Last January Eric joined the EWCP Team as the new Field Coordinator. Originally from Tarbes in the French Pyrenees, and after studies in livestock production and agriculture, Eric spent seven years working on the reintroduction of Arabian oryx in Saudi Arabia. This was followed by a stint of four years as the technical adviser of the Gile National Reserve in Mozambique.

Eric has a broad experience on conservation issues, from captive breeding to reintroduction to law enforcement, and is particularly interested in community-based projects. His passion for wildlife and the last remaining wilderness naturally led him to join the EWCP and to offer his broad experience to help us conserve one of the rarest canids in the world. Eric loves his rugby, scuba-diving, wildlife photography and good food. Three months on Eric is still wondering whether he likes the cold weather of the Bale Mountains.

The Ky Kebero online t-shirt store opened in August 2013, administered by volunteer Alyson Baker from New Zealand, and hosted by the custom t-shirt platform Spreadshirt. All proceeds from the store go to EWCP

By Jorgelina Marino & Gebeyehu Rskay
Away from the traditional tourism route, the highlands of South Wollo are amongst the most remote and less studied. Thanks to centuries of protection these highlands preserve one of the last relicts of continuous natural habitats, from Afroalpine grasslands and Erica forests to biodiversity-rich montane forests. And the good news is that the existing Denkoro Forest Reserve was recently expanded into the Borena Sayint National Park (BSNP), which now encompasses all Afroalpine habitats and the wolves they sustain.
In October 2013 we conducted a comprehensive survey in collaboration with the park, involving EWCP staff from Bale and North Ethiopia, including the two local, young and enthusiastic, Wolf Ambassadors. In teams of two we walked 83km over 5 days and sighted 14 wolves of a vibrant red.
The BSNP has an abundant prey base that could sustain up to 40-50 wolves, more than what we had predicted a decade ago. But there is no room for complacency. Habitat loss and fragmentation are significant, as agriculture carves out the increasingly narrow habitat corridors, and uncontrolled firewood extraction degrades wolf habitat. Newly built roads with increasing traffic run along corridors and ridge tops.
The survey helped cementing EWCP's relationship with BSNP, and for the coming year we plan further training and equipment for park experts, research on land use impacts, and the development of a resources management strategy to ensure that wolves and people can continue to share these remote mountains.

By Fekadu Lema
Most Ethiopians still rely on traditional forms of energy, such as firewood, unwittingly causing deforestation, soil erosion and creating health problems. For the people in the northern highlands the main source of energy is a bush locally known as 'charranfe'. Charranfe heaths dominate many Afroalpine landscape in North Ethiopia, offering important habitat for rodents andf wolves.
After registering alarming levels of firewood extraction in threatened wolf populations, we started a Fuel Saving initiative in two areas: Delanta-Gubalaftu in Wollo and Mt Guna in Gondar. With funding from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund and in collaboration with the Energy Coordination Office of GIZ, a German NGO, our team conducted socio-economic assessments, broad consultations with local stakeholders, and awareness campaigns. We are now busy with the next step, which is establishing micro-enterprises for two selected members of the community who will produce fuel saving stoves locally. The stoves they will produce can reduce firewood consumption by half, and have been amply tested by GIZ in the Ethiopian highlands. We are very excited with this project and we look forward to introduce you to the stove makers in the near future.

By Zegeye Kibret
Last September the world joined again to raise awareness on the importance of rabies prevention. Rabies is the oldest and deadliest disease known to mankind, and also the most immediate threat to the survival of Ethiopian wolves. EWCP partnered the Global Alliance for Rabies Control to supported World Rabies Day in Bale for a sixth consecutive time. We gathered in Gamataja School in a village adjacent to the Ethiopian wolf strongholds, where the students prepared poems, a quiz and posters with ingenious mottos and slogans. Some 400 children participated of a short parade shouting 'stop rabies', 'vaccinate your dogs' and 'protect the Ethiopian wolf'. Children are a great vehicle to persuade their families to combat this terrible disease, so that wolves and their livestock are protected. In her speech Dr Tigist Belete from the Goba Animal Agency, sent a clear message: 'help us to help save all of us, especially to save the endangered Ethiopian wolf from a brink of extinction'. On behalf of EWCP I would like to thank everyone who made this event possible, and in particular Gamataja School and the Goba Woreda administration.

Anne-Marie Stewart

On Sunday the 7^th of March, we held our 12^th Wolf Day in Dinsho, and all anyone could think about was, “Please let the rain hold off!”

For the past two weeks it hasn’t stopped raining here – the normally tranquil streams have turned into raging rivers that are in danger of breaking their banks, while the roads and dirt tracks in town are slippery mud slides that threaten to send you sliding headlong into a puddle. So understandably we were all concerned that Wolf Day could turn into a mud bath!

However, the weather, for once, was on our side, and although the rain clouds gathered ominously over the mountains, in Dinsho we were treated to patches of blue sky and sunshine.

The day opened with a blessing from the village elders, and then the Bale Beauty Nature Club presented us with a cake they had baked, marking the 12^th Wolf Day for EWCP (the cake didn’t last very long, as the invited guests and dignitaries were keen to sample the best of Bale baking!).

Numerous sports matches were held during the day, with the EWCP Wolf team facing the Dinsho Club in the football finals. Unfortunately EWCP went down one-nil, but all the players did very well while having to deal with a horribly sodden pitch. Two volleyball matches, the final of the primary school football league, and the 5000m race concluded the sporting part of the day. We were also treated to various plays and singing competitions, as well as an art display from the Dinsho Primary School. A pot-smashing game and a raffle brought the proceedings for the day to a close, and all the EWCP staff breathed a sigh of relief. Another successful Wolf Day, the rain stayed away, and the community came together once again to celebrate the Ethiopian wolf and the afroalpine. A big thank you to all the EWCP staff who ensured that the day ran smoothly.

Drama on Wolf Day

A very soggy field


2nd place trophy for the Wolf Team