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𝗜𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗭𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗶 𝗸𝗮𝗕𝗵𝗲𝗸𝘂𝘇𝘂𝗹𝘂 (𝟭𝟵𝟰𝟴-𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭)

We are saddened by his passing and our deepest sympathies go to the Royal family and the Zulu nation.

The KZN Museum staff met with King Zwelithini a number of years ago when we were doing a gallery upgrade concerning Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Conservation. If you would like to watch the full video please click on the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA5WGgM98M4&t=189s

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Once lost but now found: a rare snake and endemic to South Africa Montaspis gilvomuculata

snake

This rare cream-spotted snake is endemic to the Drakensberg Mountains in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Only four specimens have ever been found in this region between 1967 and 1991. Between 1991 to date, no other specimen has been spotted or collected.

Unfortunately, one snake escaped and disappeared during its captivity and only three specimens are currently housed in collections in South Africa. However, the specimen in the KwaZulu-Natal Museum is the oldest of all and was collected in 1967 in the Giant’s Castle Game Reserve by Z. Grafton, but the exact site remains unknown. Previously, this specimen was requested by various researchers but was never found in the Herpetology Collections of the KwaZulu-Natal Museum until late last year 2020.

During our collection care exercise, the snake was found ‘mixed’ with frog specimens in the Herpetology Collection and this explained the reason why it was never found. Once thought to have been lost but now found, the snake is currently placed in the correct location. This excitement has spread and Matabaro Ziganira who takes care of the Collection has already received inquiries about the snake and he hopes it will attract the attention of more researchers nationally and internationally.

Matabaro Ziganira
Research Technician (DNS)

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The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on South Africa’s education system, which is evident from a 5.1% drop in the matric pass rates of 2020 compared to 2019. The pandemic has required schools to re-evaluate how they can best deliver the education syllabus to learners, the internet has aided greatly in this regard with schools being able to offer lessons via Zoom. However not all schools and learners

are fortunate enough to have internet access which has created an inequality gap.

In order to bridge this inequality gap, the Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal has partnered with the KwaZulu-Natal Museum to help schools that have been affected by the pandemic. The idea is to create visual teaching aids for Life Science that complement the CAPS syllabus, in order for the learners to grasp the concepts easily. The KZN Museum’s Education Department took up the challenge and developed 120 teaching aids, which cover a total of 8 sections, ranging from grades 10 to 12.

These learning aids will be donated to 28 local schools, with each school receiving a single pack comprising of topics covered in the Life Sciences syllabus such as RNA, Viruses, Bacteria and Mitosis to name a few. The aids are not only meant to stimulate the learners visually but are designed to be interactive, allowing both students and teachers to actively construct a cell or build an RNA strand, which will hopefully result in better memory retention.

#kznmuseum #education #DoE #outreach #lifescience

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We’re kicking off Human Rights month with a bang!

Today marks the 8th annual celebration of Zero Discrimination day. This is an initiative by the UNAIDS organisation, created to combat discrimination against individuals in the world. Zero Discrimination Day celebrates the right for everyone to live a full and productive life and to live with dignity. This year’s theme is all about taking action to end all shapes and forms of inequality, from disability, income, sex, age, race, gender identity, religion, health status and ethnicity.

To learn more about this initiative click the link below

https://spark.adobe.com/page/XBcrhKn6snyky/

#kznmuseum #unaids #zerodiscriminationday #humanrightsmonth #humanrights

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