Best New Trips in the World: Track Lions in Kenya's Campi ya Kanzi

For our annual Adventure Travel issue, we scoured the globe to find the 25 Best New Trips in the World for 2010, complete with a Best Trips photo gallery. Today, we present Kenya. The world's far corners are now well within reach.

KENYA: Save the King!

Lion kills cow, Maasai warrior kills lion. It’s a centuries-old conflict in the Kenyan bush. But in the past ten years lion populations across Africa have plummeted from 100,000 to 23,000, transforming the issue into a full-fledged crisis. Alarmed research crews have come to Kenya to study the cats and teach the Maasai ways to live with them harmoniously. But one conservation group is way ahead of the curve. Kuku Group Ranch, a 280,000-acre spread in the Chyulu Hills of southern Kenya, is entirely owned and operated by the Maasai themselves. And so far they’ve had dramatic success with their cat-protection efforts: In a recent 30-month period, the ranch’s lion population jumped from 15 to 52. Now, in conjunction with Geographic Expeditions, Kuku will bring in its first guest-researchers.

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Species on the Brink: Kenya’s Lions Nearing Extinction

Kenya’s wild lions could be annihilated within 20 years, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service. For almost a decade, the country has been losing 100 big cats a year, and the current population of 2,000 could be gone by 2030.

Conservationists are blaming habitat destruction, animal disease, and conflict with humans for the rapid decline in numbers. Wildlife biologist and conservationist Laurence Frank told the New Scientist that the future is bleak. “Only drastic action on many fronts – policy change, effective law enforcement, giving rural people an economic stake in their natural heritage, and a great deal of investment – will prevent the loss of wildlife in Africa," he said. Read the full story in the New Scientist here.

To see the lions for yourself—and help contribute to an economy that values living felines—here are some of Global Travel Editor Costas Christ's recommended trips in Africa. You can also find a top-rated adventure travel tour company with our ratings tool (ngadventure.com/ratings). –Text by Alyson Sheppard

Tiger Update: Indonesian Authorities Arrest Suspected Tiger Skin Traders

We reported last month that the entire population of tigers in the Panna Tiger Reserve in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has been completely decimated by poachers. But now, the good guys have some points on the board.

On August 13, the Wildlife Conservation Society announced two successful raids, and numerous arrests by Indonesian authorities, of suspects attempting to sell Sumatran tiger skins. (ADVENTURE's Paul Kvinta investigated this despicable practice in June/July's "Cat Fight.") The raids occurred on July 16th and August 7th and resulted in the recovery of two complete tiger skins, as well as 33 pieces of tiger skin ranging in size from 33 centimeters to much larger. In total, Indonesian police arrested five wildlife traders associated with the poaching of the tigers. 

Wildlife: Is Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater About to Hit Bottom?

Beyond Green Travel is a blog written by Global Travel Editor Costas Christ. Read more NGA travel news in First In. 

If Noah’s ark had off-loaded into a massive version of Yankee Stadium, the result would have looked a lot like the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. The 102-square-mile caldera corrals great herds of zebras and gazelles and all of Africa’s Big Five. But recently, Tanzania’s chief tourist draw has started to buckle under the pressures of fame. 

Continue reading this story >>

Photograph by Nicholas Parfitt/Getty Images

Tiger Watch: Entire Population of Tiger Reserve Now Gone

Text by Paul Kvinta

Last week wildlife officials in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh finally confessed to something that they'd known for some time--Panna Tiger Reserve has been completely poached out of tigers.  

Panna is one of India's more notable and popular tiger refuges, and five years ago there were an estimate 35-40 cats there. Now there are zero. This meltdown is an exact replay of what happened in 2005 in Sariska Tiger Reserve in the neighboring state of Rajasthan, where poachers exterminated every cat right under the noses of wildlife officials, who proceeded to deny the catastrophe for months. And the same thing would have occurred in nearby Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve--India's most famous--were it not for the fearless efforts of Dharmendra Khandal and a cash-strapped NGO called Tiger Watch.

When I was in Rajasthan last November to report "Cat Fight" (in the June/July issue of ADVENTURE), I spoke with Ragu Chunduwat, one of India's leading tiger experts. Chunduwat worked for years in Panna, and when he first reported evidence of poaching to officials in 2004, they harassed him and finally drove him out of the park. "It's obvious there are no tigers left at all," he said last fall, "but they're still not admitting it. Denying it doesn't allow you to move forward." 

Panna is already engaged in reintroducing tigers from other reserves, but if Sariska is any example, no one is getting their hopes up. Officials couldn't be bothered to do DNA checks on the three tigers moved to Sariska, only to find out later that the trio are all siblings, which means a genetic dead end.

Look for this movie to replay itself over and over again in India. Last month federal officials acknowledged that the situation in up to 16 tiger reserves is "truly alarming." There are supposed to be 1,400 tigers left in India, more than any other country (there are only 3,000-plus left in the wild), but no one really believes that anymore.

You can donate to Tiger Watch here.

News: World's Rarest Leopard Found in Russia

Good news from the Wildlife Conservation Society:

The world’s rarest big cat is alive and well. At least one of them, that is, according to researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) who captured and released a female Far Eastern leopard in Russia last week.
The capture was made in Primorsky Krai along the Russian-Chinese border by a team of scientists from WCS and the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Biology and Soils (IBS).

The team is evaluating the health and potential effects of inbreeding for this tiny population, which experts believe contains no more than 10-15 females. Other collaborators include: Wildlife Vets International, National Cancer Institute, and the Zoological Society of London. The Far Eastern leopard is perhaps the world’s most endangered big cat, with an estimated 25-40 individuals inhabiting a narrow strip of land in the far southeastern corner of the Russian Federation.

The leopardess, nicknamed “Alyona” by the researchers who captured her, was in good physical condition, weighing a healthy 85 pounds (39 kilograms). A preliminary health analysis revealed that she is he is believed to be between 8-10 years old. The animal has since been released unharmed.

One of the options scientists are considering is trans-locating leopards from other areas to increase genetic diversity—similar to what happened with Florida panthers when animals from Texas were brought in to supplement the remaining population. Today, Florida panthers have risen from less than ten individuals to a population of approximately 100.

Over the last 100 years, Far Eastern leopard numbers have been reduced by poaching combined with habitat loss. However, both camera-trapping and snow-tracking surveys indicate that the population has been stable for the last 30 years, but with a high rate of turnover of individuals. If inbreeding or disease can be kept in check, WCS and its partners believe there is great potential for increasing survival rates and habitat recovery in both Russia and Northeast China.

Photograph by Andrew Harrington

Who’s Faster? How Olympians Measure Up to the Animal Kingdom

Text by Kelly Ruane

As the Olympic torch draws closer to Beijing, where the beacon will signal the beginning of the ancient games on August 8, athletes from around the world are arriving in China for their final days of preparation. And if this year's Olympic trials were any indicator, we will see some amazing feats of athleticism—and broken world records.

While these records only compare how fast, strong, or agile humans are against each other, imagine if we compared our abilities to the other inhabitants of this big blue marble we call Earth.

The fastest 100-meter freestyle swim by a human was clocked by Alain Bernard of France at 47.5 seconds on March 22 at the European Championships. That time translates to nearly 5 mph, a slow crawl compared to the marine world. According to the Reefquest Center for Shark Research, Bernard could out-swim an eel (2.4 mph) and barely keep up with a sea trout (5.4 mph). But when it comes to the big players, no human on Earth would win a race with the bottlenose dolphin (17 mph), the mako shark (31 mph) or the killer whale (34.5 mph). To check out what speeding along on the back on a seal looks like, watch National Geographic’s Crittercam.

The world record for swiftest 100-meter sprint was set on May 31 by Usain Bolt of Jamaica at 9.72 seconds. Convert that to mileage and this man can run an astounding 23 mph. Pair him against a chicken, squirrel, or black mamba snake and he will win every time; their speeds clock in at 9, 12 and 20 mph respectively. Compare Bolt to a grizzly bear or a house cat (both can run up to 30 mph) and he is left in the dirt. Not to mention a lion (50 mph) or a cheetah (70 mph).

But according to scientists at the University of Manchester, who have calculated the running speed of the Tyrannosaurus Rex at 18 mph, Bolt could outrun the 6.6-ton megabeast. To find out more land animals speeds.

Javier Sotomayor of Cuba is the world’s highest jumper with a lofty 8-feet leap in 1993. If Sotomayor were 6 feet tall, his jump would equate to 1.3 times his height, whereas the spittlebug (the world’s greatest jumper) can jump 100 times its height, or 28 inches. That’s equivalent to a human jumping over a 690-foot building. Want to learn more about the spittlebug?

But just when it seems that humans can’t compete with the rest of the animal kingdom, just remember: we have planes, trains and automobiles that can take us faster and higher than any animal alive.

Video in the News: Do We Really Need a Cougar AND a Jaguar? Alan Rabinowitz on The Colbert Report

Text by Mindy Zacharjasz

Zoologist Alan Rabinowitz did what many a congressman, senator, and presidential hopeful have failed to do before him: (almost) make Stephen Colbert cry.

On Tuesday’s Colbert Report, the now graying action hero who has dedicated his life to big-cat conservation spoke about his new book, Life in the Valley of Death. The book discusses one of his most recent projects: creating a tiger refuge in Myanmar (read about it in an ADVENTURE profile of Rabinowitz). On the show, Rabinowitz told the story about how to he first became inspired to save animals—and not even Colbert could make fun of that one (see it for yourself in the video).

Then on to Cobert's more pressing questions: Do dictators and communist countries have an advantage when it comes to conservation? Does this planet really need a cougar and a jaguar? And, when you die, do you want to be devoured by a big cat?

Looks like Colbert’s Wildcat loyalties (he’s an alum of Northwestern University) have stayed with him.