GVI Kenya

Category: Shimoni Forest, genets | Date: Nov 05 2009 | By: gvikenya

Yesterday our forest team went out in the late afternoon to see if we could get some colobus behaviour done, as we are lacking data for that time of the day.  We didn’t manage to get a sighting good enough, but on our way back we got a sighting we certainly did not expect – a dead baby genet!

It was lying directly on our north/south spine, so there was no way we could have missed it.  Having only ever seen one genet in the forest before (during a night walk), I was truly excited, albeit rather sad.  I immediately guessed it was a young one purely based on its size, and it had a relatively large hole in its upper body. 

 This photo shows the broad-based, rounded ears

It was getting late and the light was fading, so we covered it in a temporary tomb of coral blocks, to protect it from scavengers until the next day when we could come back and inspect it in more detail.  So this morning we went back to the same spot, armed with a camera, a measuring tape and a spring balance.

 The genet being weighed using a spring balance
 
Its measurements were as follows:

• Head-body (from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail): 24 cm
• Foreleg: 6 cm
• Hind leg: 10 cm
• Tail: 20 cm
• Weight: 175 g

From the photographs we got, it is clear that it is either a common genet (Genetta genetta) or a blotched genet (Genetta tigrina).  Personally I’m leaning towards the blotched genet, for the following reasons;

Common genets have rather coarse fur whereas bloched genets have much softer fur.  I touched the fur, and it was definitely soft!
Common genets have a short crest of longer fur along the spine, and the blotched genet does not.  We did not see a spine of longer fur on our genet. 
The common genet has small, numerous and linear spots on a sandy background.  Although our genet did have small numerous spots, they do not appear as tidy or linear as the picture in the book suggests (Kingdon, 1997).
The blotched genet has broad-based, slightly rounded ears in comparison with the more pointed ears of the common genet. 
The common genet has a small patch of pale or white fur at the tip of the tail, when the blotched genet does not.  Ours appeared to have a black tip of the tail. 
Furthermore, the coat of the blotched genet can be extremely variable with regards to colour and pattern, and different coloured morphs exist in the same area.  This had led to the naming of many subspecies. 

This shows the extent of the wound

All of this said, I think it is very difficult to say for sure, purely because of the age of the animal.  It is obviously very young, as its body and tail length are approximately half the minimum length of an adult of both the common and blotched genets, and its weight is approximately one seventh of the minimum weight of an adult of either species.  So many of the key features for successful identification may have not have developed yet. 

Anyway, it was incredibly interesting to see one of these shy, nocturnal animals so close.  They are truly beautiful little creatures, that are found in the Viverridae family that includes all genets and civets.

If there are any genet experts out there who have any thoughts, please do let us know!       
 

Tags: , , blotched genet, camera, civets, colobus behaviour, common genet, dead genet, foreleg, Genetta genetta, Genetta tigrina, head-body, hind leg, measuring tape, nocturnal animals, shy, spring balance, subspecies, successful identification, tails, Viverridae, weight

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Category: Cetacean research, Humpback whales | Date: Aug 13 2009 | By: gvikenya

On Sunday we were rewarded with yet another amazing sighting of Humpback Whales. It has been the sixth sighting since the beginning of 093 Expedition. This time, a mother Humpback Whale and its young calf were socializing in the channel between Mkwiro and Shimoni, so close to our Base Camp that we were able to see them from the land.

 The mother

It didn’t take us too long to prepare the cameras and GPS and jump into the boat to spend some time watching the pair as they slowly cruised in the channel. They seemed very relaxed in this calm and shallow waters; the young calf was lying on its back showing its distinctive white pectoral fins, while the mother rubbed her body from underneath. We were just overwhelmed by the beauty and the magnificence of the moment!

The calf showing its pectoral fin  

But the main show was yet to come…after a short diving period, the calf breached more than half of its body clearly out of the water just about 30m away from our boat…Whoww! Sunny Sunday Mornings at GVI’s Mkwiro Base.  

The pair together

During the last year (2008) we had a total of 6 sightings of 15 Humpback whales inside our study area. And from the start of July 2009, GVI has already seen 14 Humpback whales in 7 sightings. We are now sharing this data with other organizations collecting data on Humpback whales (a network that involves almost 100 whale-watchers along the East African Coast, from southern Mozambique to northern Unguja Island, Zanzibar) and contributing to have a better understanding of the migration pattern of this species.

Tags: breach, calf, camera, gps, humpback whale, kisite mpunguti marine protected area, mkwiro, mother, pectoral fin, socialising, wasini channel

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