Moscow to hold beauty pegeant for Snakes

The Moscow Zoo plans to hold a "beauty pageant" for snakes from March to May to mark the year of the snake.

The zoo has already allocated about 2 million rubles ($66,000) for the event's organization, according to information on the official state procurement website.

A condition of the event is that it must be held in a pavilion with a total area of nearly 300 square meters.

In the statement, the maximum price of the contract was calculated based on the planned attendance of the zoo from March to mid-May, and that at least 36 different kinds of non-venomous snakes will be on display at the event.

Only the brightest, most beautiful and unique kinds of snakes will be showcased: Leptocercal ladder snakes, false smooth snakes, slim, ancestral, European, American and burrow snakes, sand snakes, South American bush snakes, king snakes, red king snakes and Madagascar snakes, as well as Australian and reticulated pythons, ordinary snakes and tree boas.

The zoo requires whoever wins the contract to ensure veterinarian services for the animals and any treatment they require, as well as to prepare admission tickets for the show and forms for voting. The tender winner will also have to provide all equipment and heating for the snakes' cages, as well as security for the event.

Awesome Wonders of Nature: Lions cause Traffic in Kenya

                              
Amateur South African snapper Gareth Jones was one of the drivers stuck in the traffic. He got out to photograph the unique scene at 6.40am.

Gareth, originally from South Africa but now living in Kenya, said: ‘I had only driven about 500 metres when the shapes of two big male lions could be seen in the road.
                             
                                  

‘They went into a ridiculous pose, with their rear ends up in the air and their faces down over some buffalo dung. They were trying to mask their smell so they could hunt undetected. ‘They both looked like they were enjoying themselves and it was an incredible start to the day.’

Gareth's images show the lions rolling in Buffalo dung to mask their scent in a bid to go undetected when hunting.

                               


But that was no consolation for commuters, who sat watching the ten minute display, before the lions left the road.

Gareth added: ‘After driving ahead of them, I began to take pictures of them walking up the road.‘As the lions were walking slowly, all the cars entering the main gate of the park were effectively blocked by their pace. Everyone was very patient.’
                       
                                   

Nairobi National Park opened in 1946. It is located just over four miles from the Kenyan capital’s city centre and its skyscrapers can be seen from within the protected area. The park is home to a wild range of species, including giraffes, leopards, wildebeest and hippos.

                                        

The closeness to the city proves a risk to the park as it is completely exposed to the pollution of the capital as well as threats from a growing population in need of land for farming and infrastructure.

Zambia and WildLife: The ban on Lions

Some weeks ago, news and reports came out on the disappearance and extinction of lions in Nigeria and West Africa. More. Such was gradually going on in East Africa but now the officials have woken up from their slumber. Zambia has banned the hunting of lions and other endangered wild cats such as leopards because it sees more value in tourism than blood sport, the country's tourism minister said. More.

Nigeria and the Lions: Death of Tourism

                                Photo Courtesy: allafrica.com

Report released in London indicated that various species of lions in Nigeria and other countries in West Africa face increasing decline and are most probably on the verge of extinction in few years if nothing is done to redress the ugly trend.

While countries in East Africa are waking up everyday to the benefits of  tourism and making all attempts to stop the extinction of lions and other wildlife animals.

West Africa is completely sleeping. Nigeria's tourism can earn her billions of naira in foreign exchange  but the easy oil cash which encourages corruption is preventing all investments in the sector.

 The Yankari Games Reserve is almost dead. With the Islamists in Mali now and Boko Haram in Nigeria, one wonders if any tourist sector will survive in West Africa because all the regions that these two operate in are the best for wildlife and tourism; Northern Nigeria and Northern Mali