Colby-Sawyer College Hosts Film and Discussion of Operation Noah's Ark, Africa's Effort to Relocate Elephants and Other Endangered Species

by Amber Cronin '10

NEW LONDON, N.H. - Colby-Sawyer College will host the documentary “Operation Noah's Ark,” about Africa's efforts to relocate elephants and several other species from Namibia and Botswana to Quiçama National Park in Angola. A discussion about wildlife management in Africa will follow the short film.

“Operation Noah's Ark” will be shown on Monday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. in Clements Hall of the Curtis L. Ivey Science Center, and followed by a discussion with Professor Wouter van Hoven, director of the Center for Wildlife Management at the University of Pretoria in South Africa and director of Ecolife Expeditions. Admission is free, and the public is welcome to attend.

Professor Wouter van Hoven will discuss wildlife management and the important role of veterinary technicians in Africa, citing “Operation Noah's Ark” as a case study.

Operation Noah's Ark is an effort led by the Kissama Foundation, a group of South Africans and Angolans dedicated to rebuilding Quiçama National Park and other national parks in Angola. The foundation is collaborating with the Angolan government in the project, which seeks to conserve and rehabilitate the country's national parks and save several native wildlife species on the verge of extinction. Angola and its neighbors are home to several national parks, which in the past 21 years have been ravaged by war.

The Operation Noah's Ark project is set up in five stages in which 150 elephants will be relocated, along with other native species such as eland, roan antelope and the pacassa buffalo. The program's goals for relocating these animals involve not only the rehabilitation of national parks, but also efforts to save the environment in which the animals live. To this end, the foundation will capture two groups of 75 elephants and remove them from the Tuli Block area of Botswana.

While most of Botswana's 100,000 elephants migrate freely to different regions, the Tuli Block is fairly contained and the elephants there do not migrate. Because of the high elephant population, the vegetation and environment have suffered. The 150 elephants will be shipped to the Quiçama National Park, where they will make their new home and relieve the strain on their former one. Operation Noah's Ark is a massive undertaking that could not be completed without the Kissama Foundation and its professionals, as well as all the equipment and planning that all of Africa can offer for these efforts. The project's work has the potential not only to revitalize Africa's endangered wildlife, but also to make its national parks, areas ravaged by war, once again beautiful and full of life.

To learn more about Colby-Sawyer College's public events, visit the Calendar of Upcoming Events.

Amber Cronin '10 is a Colby-Sawyer College student who writes for the Colby-Sawyer College Communications Office.

Colby-Sawyer, founded in 1837, is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in the scenic Lake Sunapee Region of central New Hampshire. Students learn in small classes through a select array of programs that integrate the liberal arts and sciences with pre-professional experience. Visit us on the World Wide Web at www.colby-sawyer.edu.

Colby-Sawyer College, 541 Main Street, New London, N.H. 03257 (603) 526-3000