June 30, 2005

Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary

Ghana, Africa

Dear Supporters;

I'm greeting Calgary from the underside of an umbrella! The rains have come to Ghana at last. Not a single drop of rain fell in Wechiau in May, and farmers were becoming increasingly concerned with each passing day. Things are back on track now; the climate is behaving, and the African grey hornbills have migrated north (a local sign that it is time to commence planting).

Yes, the rain has been coming fast and furious, and flooding seems to be a regular occurrence throughout the country. A few days ago I was in heavy traffic in the capitol city of Accra and a drainage burst. In the centre of the road, an enormous hole - large enough to contain several cars - was created. The hole was obscured however by the deluge that was covering the entire roadway. Men gathered to guide vehicles through safely (for a fee of course). Nothing as small as the vehicle I was traveling in was chancing the crossing and I insisted to the driver that we turn back. I could just imagine us, in the blink of an eye, swept into the raging rapids and under the roadway.

In early June, I was the Chairperson at a co-worker’s wedding. Apparently, it is prestigious to have a white person stand up for you. By the time I joined the head table to give my short speech however, the proceedings had disintegrated into a noisy, confusing affair, with parched guests eagerly quenching their hunger & thirst with snacks & soft drinks. The celebration had been going on for hours and hours – the wedding service alone was more than 3 hours in length – and it seemed that the goal of the proceedings was to be as elaborate and long-winded as possible. Lively singing and dancing went on throughout and we were asked to give offerings for the church on three separate occasions!

I had the opportunity to explore another region of Ghana this month. We are interested in replicating the Wechiau community sanctuary model with different wildlife species in other regions of Ghana. To that end, I was part of an assessment team investigating the Western sitatunga. If you haven’t heard of the sitatunga, it is the world’s only amphibious antelope. This rare mammal has adapted to its aquatic existence with elongated and narrow, widely splayed hooves. The shape of the feet gives the sitatunga the ability to walk on dense floating vegetation in swamps and other stagnant wetlands. The coat is shaggy and oily, acting as a repellant to water. Considered extirpated from Ghana for over 20 years, the species was re-discovered in 1998 living around the Avu Lagoon of southeastern Ghana.

The lagoon and its tributaries are still traveled by local people using unsteady dugout canoes and wooden poles. The waterway is shallow enough that fishermen are able to pole around its entirety. There are a number of customs and traditions that are testimony to the cultural significance of the sitatunga and its wetlands ecosystem. A shrine has been placed at the high water line for the worship of the female god, “Ablewa”. This water god maintains peace and unity among the people. Residents explain that ‘like a mother protecting her children, Ablewa protects everyone and ensures that there are enough fish for the children to eat’. Residents enforce regulations around the access and use of the fresh water resource. For example, footwear is removed at the shrine and the individual must come to the stream edge barefoot; failing to do is thought to spoil the fishing harvest. In addition, the wetlands are used for drinking and cooking, and women must not pass the shrine nor enter the water if they are menstruating.

Locals are capable of identifying sitatunga pathways through the floating vegetation. They know when the path was last used and the direction the animal traveled. During hunting expeditions, sitatunga is tracked by walking along the marshy vegetation following these pathways. However, only the males are hunted, as there is a strict ban on the killing of females. Since male and female sitatunga are differently coloured, suitable prey is quickly identified. Sitatunga has been hunted in this fashion for generations and the conservation ethic has been woven into the fabric of traditional life.

There is no recent evidence of the occurrence of the Western sitatunga in Togo, Cote d’Ivoire and Niger. Also, the animal is listed as endangered in Nigeria, Benin, Chad and Senegal. With these statistics in mind, Ghana’s sitatunga population of Avu Lagoon, the only confirmed population for the country, represents a highly important collection for West Africa.

Back in Wechiau, construction of the much-awaited primary school has officially started. Prior to laying the first building blocks this month, a number of important steps had to occur in the preceding days and weeks. The landowner (divisional chief, Tokali-Naa) had to authorize the use of the land, the Ghana Education Service needed to endorse the project, and the construction site had to be blessed. It is customary to get a volunteer labour force - made up of the various beneficiary community members - to do the work. And, as a result, a dedicated crew has begun spending their days molding cement building blocks. I will keep you posted on their progress in the coming months.

With the downpour of rain this month, the water level has been steadily rising in various low-lying areas around Wechiau. One such area happens to be at the back of our house. It seems that a black cobra decided to find a dry place for the night and entered our compound through the gutter in the bathhouse. In the middle of that same black night, Carl got up to answer the call of nature and found himself on the verge of stepping on the hooded fellow. Fortunately he was able to ‘dispatch’ the snake. Not a big snake lover at the best of times, Carl claims that his skin is still crawling!

Donna Sheppard
Conservation Outreach, Calgary Zoo
In Association with NCRC and the Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary
Box 569, Wa, Upper West Region, Ghana, West Africa