General
The rains continued throughout the month, with some very heavy and sustained storms along the escarpment – making work on the road to Ngiro-are virtually impossible and sections of the road impassable. The total for the month was 300 mm (12”), a lot, but far less than other parts of the country. The Talek river flooded on the 30th, flowing over the new bridge and flooding several camps.
We held our annual Greater Serengeti Society meeting at Mara Serena between the 5th and 7th, unfortunately some of the senior Tanzanians dropped out last minute, but the meeting was a success and we were most grateful to the Governor for his time. As always, the scientific presentations were excellent and raised important issues. One point that really struck home was the fact that we are losing the migration – both in numbers and in time spent in the Mara. The scientists showed that human habitation has a massive effect on wildebeest movement – they avoid habitation for up to 6 kilometres. We have effectively halved the area that the wildebeest can use in the Mara with all the development along Sand River, and in particular, the Talek. Animals no longer cross the Talek as they used to do, seriously impacting the area used by the migration and ruining one of the most spectacular crossing points – that above Mara Serena. A new camp being built along the Sand River, near Mara Bridge will cut off one of the few remaining crossing points into the Mara and will undoubtedly further impact the migration into the Main Mara. I cannot overemphasize this. We are destroying the very thing that has helped market Kenya as a tourist destination for decades. The Tanzanians don’t allow the construction of camps and lodges along rivers, they all have to be built a considerable distance away, they now have 12 recognised crossing points and we can expect that the migration will continue to cross the river in Tanzania and come up into the Triangle via the Lemai Wedge.
We held a Board meeting in the Mara on the 19th, some of the Board members stayed over until the 21st. The Board confirmed that the Management Agreement, drawn up and signed by the Narok County Government in June 2022 was a valid agreement. They also approved the sale of the CE’s car and purchase of an Ineos Grenadier, similar in looks to the Land Rover.
We had a team from the Council of Governors visit on the 22nd, they were particularly interested in our use of technology in ensuring security of the Triangle. We were able to make a presentation and show them some our equipment and the use of dogs.
Collaboration Agreement
A section of the new road from Talek to Look Out became impassable – several hundred yards . became totally waterlogged and it took days and three culverts to drain the water off the road. We used the Conservancy road team for this work, is it was too wet for them to work in the Triangle.
We have worked on the Main Road from Keekorok to Mara Bridge – this is greatly improved. We also graded the road to Sekenani from Keekorok. The major arterial roads are now in excellent condition and we will start working on the secondary and tertiary roads.
We are installing new signs near Musiara and the same team has started work on some culverts that keep being washed away.
We completed work at Sand River. This included; completely renovating six houses – providing water and solar power to each; renovating the gate and public toilets – providing water and solar, and drilling and equipping a new borehole. Our concern is that the standards will not be maintained.
We have started work on the staff housing at Keekorok – it is in a terrible state and one house will be demolished to make space a new block of self-contained rooms.
Staff
Mr Edwin Ndiwa was dismissed for soliciting a bribe from a guide, he was paid Ksh 3,000 by mpesa.
Wildlife
One giraffe was treated on the 5th and on the 9th Dr A Takita treated two zebra on the escarpment with arrow wounds. These arrow wounds are caused by young men practicing their skills on animals and don’t appear to be aimed at killing the animals. On the same day two buffalo were swept down the river past Mara Bridge.
One female elephant was found dead fairly close to Little Governors, there were no apparent wounds.
Dr Njoroge from the Sheldrick/KWS team treated a lioness with a wound on her back. The wound was full of maggots and was apparently caused by a horn. Another lioness was treated by Dr. A Takita on the 19th with severe wounds on her back – this was caused in a fight with a lion.
Dogs
We donated Rufus, one of our sniffing dogs to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). Rufus is excellent but rather too aggressive to be used with visitors. Both Buma and Shakaria had to go to Nairobi for treatment this month.
Tourism
We continue to have the best year ever in terms of tourist numbers – in March we had 4,561 non-resident adults against the previous high of 3,701 in 2018. Despite the continuing, and heavy, rains we expect April to be a record month as well.
Security
16 people were arrested for poaching in April, three more were arrested for trafficking ivory and pangolin scales in a joint operation involving one of our staff. 29 snares were recovered.
Two people were arrested on March 26th from a group of seven in a joint patrol with TANAPA rangers from Lemai. Two days later one more person was arrested by the Ngiro-are team near Lugga ya Ngiri in the Lemai Wedge.
On the 29th people were seen with donkeys but managed to escape. The next day the rangers found where a hippo had been killed and managed to arrest two people who were looking after the meat. The donkeys are used to carry meat from animals like hippo.
The Iseiya rangers went on a three day patrol into the Northern Serengeti on the 2nd, they saw three people the first day but all escaped. On the second day one person was arrested at Nyamburi – Morani, one of our dogs managed to find him. Two more people were arrested on the last day of the patrol at Ngira – a favorite hunting area for the wa Kuria.
One person was arrested near Lemai as he was hunting on the 10th and a second on the 11th. The Iseiya rangers went on another three-day patrol into the Northern Serengeti on the 11th and on the following day managed to arrest three people. They were part of a large group who were hunting with up to 20 dogs and also had donkeys with them. The following day the rangers came across a group of five people who were on their way to camp. The poachers saw the rangers and tried to escape – they dropped all their belongings but Morani was able to track them and two were arrested.
The Ngiro-are team arrested one person who was hunting near Lempise in the Lemai Wedge, he had three wire snares.
One of our staff, working with another Honorary Warden based in Nairobi and officers from the Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and KWS investigation department managed to arrest three people trading in ivory and pangolin scales. They recovered 28.1 kg of ivory and 1.5 kg of pangolin scales.
Twenty six snares were collected on the 29th all in the Lemai Wedge.
Revenue and Accounts
The Kenya Shilling continues to appreciate against the US$ and is currently trading at Ksh 131 to the US$.
Our management accounts for the third quarter are summarized above and show that we increased revenue on budget by 44% and expenditure was increased by 22%, leaving us in a healthy position for low season. We traditionally have to draw down on reserves March through May.
Repairs and Maintenance
We have tried working on the roads where ever possible and spent time opening drains and culverts.
Very heavy rains washed away some of the approaches to small bridges and the road to Ngiro-are is still too wet to work on.
Report on focus for April
Focus for May
· Work on road repairs where possible;
· Start on Annual Work Plan;
· Start extension to cheetah enclosure; and
· Replace tank at Purungat.
Work on Collaboration Agreement
· Continue with new building at Keekorok;
· Possible start renovations;
· Start on roads to Talek;
· Complete installing signs;
· Start on kitchen/mess at Sand River;
· Complete work at Ngararu; and
· Possibly drill borehole at Sekenani.