Valentine

Valentine's movements

19 Mar 2021 - The end of the road for Valentine

Sadly, it looks as if we have heard the last from Valentine. When his tag last transmitted, the battery in his tag was low on charge and had been for some time, but there's also an indication of a problem based on temperature. The temperature sensor in the tag reported about 8 degrees C lower than any of the previous readings in Angola, including those from similar times of day, and we don't think the move north by a few hundred km explains this. We suspect that Valentine perished between the last location in Angola (2nd Feb) and the ones in southwest DRC (16th Feb). Valentine was tagged in June 2019 so we have benefited from a lot of valuable data from Valentine, helping us extend our knowledge and understanding of this amazing species.  

27 Feb 2021 - Valentine on the move?

A low quality location received from Valentine's tag suggests that he may be on the move from Angola towards Democratic Republic of Congo. Hopefully he will emerge from the forest canopy soon and his tag will receive enough sunlight to send us a more reliable location.

15 Feb 2021 - Valentine still in Angola

We've seen little movement from Valentine over the last couple of months, since he arrived in Angola at the end of November. The latest updates received at the beginning of February show that he is still in rainforest in the Bengo province of northern Angola, approximately 136 km (85 miles) north east of the capital Luanda. Given that he is probably under the dense canopy of the rainforest, it isn't unusual for us to have fewer updates from his tag, which requires solar energy to charge up the battery. In previous years he has stayed in Angola until late February/early March. 

10 Nov 2020 - Valentine nudges west in Angola

Having flown a further 215 km (133 miles) west in northern Angola, Valentine is now very close to his 2019 wintering grounds. He is 210 km (130 miles) north east of the capital Luanda.

29 Oct 2020 - Valentine reaches Angola

Valentine has passed through Cameroon, Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo, and is now in northern Angola. He is only 130 km (80 miles) north of his wintering location in 2019. Last year he arrived here on December 5 so he is a little ahead of schedule this year. If conditions are good, he may well stay in this area until late February/early March.

Past updates from valentine