SEPTEMBER 2025

GENERAL

This month we had 130 mm of rain, bringing the total for the year to date up to 1,026.5 mm (41”).  Sporadic thunderstorms throughout the month confused the wildebeest, it would rain and they would leave, it would then dry up for a few days and they would return.  However, I think that heavy rain at the end of September will be sufficient to drive them away until next year. 

Mr Eric Schmidt, Executive Director, and Matt Morrissette of Wildlife Protection Solutions (WPS) visited us to discuss speed cameras and the possibility of more anti-poaching cameras.  WPS have been amazing supporters, and it was their donation that saw us through Covid.

We held our Board meeting in Nairobi on the 26th at with Deloittes presented the Audited Accounts.  The accounts were approved and signed at the meeting.  One of the issues raised by the Auditors was the lack of formal approval by the County to incur expenditure in the Main Reserve over Ksh 6.2 million per month in our current agreement.

The Chief Park Warden closed the hippo pool near Mara Bridge after a video showed people on foot disrupting a crossing.  This meant that all the vehicles from the Main Reserve stopped on our side of the bridge, causing traffic jams and dozens of people wanting to walk along the river or picnic at our new picnic site.

KAPS analyzed the revenue collected in relation to visitors’ numbers in the Financial Years 023/24 and 2024/25 (see Table below).  The Increase in Park fees took effect in January 2024, when they increased to US$ 100 per non-resident adult for the low season.  The high season rate took effect in July 2024.  It is interesting to note the 33.4% increase in revenue in the 2024/25 financial year despite a 20.4% drop in visitor numbers.  The most significant drop in tourist numbers - 30.6%, occurred between July and December 2024.  It remains to be seen whether the increase in Park fees was solely responsible for the reduction in visitors numbers. It will be most interesting to note the trend in financial year

COLABORATION AGREEMENT

  • We renovated the toilets at Sekenani, emptied the septic tank and repaired the soak pit. 

  • We serviced the radio system and found that two mobile and five handsets were missing.

  • We drilled a borehole at the Ngama Hills site and have installed a water tower.

  • We resurfaced and graded the Ol Kiomboi and Keekorok airstrips.  We have worked on the major roads in the Main Roads.

  • We completed renovating staff housing at Ol Kiombo and have started renovating the housing at Talek.  We will also align the 11 uni-huts and work on a kitchen/mess for staff.

STAFF

David Auruasa went to China to learn about conservation in China, the trip was paid for by the Chinese.

We started training 24 community scouts.  The training is undertaken at Nashulai Conservancy by retired police officers, some of them very experienced trainers and senior officers.

WILDLIFE

Nearly all the wildebeest left the Main Reserve by mid-August, leaving the only herds in the Triangle.  This meant that we had a lot of vehicles based in the Main Reserve doing their game drives with us. 

A male elephant was found dead near the BBC lugga on the 5th, it died of natural causes.

A recent study quoted in PNAS Nexus[1]has challenged the recognised population of wildebeest, usually quoted as being 1,300,000 (1.3 million).  The researchers used satellite imagery and artificial intelligence (AI) to determine that the population is only 600,000.  This result is being challenged by Dr Grant Hopcraft, a well-known researcher from Glasgow University who has been studying the migration for years. He says that the survey only covered 4,000 square kilometres straddling the Kenya/Tanzania border in August.  This is a fraction of an ecosystem that covers 20,000 sq km.

We received a report on the 28th, that six young lions had been poisoned on Oloisukut Conservancy, North of the Triangle.  It would appear that male lions came across from Mara North, chased off the young and took over the two adult females in the pride.  The young lions, four females and two males over two years old, probably killed a cow.  Dr Ashif treated them and by the following morning the males had improved and were mobile.  However, the four young females were still completely immobile 24 hours later, three of them critically ill.  He treated all four with Dexamethasone, Atropine and saline – three of them were transferred to the enclosure in the Triangle for careful monitoring.  The prognosis is that the two males and one female may recover, the other three seem to be making some progress.  This area outside the Reserve is notoriously bad for human/wildlife conflict, 15 hyenas were poisoned earlier in the year, and we receive daily reports of animals with spear or arrow wound

[1] Duporge, I., Wu, Z., Xu, Z., Gong, P., Rubenstein, D., Macdonald, D.W., Sinclair, A.R.E., Levin, S., Lee, S.J., Wang, T. (2025). AI-based satellite survey offers independent assessment of migratory wildebeest numbers in the Serengeti . PNAS Nexus , Volume 4, Issue 9, September 2025, pgaf264, https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf264

TOURISM

We had more non-resident tourists visit the Triangle in August this year than last year, but significantly fewer than in 2023 (16,718 in 2025, 13,888 in 2024 and 22,991 in 2023).  It must be noted that these figures are for ALL non-resident visitors to the Triangle.  Many of them are classified as non-paying – they have paid elsewhere and are allowed traversing rights.

There are complaints by the tourism industry that the increase in Park Fees has affected tourism countrywide.  However, there seems to be a slump across the continent, certainly this year, since July.  Concerns that the Serengeti is benefitting from the increase in Park fees seem unfounded – even the Serengeti is experiencing a drop in numbers.

SECURITY

Our rangers managed to arrest 68 people for poaching in September – a record for one month.  All these poachers were operating in the Serengeti and most of them South of the Mara River.  We managed to recover:  526 wire snares; rescue 60 wildebeest and two topi; Five wildebeest were dead in snares; whilst 64 wildebeest had been butchered, as had four zebra, one hippo; two francolin were also killed.

Our patrols collected 48 wire snares in the Lemai Wedge on the 29th.  One topi and two wildebeest were rescued, one other was dead in a snare.  That evening the rangers joined their Tanzanian counterparts and arrest two people from a group of 10.  They set another ambush and arrested four more people – they had killed and were carrying four wildebeest.

The following day the rangers collected 101 snares.  A total of 11 wildebeest were rescued.

The rangers received a report from TANAPA counterparts that a group of eight people had been seen entering the Lemai Wedge.  They joined forces and managed to arrest all eight.  They recovered five snares.

Two more people were arrested on the 1st and 36 wire snares collected.  Four wildebeests were rescued and two found dead in snares.  The following day a further 58 snares were recovered; nine wildebeest were rescued and two had been butchered.  That evening two people from a group of three were arrested at 7.00 pm, they had killed two wildebeest by slashing them along the spine with machetes, but they were also carrying eight snares.

Seven more people were arrested by a joint patrol on the 3rd near Lempise in the Lemai Wedge.  One topi and two wildebeests were rescued.  The following day a combined Anne Kent-Taylor/Oloololo/Ngiro-are team managed to collect 81 snares near Nyakita Tone in the Lemai Wedge – 17 wildebeest were rescued but 22 had been butchered.

Our patrols continued to come across poachers and three more were arrested on the 5th near Kokamange,  14 snares were collected and five wildebeest rescued.  On the 7th one animal was found butchered and on the 8th one person was arrested near Lugga ya Ngiri.  On the 8th and 9th, 86 snares were collected, eight animals were rescued but seven had been butchered and two were found dead in snares. 

The Iseiya team crossed the river for a three day patrol in the Northern Serengeti between the 9th and 11th.  They managed to arrest three people with carcasses from thee wildebeest.

More snares, more arrests on the 12th and 13th; two people were arrested at night across the river.  39 snares were collected – three wildebeest were rescued, and one zebra was found butchered.

The Iseiya rangers crossed the river and patrolled the Northern Serengeti for three days from the 15th.  They managed to arrest 10 people.  On the first day they caught two people near Tabora B and that evening they saw another six – they managed to arrest three more people at 2.00 am.  They had already killed three zebra and two wildebeest.  They caught one more person in the early morning – he had killed two francolins.  On the 16th they received a call from the Warden in Lemai that people saying that a hippo had been poached near Serengeti Ndogo – our rangers managed to arrest two people.  On the 17th the patrol managed to arrest two people who had killed four wildebeest.

The Ngiro-are rangers caught two people on the 16th near Lempise in the Lemai Wedge one more person on the 17th.  A total of six snares were recovered.

The Ngiro-are team crossed the river on a two-day patrol from the 19th, they managed to arrest 11 people, recover 47 snares and find where six wildebeest had been butchered.

The Iseiya rangers were called out at 2.00 am on the night of the 20th on a report that a camp in the Northern Serengeti, Poa Poa Camp, had been robbed.  They arrived at the scene before dawn, put the dogs on the tracks and found that the theft had most probably been committed by members of staff.  The tracks went from the tent straight into the staff camp – US$ 50, a power bank and malaria medicine had been stolen. One person was arrested at Miungu in the Lemai Wedge on the 23rd three wire snares were found and then on the 25th the Iseiya team went on a three-day patrol across the river and operated in the Tabora B section of the Serengeti.  They managed to arrest five people in three different incidents.  In total they found where 15 wildebeest had been killed and butchered – all by slashing their spines with a machete.  Four more people were arrested by the Ngiro-are team on the 29th near Ngira in the Northern Serengeti.

REVENUE & ACCOUNTS

Deloittes completed our Annual Audit and presented it to the Board on the 26th.  The audit was unqualified and showed a profit after tax of Ksh 69,746,155 (US$ 540,000) on a turnover of Ksh 798,435,688 (US$ 6,189,000).  Staff costs went up significantly, as did repairs and maintenance.  A real challenge for us will be to control escalating staff costs, the pressure to employ people is almost unbearable.

REPORT ON FOCUS FOR SEPTEMBER 2025

  • We completed renovations on the main office at Serena, the Administrator’s house and a guest room attached to the Warden’s house.

  • We rebuilt the drift at Kishanga it will be opened at the beginning of October.

  • We completed work on the picnic site at Purungat, demolished the old toilets and built new toilets for students.  We have made the old toilet site into a picnic area.

  • We now have vehicle trackers in several of the resident vehicles.

  •  We have serviced all the radios

 FOCUS FOR OCTOBER 2025

  • Continue with toilet/shower bloc at Oloololo;

  • Possibly start on the Visitor centre

  • Complete surfacing new roads;

  • Start on housing and office at Little Governors;

  • Install more vehicle trackers;

  • Make picnic benches for Hippo Pool;

  • Open drift at Kishanga.

Work on Collaboration Agreement

  • Hold Planning Meeting;

  • Take delivery of two new Jimnys donated by SWT;

  • Collect ranger uniforms from Manchester;

  • Open Hippo Pool at Mara Bridge;

  • Complete renovations at Talek;

  • Start on Kitchen/mess at Talek;

  • Start on staff housing at Sekenani;

  • Continue with road works;

  • Continue with fuel for Grade A.