The following article was written by
Mike Skidmore, Animal Keeper at Lincoln Park Zoo (LPZ), located
in Chicago, Illinois. In 1987 Mike started volunteering at
Lincoln Park Zoo as a docent. In 1994 he secured a position
as an animal keeper in LPZís Childrenís Zoo. There he worked
for three years in the nursery where he helped raise two injured
orangutans and a gorilla. Throughout his career at LPZ, Mike
has worked with a variety of species including primates, small
mammals, reptiles, elephants, and RHINOS.
Mike held the position
of President of the Lincoln Park Chapter of the American Association
of Zookeepers (AAZK) in 1998 and 1999 and the position of Treasurer,
1997-2001. In addition to his position at Lincoln Park Zoo,
Mike is working toward an anthropology degree at Northeastern
University.
This article is
a follow-up to an article titled ³Lincoln Park Zoo Chapter
of AAZK hold 13th Annual Bowling for Rhinos Fundraiser², which
Mike submitted for posting on SOS Rhino's web site in August
2002.
LEWA WILDLIFE CONSERVANCY
By: Mike Skidmore
After 12 years of attending, supporting and
helping to organize our local Bowling for Rhinos event, which helps
support the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Isiolo, Kenya, I finally
made it to Kenya to see the rhinos we are helping first hand. I
went with mixed feelings, we left just a few short weeks after
the loss of Dr. Annelisa and having worked with her she was on
my mind the whole time I was in Africa. I work at Lincoln
Park Zoo in Chicago, and our zookeeper organization, the American
Association of Zookeepers has chapters all over the United States
and Canada that hold annual Bowling for Rhino's events. Overall
we have raised over 1.5 million dollars, and our Lincoln Park Chapter
around $110,000 of that. All the money raised goes to rhino
conservation projects. Lewa is one of the success stories
in Kenya. They work closely with the government and the local
communities are an essential part of their success. At the
moment they have over 30 white rhinos and over 30 black rhinos
in residence. The population has reached the point that they
are transferring rhinos to other protected areas around Kenya. 
It would be almost impossible to relate in
words how beautiful Lewa is, the amount of wildlife is incredible. After
the first 2 days, you almost get tired of seeing Grevy zebra, waterbuck
and giraffes. We got up close and personal with rhinos almost
every day, sometimes within 10-20 feet. White rhino were
everywhere, with many youngsters. Black rhino sightings were
rarer, they were higher up in the forest areas, but due to the
heavy rains the roads were treacherous so we couldn't go up there. After
seeing rhinos in captivity, seeing them with endless lands and
sky behind them left us all in awe. Other animals we saw
in abundance were impala, warthogs, elephants, kudo and water buffalo. We
saw hyena (but heard them every night, it seemed right outside
our tents), lions, leopards, cheetah, mongoose, hedgehogs, sitatunga,
ostrich, oryx, bushbabies, hyrax and lizards.
The number of birds, especially large birds like cranes, egrets,
hawks and bustards was just incredible. Possibly due to the
rains laster longer than usual, the landscape was dotted with dozens
of large birds, spread out like a small army. We met Simon,
one of the hosts of Big Cat Diaries on Animal Planet who is raising
2 orphaned cheetahs with the hopes of returning them to the wild. He
takes them out walking and uses cheetah calls to alert them to
dangers. Watch for them on a future show.
The rhinos on Lewa are the only animals that
do not ever leave the park. The location of every rhino in
Kenya is known to the government and protected. Though the
rhino's are the reason the conservancy was started, years ago as
Ngare Sergoi, their approach is help protect everything in the
area. Lewa employs numerous local people including well trained
guards and rangers and support schools in the area. No rhino
has every been poached in Lewa, though recently rhinos were killed
in the nearby Solio Ranch and Nakuru National Park. Lewa
is fenced in, with an opening on one side for animals to come and
go. I was told that when the elephants leave, they instinctively
know when they enter an unprotected area and speed up and do not
slow down till they reach another protected area. If there
ever was a place you would be almost guaranteed to see rhinos in
the wild, Lewa is it. Check out Lewa.org for more information
and you can email me at zookeeper615@hotmail.com for more information
on Bowling For Rhinos.
Patty Pearthree, Bowling For Rhinos Coordinator and Mike Skidmore,
Animal Keeper at Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL
