Please don't ignore us KWS!
Sunday, October 25, 2009 at 12:08PM We mentioned back in early June about the Lion Poisoning on the other side of the reserve and we're pleased to see that Mr Omondi from KWS echoed our sentiments in Thursday's Daily Nation:
A total of 10 lions have been killed by herders who have lost their cattle to the large cats. In one case, farmers poisoned a carcass and it left for the lions. It killed not just a lion, but also 300 vultures that ate the carcasses of the cow and the lion.
Mr Omondi says the herders should expect to lose some of their animals if they choose to break the law and let them graze in game reserves. (emphasis mine)
The pressure being put on the Narok side of the reserve by cattle is unsustainable and, as bad as this drought may be, Kenya cannot afford to lose such a large part of one of our National resources.
One of the challenges KWS faces in its efforts to keep cattle out of game reserves is that the Maasai Mara, Kenya’s most famous park, is not managed by the service. Instead, it’s managed by the Narok County Council who, Mr Omondi says, turn a blind eye to the herders.
It's important to mention that since 1996, the management of the Masai Mara Game Reserve has been separated by county council borders. The Narok County Council look after their side, and Trans-Mara look after the Mara Triangle - that's thirteen years of separate management! But enough about political boundaries (although some recognition for the Mara Conservancy after all our years of hard work would be quite nice), Mr Omondi actually raises some very important issues in the article which cannot be ignored.
There have been no illegal cattle incursions into the Mara Triangle and this may be why the wildebeest migration chose to stay in the Triangle for the majority of it's Kenyan cycle. Now I'm not saying that wildebeest stay away from cattle, we know very well that the two often graze in the same area because they enjoy the short grass and the new growth that this brings, but once an area is overgrazed then there is no grass left at all - for cows, or for wildebeest.
Part of the wildebeest migration in the Mara Triangle yesterday.
Also, I was rather surprised to see in the article remarks about large numbers of hippo dying:
“The water level in the Mara River dropped below the minimum sustainable levels and we lost about 500 to 600 hippos,” Mr Omondi said.
We haven't seen any substantial losses like this, in fact, we haven't even noticed a small loss. The Mara River runs along the entire length of the Mara Triangle before heading into Tanzania, and before us it runs through Masai Mara North Conservancy - who I've just contacted and they haven't seen any large losses either. If anyone knows where this figure comes from and if it is indeed for the Mara River, please get in touch.
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Reader Comments (6)
Hi Will,
Everybody in the area knows the great job you guys are doing. Additionally, Amanda and I have only seen one dead hippo this season...and that was about 4 weeks ago approximately 4km North of the New Mara Bridge. Unknown how that hippo died but the carcass was floating in the river and being fed upon by several large crocs. We are also anxious to hear the origin of the massive hippo die-off being reported. Once we find out when and where the die-off occurred, It would be interesting to go back to that time and examine the water samples we collected in that area for changes in nutrients that may reflect a die-off.
Hi Will,
I just want to reiterate that we all believe that you guys in the Mara Triangle are doing a fantastic job.
It is true, the level of cattle currently being kept by many Maasai families is at an unsustainable high. Even though the drought has certainly affected the numbers, with some people estimating that 80% of the herd has been lost, surely these same families will rebuild their herds and without some sort of awareness campaign on stock levels, and an emphasis on quality over quantity, we will see the pressures increase I am afraid. This may be our chance as a nation to affect change in cultural practices which are practiced by a few and effect the welfare of the entire nation, and beyond. Unfortunately we as safari stakeholders often feed into the mentality of overstocking by not making our rental/lease fees come with minor restrictions such as making payments through school fee vouchers or the like. Currently people just take the money, buy more cows and move them off the land we rent, invading someone else's or the park itself. We saw this problem more clearly than ever this year - especially in the Narok side of the park and the associated Conservancies.
Perhaps a joint - information campaign on stock numbers management between the relevant govt. ministries, the KWS, and private companies would be appealing at this time - as surely people can understand and see that they have lost up to 80% of their wealth in a veritable "Maasai Stock Market Crash"? I am not sure the way forward but would love to hear people's thoughts.
Keep up the good work down there.
Cheers,
Bryan
Thank you Chris - if you hear anything about the hippos, let me know.
Hello Bryan
I think you're right and something does have to be done about cattle as the land can no longer sustain these numbers. Even a good local banking system, that the Maasai can trust, may also be an answer rather than storing all their money in cows (not literally!).
When the KWS says 600 hippos died, it just goes to show their ignorance. They have NO way of knowing that as they spend so little time in the park. Perhaps they think they might have access to more donor funds if the general population hears numbers like that... but that's absolutely crazy. Perhaps if Omondi spent a little more time in the park (starting with repairing the roads!!) he might have a better idea what's going on!
Hey Mike - I think it may have been just a simple mistake. KWS do not manage the Masai Mara and are therefore not responsible for the roads etc., this is the responsibility of each local county council; Trans Mara (who hire us) and Narok.