Sebastian 'Seabass' Kennerknecht's Blog

Some of you knew that I recently (well, already a couple months ago) went to Oman, for those of you that did not, it was for the first stage of shooting for a film about Arabian Leopards, their plight, and the Omani researchers that are studying them. Terra Mater, an Austrian production company is funding the film, as well as ARTE, and the crew is made up of of people from all over the world. It was a great experience and I return with many more friends than I when I left.

Ironically, though most definitely not a coincidence, we were filming only a few miles from the Hawf Protected Area in Yemen, where I spent three months looking for Arabian Leopards. This time, we were in Oman, just across the border. The political situation is of course much safer, though as I have stated before, I was never in any danger in Yemen, mainly because I was so far east from all the trouble zones. Arabian Leopards have also been studied for a longer period of time here. In fact, this is the birthplace of research on these majestic creatures. Hadi Al Hakmani is the principal researcher for leopards in Oman having studied them for over twelve years; it was a true honor meeting him. His love for the animals and his work was inspiring and truly genuine. The same goes for Khalid, who has also been dedicating his life towards ensuring and bettering the conservation efforts for these critically endangered animals. Having gotten to spend time with both of them, and counting them as friends, made the trip worthwhile by itself.

Since this was the first trip, I’ll fill you in on more of the details after completion of the project, but for now a couple of pictures.

The Habitat:

Wadi landscape, Oman -- told you it looked like Yemen

The crew:

Ben Young - Sound/Camera

David Eden - Sound

Mike Birkhead - Director

Caroline Bridges and Mike Cuthbert - Both Camera

Zara McDonald (from Felidae Conservation Fund)- Presenter

What am I doing here again? (taken by Khalid who is quite the photographer)

Sebastian (Basti) Gruebl - Terra Mater

Khalid - Arabian Leopard Researcher

Hadi Al Hakmani - Arabian Leopard Researcher

Food:

We always ate really well, thanks to our cook, this was a feast of goat barbeque.

Wildlife:

Arabian Wolf - I kid you not, Khalid said he had a feeling we would see a wolf that day!

Juvenile California Condor male, Pinnacles National Monument, California

Our most Endangered Neighbor is the California Condor with less than 200 individuals in the wild (There are about 181 in captivity). Like the Sea Otter, the low California Condor numbers are due mainly to historical reasons. Many were shot since they were seen as threats to livestock (sadly not true as they are strict carrion eaters) and for museum specimens. Then, as for so many other bird species, came the problem of pesticides, specifically DDT. It caused their egg shells to be too thin, causing them to break.

Soaring juvenile California Condor, Big Sur, California

Though Condor numbers are on the rise the still face modern day threats:

• Poaching is still an issue (how is this possible?!?!)
• Habitat destruction
• Dying of lead poisoning due to eating hunter killed carrion that contains lead bullets

California Condor juvenile male flying, Pinnacles National Monument, California

Though these guys are not as cuddly and cute looking as our beloved otters, there are still people who are devoting their life to saving this amazing species. Mainly, the people from the Ventana Wildlife Society’s Condor Project are responsible for their increase in numbers by managing and conducting a few different projects.

• They collect thin-shelled, wild-laid eggs and replace them with viable captive-bred eggs
• They treat lead-poisoned birds
• They monitor the safety and health of each condor through radio telemetry

Replacing batteries on radio transmitter on California Condor, Big Sur, California

Monitoring California Condor at Release Site, Big Sur, California

California Condor release, Big Sur, California

They (here Lyla Hunt) also get to clean out the dead rats used as food for the California Condors in their holding pen, Big Sur, California - yummy!

Radio tracking California Condor, Big Sur, California

In fact, the wild flock in central California, aka along the Big Sur coast is a direct result of their dynamic efforts.

Now as always, there are plenty of little steps we can all take to help condors out. Trust me, if for no other reason than this one, you want these guys to survive to see one of them soar near you. Their impressive nine foot wing span is awe inspiring!

So here are the steps you and me should be taking!

• Adopt a Condor
• Immediately report poaching activities to the Department of Fish and Game at 1 888 DFG-CALTIP (888 334-2258)
• Hunt with non-lead bullets
• Finally, there are limited and irregular volunteer opportunities with the Ventana Wilderness Society (call them at 831-455-9514)

California Condor and Turkey Vulture flying, Big Sur, California -- oh yeah, there is a size difference

Arabian Leopard looking through bars, Sana'a Zoo, Sana'a, Yemen

As most of you remember, I went to Yemen to try and photograph the critically endangered Arabian Leopard. Sadly, there were no leopards in sight. Even more disappointing was the fact that we could not find any signs that they are still present in the area. My fieldwork in Hawf leads me to believe that the sighting of a leopard in June 2011 was possibly the last instance of leopards occupying the region. This proves that there is an even greater need for the protection of these amazing animals, as well as the ecosystems they occupy, than I had previously expected. Arabian Leopards are barely hanging on, their existence depends on us humans. The picture above exemplifies this exact point to me. Taken at Sana’a Zoo, in a cage filled with concrete and little space to hide, the beauty of this animal caught between the bars of its enclosure reminds us of how dire its situation is both in captivity and the wild. However, this zoo may soon be the only place in which Yemenis will be able to see Arabian Leopards. To help ensure the survival of its wild counterparts, 20% of all sales of this image will be donated to the Foundation for the Protection of the Arabian Leopard in Yemen. Since it’s an artist edition print, only 10 fine prints will be made of this image.

Captive Arabian Leopard - Copyright: Damien Egan

As all of you know, I am completely fascinated, obsessed, and intrigued by all species of wild cats. Is it at all obvious? —

So I am extremely excited to report that I will soon head to Yemen to photograph (well maybe I should say try to photograph) wild Arabian Leopards. There are probably less than 100 wild Arabian Leopards left in all of the Arabian Peninsula, making it incredible important to increase the publicity of the plight of this amazing animal.

I’ll be working with good friend David Stanton from the Foundation for the Protection of the Arabian Leopard in Yemen to capture pictures of wild Arabian Leopards there along with images that illustrate their threats including the hunting of their prey, habitat degradation, and direct persecution along with photographs that demonstrate the conservation efforts currently in place there.

This assignment will partially be funded by the foundation, which at the same time will be working on the the establishment of a protected area. David is currently raising funds that will allow for a former leopard trapper to determine if Arabian Leopards exist in the north-western part of Yemen. If you can at all contribute, you will play a tremendous part in the establishment of an international protected area. To donate and find out all the details please visit the ‘Nightwatch – Catching Arabian Leopards with Camera Traps’ project on kickstarter at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2001600289/nightwatch-catching-arabian-leopards-with-camera-t

Need another incentive to donate? Well, I’ll make it easy on you. Since this project is extremely close to my heart I am offering a 40% discount on any product from my site www.pumapix.com, if you donate $50 or more to the kickstarter project. To receive your discount: forward me a copy of your donation receipt. Next, add any product(s) featured on pumapix.com to your cart and go through the normal ordering process. You can choose to pay with Paypal (if you select this option I will automatically refund 40% of your total order amount via Paypal). Otherwise, you can send a check for the order amount minus 40% to: Sebastian Kennerknecht, 1815 Katrina Court, Santa Cruz, CA 95062.  Alternatively, you can write to me and we can handle the whole transaction via email. This discount will end when the fund raising on kickstarter finishes on September 30th, 2011.

Of course if you feel strongly enough about this project we would more than appreciate you passing this information on (including discount offer) to anyone in your network. Thank you so much for your support!

If you spend enough time outdoors eventually you get lucky to have ‘once in a lifetime’ wildlife experiences. We all remember these distinct events clearly and I know I won’t forget any of them for the rest of my life. This last weekend I was lucky enough to once again have one of these completely breath taking encounters.

Jeff Swanson, a good friend of mine and amazing landscape photographer, and I made the trek to Pinnacles National Monument to try and find some California Red-legged Frogs that JK let us know we could find there (thanks again Jake). Since we wanted to be at Bear Gulch Reservoir by sunrise that meant getting up at 3:00am. It was amazing to be the only people at the reservoir, it was completely tranquil and quiet (except beautiful bird calls of course!).

Bear Gulch Reservoir, Pinnacles National Monument

Since we didn’t have much luck finding adult frogs (we did find tadpoles which were awesome) and the light was getting harsher we decided to go for a little hike. First we encountered this amazing valley scene:

Bear Gulch, Pinnacles National Monument

and then as we were higher up the trail we saw what I was hoping for the whole time while hiking, California Condors!

There were a couple of them perched in a tree so I left my gear with Jeff and went into stalking mode. I was still quite a bit away but got some images with the 100-400 telephoto lens when one of the birds flew right at me and landed on the rocks fifteen feet away from Jeff. I got back there as quickly and quietly as I could, hoping to be fast enough to get some shots but also not too fast to scare the bird away. The juvenile condor then decided it wanted a closer look at Jeff and I so he started hopping even closer (if you have ever seen a condor hop, you know how funny yet powerful it looks). My heart was pounding and my body was shaking from the excitement. I decided to grab some portrait shots while I had the chance, knowing that this was a rare event.

Juvenile male California Condor, Pinnacles National Monument

Juvenile male California Condor, Pinnacles National Monument

Juvenile male California Condor, Pinnacles National Monument

After having taken about 50 images, he decided to come even closer and was within 5 feet of us. I used my landscape camera and lens to get wide-angle views of him. Here is a shot as he seems to check us out.

California Condor in Pinnacles National Monument

Just to give you an idea how close he is:

California Condor and me photographing it - Copyright Jeff Swanson

Finally, after about 20-30 minutes he decided to take off again. It was absolutely impressive as he spread his 9 foot wings to glide off.

California Condor flying in Pinnacles National Monument

Jeff and I were sitting there for another 10 minutes saying how crazy that really was. What an experience!

Note: I keep using the term he, this is based on his tag that is attached to his wing. It looks like he is a three year old male (his pinkish throat pouch would seem to confirm this as well) born on April 23, 2008. All California Condors are tagged, even the wild born chicks are caught and fitted with a radio transmitter so if you see a bird without a number it is very very unlikely that it is a California Condor. You can find out about each condor’s life on the Condor Spotter site.

What was one of your most memorable wildlife experiences?