Gladys Porter Zoo 2010 - The Gem of Brownsville

September 2010

The Gem of Brownsville, the last Jentinks Duiker in captivity. The west may never see one again and this animal is rather old for a Duiker so go and see it while you can. Its status in the wild is critically endangered, one reason being the ongoing civil wars in Liberia and other countries in West Africa.

Baldur said:

September 2010

Its status in the wild is critically endangered, one reason being the ongoing civil wars in Liberia and other countries in West Africa.

Click to expand...

While Liberia remains a potentially volatile country, its civil war ended five years ago. Its president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is generally regarded as being an impressive woman: this year she has been described as "the best president the country has ever had" by The Economist, and she has garnered a great deal of respect for the way in which she has worked to resolve the country's issues relating to its economy, its human rights, and its standard of living. Given that Liberia was, for many years, in effect a client state of the US, and corruption and maladministration were permitted so long as America's interests were preserved, she has much work to do. But it is not as bleak as all that...

Meanwhile, the duiker is also present in Sierra Leone, which is similarly emerging from a terrible period of its history under the aegis of an impressive leader - in this case Ernest Bai Koroma. One of Koroma's moves has been to establish the Gola National Park, the country's second, in which Jentink's duikers are present (Gola Forest - Homepage). It is early days for the park yet, but things look more optimistc than might have been expected a decade ago.

It is only in the Ivory Coast that things look poor. The country has been lurching from crisis to crisis for several years, and it looks no closer to resolution now.

Sorry to go on, but I think it vital to recognise that, far from being 'basket cases', many African states are making great strides forward, and are also far more concerned with their environment than is the case in many more wealthy countries in the northern hemisphere.

Does this duiker have a name?

I will keep a closer eye on Africa from now on! Thanks Sooty!