Threats to Biodiversity

The biggest threat to the Bale Mountains is grazing, this is cause by increased settlements within the park. The increased settlements also diminish the natural habitats of wild animals, such as the Ethiopian Wolf. Domestic dogs give a threat to the endangered species of the Ethiopian wolf, because they transmit diseases. In addition, the use of wolf habitat by livestock for grazing which significantly reduces the availability of rodent prey. Finally, there is pollution and removal of forest products such as bamboo. This is what my group thinks about how to conserve wildlife. “ Us humans can do a great job in reserving the animals, such as the Ethiopian Wolf. It is also important to preserve the plants,” quote Batch Gassama. Secondly, Sarah Abennet quotes ”It is important to conserve biodiversity, because it could affect other animals.” Finally, Osas quotes “Conserving biodiversity is important because it helps to balance the ecosystem, because there are a lot of species that affect other species. If we don’t conserve the plants we won’t have enough oxygen” Osas.

The purpose of conservation is to save the animals, because if there are no animals they will affect the area. For example when the Yellowstone wolf was removed, it affected the area and the coyotes because they became the dominant species. So, if the Ethiopian wolf was extinct then the flowers and the giant mole rats will be affected. There would be many giant mole rats and they’ll feed on the flowers and the number flowers will decrease. The people of the Bale Mountains or EWCP also have to monitor the wolfs to make sure that the dogs or any other outside harmful animals wont hurt the Ethiopian Wolf. In Bale most of the dogs have rabbis, and it could infect the wolfs or even kill them. Finally, the people need to spread awareness of the endangered and endemic animals and how it could affect the area if they were extinct.

 

The overview

We all felt that the main propose for the trip was such that it was easy to pin point and understand and it wasn’t one that was relatively difficult to grasp. The main purpose of the trip according to my group was that we went on the trip to learn more than was taught in our biology class about the Ethiopian wolf, a creature that’s endemic to Ethiopia and is on the brink of extinction, and also to learn about the EWCP (the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Plan) and their plan to save and conserve the Ethiopian wolf. My group felt that the schedule and itinerary for the trip was well organized as Sarah said, “ I liked how they balanced work and free time”, and we also felt that the only thing that was kind of hard to do concerning the schedule was waking up in the morning and this was because as Batch said,  “We don’t wake up at this time usually on school days even and sometimes it got annoying but it was worth it as we got to see really nice stuff”. Overall, we all felt that the schedule was really planned and organized thoroughly by the people who planned this trip because there wasn’t a single time that we didn’t have anything to do and we also loved that they managed to give us some time after a day’s job to do whatever we wanted. We all felt that they did a really good job in putting their time and effort in organizing our schedule.

Before we left, we all in this group all had initial expectations about the trip like Aubrey said “ I felt that it was going to be really fun, I felt that we would see a lot of wildlife and also camping would be a good experience for me.”  Batch said, “ I couldn’t wait to go on the trip. I had that exiting feeling you always get when you’re doing something for the first time. It was really exciting.” Osas said, ” I felt really excited to be going away from my family for some time and I felt really excited to see a lot of wildlife and other sights i have never seen before in my life.” Sarah on the other hand said, ” I really wasn’t excited because I thought the trip wouldn’t be all that fun” .We all had high hopes for the trip and we all hoped it would be a fun and memorable experience for all of us. We were all very excited and hoped that we won’t regret going for the trip and we hoped it wouldn’t be a let down of massive proportions.

We would like to say THANK YOU!

We would like to thank Mr. Daniel Kidane and Mr. Erik Hathawy for making this trip possible and fun; they spent more days in Bale than the class. They did not go there for pleasure, they went there before us to make sure that everything was set and that the arrangements were fine. We think that going to Bale just the two of them before everyone must have been hard because it was just the two of them, without any security guards plus they drove all that way, just to make sure everything was set, so we would like to say thank you to them, we appreciate their concern it was not easy work so thank you. We would also like to thank Ms. Baxter, Mr. Haines, Ato Fasil Getachew, Mr. Ladeho, Mr. Niclas Thein, Ms. Pabalate, Ato Shewangizaw Teffera, Ato Getu Assefa, and the doctor for also making this trip possible.

Sarah stated, “ We would like to thank all the chaperons, because without them we would have no one to look over us and organized everything really well and sometimes it might have been hard but they still got through it.” Jessica said “I would like to thank the bus drivers for giving us transportation. Aubrey stated “ I would also like to thank the bus drivers because they drove us from

Addis to Bale and that’s like 10 hours of driving and it is easy to lose focus and they got us there and home safely so thank you bus drivers!” Osas said “I would like to thank the security because they kept us safe when we were camping and also kept the warthogs away from us”. Batch expressed, “I would like to thank our parents for allowing us to come to the trip because without them this group might not have been this group.”

The advice we would like to give to the future 9^th graders or anyone that wants to go to Bale is that you need to bring warm and not warm clothes because the weather changed really quickly from really cold to really hot so bring both types of clothing.  Also bring water a water bottle because you hike a lot so you will be constantly be needing to drink plenty of water. Listen to your teachers and tour guides for they will give you a lot of information about the area and you have to take notes and if you listen you have better notes for when you do your project when you come back to Addis Ababa. Last but not least do not take this trip for granted because it is an awesome trip and you will regret it if you do not participate enough in group activities because we thought that this was a memorable trip.

Highlights and Challenges of the Bale Trip

The Bale Mountains are well known for its amazing scenery. The hills were covered with a variety of trees that made it look green. The flat lands were dry and the grass had turned brown which camouflaged the Ethiopian Wolf and the mole rats. While the mole rats were to fast for us to photograph them, we were able to see 8 Ethiopian Wolves. Seeing the waterfall was incredible. The waterfall juxtaposed against the greenery looked almost as if it were a portrait. Approximately 10 – 15 meters in height the waterfall ran into a stream that contained a rocky path that we crossed over. “I really enjoyed seeing the waterfall because it was the first waterfall I have ever seen,” Aubrey stated. It was hilarious how some of my friends slipped off the rock and got their feet submerged into the water. The trip enabled us to see our friends in their true colors due to the fact we got to spend every waking moment with them, which was fun. Jessica observed, “It was nice getting to spend more time with your friends that we usually get to at school.” Each group was responsible for organizing a fun activity to share with the whole grade and each person was responsible for their stuff and actions due to our parents not there with us. This also gave us the sense of independence because we didn’t have someone constantly following what we did. “You win some, you loose some. Over this trip we got to spend time with our friends, however we had to loose 7 days with our families,” Batch declared.

New environments bring out challenges. Our trip to the Bale Mountains was no exception. Being away from our families and confortable homes was a great inconvenience. “Being used to living in a confortable house with everything I need, coming to the Bale Mountains was a great experience as well as a challenge,” Sarah declared. The long to and from the Bale Mountains felt like it lasted forever. Once we got to Dinsho Lodge we were required to set up camp, which was hard for most of us because it was a first. However, it was hard to sleep in the tents because the cold hard ground. The weather was frosty in the mornings and evenings but hot during the day. The two-hour hike to the river was challenging to some due to the fact that cows and horses surrounded us. Also that day the warthogs chased us. When we go to the river two members of every group had to go into the river and collect bug and leaf samples. Not one by two days we were required to catch, collect, and kill bugs to bring back to Addis to be experimented on. After all of this dirty knowing that there was not a shower to be found was disheartening. “ After a long day’s worth of work, knowing there was no place to shower for two days was a shower,” Osas announced.

 

 

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