. Kuwong's intent was to dart a female elephant in the region. However, the herd he was working with was so large that there was concern that the collaring team would lose track of the darted animal and thus put it at risk. Kuwong was also able to make use of a heavier, powder-charge rifle instead of the light rifle used on previous collaring trips. We hope that this more powerful rifle will help us in future efforts to dart animals in areas of dense vegetation.
Next up for the collaring team is a trip to northern Nki National Park.
About the author:Mark MacAllister is the Project Coordinator for Field Trip Earth.
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