From Wildlife Extra:
Safari guide Tyrone Mckeith sent us this image of a leucistic hammerkop from the Busanga Plains in Zambia.
The huge (750 km2) Busanga Plains are regarded as the Jewel of the Kafue, depending on the time of year you visit (The flood season is from March through to May) you may need to travel by Mokoro (traditional dug-out canoes) to access the plains. This area is synonymous with the large herds of Red lechwe and buffalo which bring with them interest from the Kafue’s impressive carnivore diversity. Being submerged for most of the year, the seasonal flood waters attract great flocks of Open Billed storks, which spiral in the thermals over the plains. Crowned and the rare Wattled cranes are seen searching through the grass for insects and beetles.
Leucism (or Leukism)
Leucism is a very unusual condition whereby the pigmentation cells in an animal or bird fail to develop properly. This can result in unusual white patches appearing on the animal, or, more rarely, completely white creatures.
Click here to see our gallery of albino and leucistic animals and birds.
Zambia arms wildlife police; declares ‘war’ on poaching & clamps down on hunting: here.
The Zambian Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) has turned down a mining proposal at one of Zambia’s key important bird Areas, Lower Zambezi. The proposal to mine eight million tonnes of copper ore per year was put forward by Mwembesi Resources Ltd, an Australian affiliated company. The project would involve development of the main pit at Kangaluwi and satellite pits at three other areas: here.