"In pursuit of its goals, the School endeavours to improve the quality of forest policing by providing and supporting high quality training for officers and men/women to develop their skills, knowledge and competence in Leadership, Command, Management and Community Mobilisation to the highest standards possible. This will enable them to protect and manage forests and allied resources in Kenya and elsewhere."  

The training was carried out with rangers from Mara Conservancy, Trans Mara County Council, Narok County Council, Koibatek County Council, Baringo County Council and Kapsabet Municipal Council. 

Best Trainees of the Course

Best Man All Round - Jeremiah Martim Cheruiyot: Mara Conservancy

Marksman of the Course - John Ntoika: Mara Conservancy

Best Man in Academics - John Kintai: Mara Conservancy

Best Man in Drill - James Rissa Kool: Narok County Council

Oldest Trainee - Fredfick Barsaloi Naimodu: Narok County Council

We are very proud of all our rangers who took part in the three month long training. Congratulations to J.M. Cheruiyot, J. Ntoika, J. Kintai, J.K. Semeiyoi, K.S. Lesiang'au, A.K. Bett, D.P. Kisieku, I. Ole Singai, J.O. Kosencha and W. Nailenya.

A party of Kenyan friends were camping at one of our private campsites when a group of armed men entered the camp in the early evening. Shots were fired leaving one man dead and two people injured. 

We immediately deployed our rangers and co-operated with the GSU, KWS and the Police. At this time it is not permitted to give any more information on the case, we have however boosted security in the area and now insist that all campers hire armed rangers during their stay. 

All of us here at the Mara Conservancy wish to express our deepest condolences to the family of the deceased, and hope for a speedy recovery of those who were injured. 

Find Out More:

No Water No Life Website 

Latest News: 

Leaders Cry Foul Over Mau Evictions Daily Nation, July 11th 2010:

The Award was first introduced by Cheryl and Manny Mvula of Tribal Voice Communications to help raise guiding standards in the Mara Triangle in relation to responsible wildlife viewing etiquette. All lodges operating in the Mara Triangle were invited to nominate their most Responsible Guide for the award, and each of the short-listed guides was then subjected to two assessed game drives where they were tested according to how responsible they were towards the wildlife being viewed, the Mara ecosystem and their respect for local culture and the community – according to the Travel Foundation’s Responsible Safari Guiding guidelines.

Standards were much higher than last year, and to recognise the improvement we decided to award first and second place, followed by two runners-up:

1st Prize 

Charity Jemutai Cheruiyot; Bateleur Camp

2nd Prize 

Abdul Karim; Olonana

Runners Up

Mark Liaram; Mara West  

Timothy Kinyamal Kiok; Kichwa Tembo

Charity wins a two week guiding trip to Zambia's South Luangwa National Park, sponsored by Born Free.

Thank you to Mara Siria, Olonana, &Beyond, Kilima, Mara West and Mara Serena for taking part. Thanks also to Robin Pope Safaris, Norman Carr Safaris and Flatdogs Camp, and a big thank you also to Born Free Foundation for supporting the competition, and especially Cheryl and Manny Mvula from Tribal Voice Communications for all their hard work in making sure the competition continues with the same success. Thank you!

Next year we hope to bring responsible guiding to more of the Mara and are looking forward to expanding the competition to include Mara North Conservancy.

The team assists KWS to remove a snare from a zebra.

The Mara de-snaring team is still working hard to protect the wildlife and the habitat. Masai Mara & the bordering wildlife area is still the location that the team is patrolling with the help of Mara Conservancy rangers.

Removing the snare from an elephant.

Up to now, one of the biggest challenges that the team is facing is to stop destruction of wildlife areas which is still under a huge threat. Many acres of forest cover are already destroyed by illegal loggers who harvest both timber and the charcoal.

Illegal chopped wood ready for charcoal kiln.

The team has already identified the hot spots of these activities and have already arrested many people during the month of February and March. The reinforcement of the team, Ranger and the OCS (Lolgorien Police station) is making it hard for the Lorries to transport the Charcoal from the Ololoolo escarpment.

We hope to lay more ambushes to arrest more and help to conserve what is left. It’s very shocking to note that the charcoal from this area is like a hot cake when it’s taken to the market. This has immensely contributed to the demand of the commodity and hundreds of acres are already destroyed. With this late, we are going to lose the wildlife habitat very fast and there’s no chance to recover it again.

Poaching is still going on especially outside the park. This activity has almost changed from day time activities and now is mostly happening during the night.

Poachers arrested near Mara River.

Working with the community requires helping them in case of any attack from the wildlife. 5 days ago the rouge Elephants went their way to the Manyatta and coursed a lot of fear to the community. To control these, the team supplied some thunder flash to  the neighbouring Manyattas to scare the wildlife away. Many thanks to Mr Noah Sitati (WWF Lolgorien station) for giving out those thunder Flash to the team.

Dr. Noah from WWF giving thunder flashes to the team.

Again the team would like to give thanks to Kichwa Tembo Guides for their support especially when searching for the wildlife with the snares. With their help we were able to trace and removed snares to the 2 Elephants at Mara Triangle.

Combined rescue team.

This month the team and the Born Free foundation managed to show some wildlife films to the community adjacent to Masai Mara. It was well received and many people attended during the evening hours. The five different places visited attracted more than two thousands people. They were very happy to learn on how to live happily with the wildlife and the dangers of eating the bush meat. We hope to continue showing more films to other places and more oftenly.Thanks to all those supports the wildlife in any way. It’s our duty to protect them.

Elias Kamande

Care for the Wild/Anne Kent Taylor Team Leader

I would also like to challenge the figures given by the Chief Warden, Narok, on tourism in the Masai Mara, and have used the figures for tourist camps compiled by the consultants for the ten-year management plan (Mara Ecosystem Tourism Facilities Database, Conservation Development Centre, August 2008), a summary is provided below. The Warden underreported the number of beds on the Narok side of the Reserve, stating that there were only six facilities with 570 beds; the database records 50 (lodges, camps, seasonal camps, special campsites and public campsites) with 1,151 beds. Whilst the Chief Warden’s report was reasonably accurate on the number of beds elsewhere in the Mara ecosystem, it overestimated the number of beds in the Triangle and completely overlooked the huge volume of facilities on the periphery – most relying on the Reserve for their game drives.

In order not to misrepresent the facts, we did a reality check on the figures in the Table. Our estimated annual revenue in the Mara Triangle, from Park fees alone, until the end of the May 2010, will be Ksh 246 million (US$ 3.3 million) – almost exactly the same as the estimate in the Table.  The Conservancy retains 45% for management - the remainder is paid to the Council and Group Ranches.  Given the above, we believe the revenue estimate is very realistic and well above any official collection by Narok.

Not satisfied with collecting US$ 20,000,000 (Twenty million) annually from entrance fees alone, Narok County Council has approved the construction of three new camps, two of which are in an area considered too ecologically important to handle more tourist developments;  and they have grabbed the revenue due to Trans Mara County Council for Little Governors Camp. This is surely a case where greed will suffocate the “goose that lays the golden egg”. When coupled with the fact that cattle now invade large tracts of the Reserve we are beginning to notice a major impact on wildlife populations (reported last month in the areas being studied by the Hyena Research Project).   

The “Somak” issue has raised considerable national and international interest, with articles in the Daily Nation, Daily Star in Kenya and the Daily Telegraph, Sunday Times and Independent in Britain.  A petition has been set up on the internet: “I will not safari with Somak” and has over 3,600 signatures – the comments have been overwhelmingly against the development and yet the camp continues to be built at a frenetic pace.  

Another new camp, on the junction of the Talek and Mara Rivers, has quietly been constructed in January and February.  It is smaller but no less of a slap in the face to conservationists trying to protect the Mara and its valuable riverine vegetation.

Brian Heath

CEO, Mara Conservancy

Extract from February's Monthly Report

Closing tracks below Oloololo last week.

Last week the CEO, the Warden Lenjirr, Asst. Wardens Kimojino and Tunai, met with driver guides from Kichwa Tembo and Oloonana to discuss the proliferation of tracks below Oloololo and in particular where the rhinos like to roam. 

Together we travelled around the area and agreed to close the majority of tracks (over 100) and leave just 3/4 tracks open. We said that in this way we would not only improve the area and minimise degradation, we would be able to better maintain these tracks for the comfort of drivers and guests. All of the guides present were not only in agreement but showed great cooperation and their advice was invaluable.

At the weekend, I had the pleasure of travelling to Tanzania with our Warden Samson Lenjirr to meet with the new Chief Park Warden of Serengeti, Mtango Mthahiko, as well as the Warden of Tourism, Wardens of Anti-Poaching, and the Head of the Rhino Programme. It was a great opportunity to share ideas and the Chief Park Warden expressed his willingness to continue working side by side with the Mara Conservancy in issues of anti-poaching. 

Serengeti, Tanzania

Elsewhere in the news and on the internet there has been growing debate about the construction of a lodge in prime rhino habitat on the Narok side of the Masai Mara Reserve, the topic not only concerns this critically endangered species but the long overdue Masai Mara Management Plan.

The Plan needs to be gazetted if we want to conserve the Masai Mara, yet unfortunately we are seeing tour operators and opportunists rushing to construct camps and lodges before the plan is implemented. If the Tourism Sector is really serious about conservation we ask those who are building camps and lodges to stop and wait until the plan is implemented. To go against this is to go against the efforts of those who are trying to conserve one of the world's great wonders. 

Cooperation is critical for Kenya's conservation needs, and it does not make sense that conservationists should have to fight so hard against those who seek to profit from Kenya's wildlife resources. 

The drive of the dog was very high and we tracked for a distance of about 3km when the dog made a clean find of three poachers. we arrested them . I congratulated Morani and all the handlers plus the rangers for a job well done. our training program is going on very well. Memusi had a small swelling on the shoulder following a vaccine injection. the swelling though is recoverying swiftly. 

Written by Sabaiya, Head of Canine Unit

The team is still going on with the patrols in the Mara triangle and the adjacent wildlife areas. We would like to report that wildlife habitat is diminishing in a very alarming rate due to the land clearance, logging and charcoal burning. Many hard wood trees are destroyed every day in the tune of clearing the land for maize fields. Few metres along the Oloololo escarpment is now dotted with few forest patches.

Huge charcoal kiln up on the escarpment.

We are still talking to the owners who have hundreds of acres to minimize the destruction and showing them the importance of the forest & wildlife. We don’t have any guarantee of minimizing this destruction because most of the land owners have their title deed and have their final decision on how to manage their land though the problem can be blamed on wildlife land policy.

The team is only using the diplomacy in solving this destruction. Farming is now becoming a problem as the wildlife are trying to go through the fence thus destroying the maize plantation. Then these new farmers are complaining that wildlife is bringing loss to them. For sure it’s the man who is encroaching the forest which is a home for multiple species of wildlife .We are losing the forest dwellers and soon we will add more species to the endangered list.

Snared Zebra at Ngusero Sambu

It’s now very hand to see forest hogs and Duikers that used to roam freely for the last few years in these areas although most of them are poached. This vice has increased since last year after many farmers are migrating to the area for farming. A number of them were dislocated from their areas during the post election violence, and also the recent evictions from Mau Forest.

Arrested Poacher with Giant Forest Hog Meat.

The team has noticed that some of the farmers are engaging in poaching activities. It’s noticed that they fence the potion of land and leaving some areas wide open then set the wire snare to catch the wildlife. So it’s very easy for the wildlife to get through the open space but they are always entangled by the snare. This habit can go for days before it’s noticed because they do this during the night and remove the snare early in the morning. However the team is always ready to deal with all these tricks and many are always arrested.

On the poaching side, the team is transversing the area and responding to all calls from the community in case of any poaching activities seen both during the day and night. Thanks to the Mara conservancy Rangers for joining the team during all the patrols…..Just by the way the joint patrol of both the team &Mara Conservancy rangers arrested one poacher with giant forest hog meat at Kilae area (Near Olpikidongoe).He was with other 3 poachers who escaped arrest though they managed to sneak with 2 bush back meat. He was taken to the police station and later to the court where he was charged ONLY Ksh1000 or 1 month imprisonment. He opted to pay the fine and now he’s free and back in the same area.
 
Compiled by Elias Kamande (Team Leader)