Main image above: Fat-tailed dwarf lemur from Madagascar. Credit: David Haring
As passionate travellers and conservationists, we are always looking for the latest updates from the natural world. However, with busy schedules, keeping up with all the information floating around the internet can be hard. Conservation Clips offers short conservation updates from South Africa and further afield.
These short pieces provide a basic overview of everything from new species discoveries to community conservation projects making an impact. We hope this will allow like-minded nature lovers to get their monthly dose of digestible conservation news. We condense the information into a summed-up, easy-to-digest format and include some sources for further reading.
Here are your Conservation Clips for February and March 2025. Share your conservation news with us for consideration by clicking here.
Elephants plan their journeys
A new study has revealed the remarkable energy-saving strategies of African elephants as they navigate their vast habitats. Researchers analysed GPS tracking data from over 150 elephants in northern Kenya, collected over 22 years. The findings demonstrate that these herbivores carefully plan their movements based on energy costs and resource availability in their environment.
The elephants prefer traversing landscapes with lower movement costs, avoiding steep slopes and rough terrain. They also actively select areas with higher vegetation productivity, indicating an awareness of their surroundings and the ability to make cost-benefit decisions. The study also found that elephants adjust their movement patterns based on the availability of water sources, with some remaining close and others roaming farther. These insights could help guide conservation efforts to protect elephant populations and their habitats.
Uncovering Aardvark Footsteps
Researchers have discovered a significant find of possible aardvark tracks and burrows in Pleistocene aeolianites along the South African Cape coast. This is a rare occurrence. The aardvark trace fossil record is surprisingly sparse when compared to their body fossil record. The researchers concluded that aardvark most likely created the circular burrows and claw mark impressions after ruling out other burrowing animals native to the region.
The fossil sites, dated using nearby aeolianite deposits, range from approximately 76 000 to 134 000 years old. These discoveries add valuable insights to the limited paleoichnological evidence of aardvarks and contribute to our understanding of the global record of large vertebrate burrows over thousands of years. Read more here.
New roar for Addo Elephant National Park
The Addo Elephant National Park received two young lionesses from the Kalahari in March. This addition aims to bolster the park’s lion population with new, genetically diverse genes. The team collared the lionesses to closely monitor their movements and behaviours as part of efforts to carefully manage the predator-prey balance within the park’s ecosystem. Five other lions roam the main game viewing area, while three more inhabit the Nyathi section.
Wolkberg Zulu butterfly
Conservationists have formally protected the critically endangered Wolkberg Zulu butterfly by establishing a conservation servitude on the farm where it occurs in Limpopo Province. This marks the first time the country has implemented such a protection measure for a threatened butterfly species.
They only discovered the Wolkberg Zulu, a tiny butterfly measuring just 26mm, a century ago. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of landowner Gustav van Veijeren, the Lepidopterists’ Society of Africa, and the Endangered Wildlife Trust, a conservation servitude will now safeguard the butterfly’s two remaining high-altitude habitats on the slopes of the Wolkberg mountain range. This represents a significant step towards securing the future of this unique and intriguing species, which intriguingly feeds on hard rock lichens. The conservation servitude marks a pivotal moment, providing renewed hope for the Wolkberg Zulu and setting a precedent for other endangered butterflies in South Africa.
Read more here
Penguin settlement
The African penguin population has declined by over 90% in the last century. If the population continues falling at the current rate of 7.9% per year, they might be extinct by 2035. Parties finally reached a legal settlement to establish no-fishing zones around six major African penguin breeding colonies off the coast of South Africa. The agreement will restrict sardine and anchovy fishing for 12 miles around the penguin colonies on Robben Island and Bird Island for the next 10 years, with more limited closures around four other colonies.
This is a significant step in efforts to save the critically endangered African penguin. While conservationists welcome this progress, they acknowledge that the threats facing African penguins are complex and ongoing, with factors like climate change, land predators, and noise pollution also impacting the species. Monitoring the impact of the new fishing restrictions will be crucial going forward.
Want to know more? You can read the details here.
Lemurs turning back the clock on cellular ageing
Fat-tailed dwarf lemurs in Madagascar live up to twice as long as other primates their size… Why? They hibernate in winter. Researchers found they can temporarily reverse cellular ageing by extending their telomeres during hibernation. This process effectively turns back the clock on their cells, counteracting the typical shortening of telomeres that occurs with age. The researchers followed two groups, one that they let hibernate and didn’t feed, and another that they fed when awake. The group they left had their telomeres grow longer.
But there was a surprise. It turns out these telomeres return to normal when things heat up again – so it is like a mechanism to counteract any cell damage that might otherwise occur during their periodic rewarming phases. Read the piece here.
*** END ***
Do you have conservation stories to share? Click here to share the info with us. We might include it in our Conservation Clips, or contact you for a full story.
Copyright 2025 Never-ending Nature. All rights reserved. You may not republish or rewrite this article without permission.
