General
We had a week of intermittent showers from the 14th, sufficient to keep the grass green and bring the migration back into the Triangle. We then had heavy storms in the last week of the month. Our rainfall for August was 91 mm, bringing the total for the year to date to over 900 mm (36”).
The elections were held on the 9th. Kenya must hold some of the most complex elections anywhere – each person is expected to elect six different people, from the local member of the County Assembly(MCA) to the President. The Elections were held peacefully and run extremely professionally by the Independent Electoral & Boundaries Commission (IEBC). Mr William Ruto was declared President elect with 50.4% of the vote on the 15th, amid some controversy over the final result; the looser, Mr Raila Odinga went to the Supreme Court to contest the result. At the County level; Mr Patrick Ntutu was declared Governor, Mr Ledama ole Kina, Senator and Ambassador Julius Sunkuli as the local Member of Parliament.
Collaboration Agreement
We have virtually completed work on the new ranger station at Mara Bridge. We now have housing for at least 14 people, running water in camp, a new kitchen and mess area, and have almost completed the toilet/shower block.
We completed barriers at Keekorok and Ol Kiombo airstrips, renovated the toilets at Keekorok and almost completed a new toilet block for ladies at Ol Kiombo.
We have provided two Suzuki Maruti Jeeps, with drivers, from Seiya, to try and help with anti-harassment and ticket monitoring. One is based at Ashnil and the other at Keekorok, there is some resistance to having one based at Musiara Gate.
We repaired the water supply at the Sand River Gate.
There was sufficient rain for us to grade the road from Mara Bridge to Keekorok.
COVID-19
The Positivity rate in Kenya continues to be at, or below 1%, with virtually no deaths. Kenya has recorded a total of 338,170 cases and 5,674 people have died. 9.4 million people have been fully vaccinated. People still wear masks on public transport and in some shops but most restrictions have been lifted.
Tourism
The Mara was extremely busy in July, with 10,636 non-resident visitors (8,909 adults and 1,727 children). This is double the number of non-residents we had last year, but still only 79% of our visitors in July 2019. The fact that we had a large proportion of the migration in the Triangle, coupled with the excellent game viewing for predators, meant that we were a magnet for visitors from other parts of the Mara. Some camps along the Sand River appeared to do all their game drives in the Triangle, as did those from Mara North. This daily influx of “non-paying” visitors from the Main Reserve peaked on the 30th at 351 non-residents and 102 residents – this translates to around 100 vehicles (those staying in the Main Reserve pay there). They put considerable strain on our resources, not to mention the damage they do to our roads game viewing tracks.
There was a Guide’s meeting at Angama on the 28th, attended by approximately 50 resident guides. The focus for most of the guides is to please the client at all costs, we were trying to make them understand that it is important to explain to their clients that there are rules, why the rules apply and the importance of adhering to them. The meeting has led to a better understanding between our staff and the guides and we have already noted an improvement in attitude.
Staff
All our angers received their National Police Reservist (NPR) cards, the final step before they are issued with modern firearms.
We held a Wardens’ meeting on the 28th to discuss recent promotions and some disciplinary issues.
Wildlife
The rain at the end of July had large herds of wildebeest headed South into the Lemai Wedge, leaving scattered herds in the Triangle. The migration then returned in very large numbers around the 20th and were mainly concentrated on the burnt areas near the border, other herds of zebra and wildebeest moved North towards Oloololo. There were very few crossings but one just upstream of Mara Bridge resulted in the death of around 500 animals. This is a notorious crossing point that has only recently been used, and the rangers managed to halt it before more animals died. A guide from Sala’s Camp who was watching the crossing was very upset with our rangers and harangued them for chasing away the animals. His argument was that his clients had paid a lot of money to visit the Mara and that we were disrupting a natural event! Firstly, the place is not a natural crossing point, animals have been driven there by vehicle pressure on the major sites; secondly, I wonder how many visitors are really happy to watch the gratuitous and unnecessary death of hundreds of wildebeest.
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)/Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (SWT) veterinary team treated an injured giraffe on the 18th and were back here to remove a snare from a female elephant on the 20th. The snare was deeply embedded in the right hind leg and she was in the swamp downstream from Little Governors. Marc Goss of the Mara Elephant Project (MEP) kindly assisted in driving the elephant out of the swamp with a helicopter, so that it could be darted and treated.
A lioness was found dead on the 24th, she had been seen in the company of a male the previous day and was in good health. It appears that she was bitten in the neck, possibly by the male.
Security
Thirteen people were arrested for poaching in August all of them in the Northern Serengeti. The rangers collected 721 wire snares; found where 38 wildebeest and 4 topi had been butchered; 15 wildebeest, I giraffe, one topi and four zebra were found dead in snares; and 36 wildebeest were rescued, as were four zebra.
A total of 16 wire snares were collected on the 31st July, all around Miungu in the Lemai Wedge.
The concentrations of wildebeest in the Lemai Wedge coincided with increased poacher activity and we started to see many more snares, butchered animals and those caught in snares. A total of 59 snares were collected on the 4th, three wildebeest had been butchered, three were dead in snares and two were rescued. The following day 41 snares were found: 10 animals had been butchered, seven rescued and one giraffe was found dead in a snare. That night the Nigro-are rangers set up an ambush on the Nigro-are swamp and managed to arrest two people who had gone to check on their snares.
Six snares were collected on the 6th, and then the rangers set an ambush on the night of the 7th. They saw three groups of people enter the Lemai Wedge but only managed to catch up with one of them. They finally managed to arrest two people at 3.00 am after tracking them for hours. They had killed four wildebeest and four people managed to escape. The rangers also found one topi and one wildebeest dead in snares.
Eighty one snares were collected between the 8th and 11th and the rangers managed to rescue four wildebeest, six were dead in snares, as was one zebra and another three wildebeest had been butchered.
The rangers continued to collect snares in the Lemai Wedge and managed to get 180 between the 12th and 15th, unfortunately 14 wildebeest and 4 topi had been killed and butchered, and one wildebeest was found dead in a snare. But the rangers also managed to rescue five wildebeest and one zebra.
One person was arrested during an ambush on the 17th as he was setting snares. A total of 101 snares were recovered between the 17th and 19th, two wildebeest were rescued. On the 20th the rangers joined forces with their TANAPA counterparts and set an ambush at Serengeti Ndogo, across the Mara River. People started hunting soon after dark and the rangers managed to arrest three people before 8.30. Shakaria, one of our dogs was responsible for one of the arrests.
A total of 30 wire snares were recovered on the 22nd, one wildebeest was rescued and one found dead in a snare. That evening our combined teams joined up with rangers from Kinyangaga and managed to arrest two people soon after dark, as they headed back from the Ngiro-are swamp. One wildebeest had been killed. The rangers were close to the escarpment and had a number of poisoned arrows fired at them as they tried to arrest a second group of poachers.
Thirty three more snares were recovered on the 23rd, one zebra was rescued. 127 were collected on the 25th and 26th. Eleven wildebeest were rescued, four were dead in snares and three animals had been butchered. The rangers left very early on the 27thand saw four people carrying topi meat soon after dawn, two were arrested – one was caught after one of our dogs tracked him. Soon after the rangers managed to arrest one more person who had come to check on their snares – two zebra had been caught.
We continued to collect 41 snares on the 28th and 29th, two zebra and two wildebeest were rescued and two wildebeest were found dead in snares.
Revenue and Accounts
Despite that fact that visitor numbers were down on 2019, we managed to collect more money than ever in July, boosted in part by the devaluation of the Kenya Shilling to Ksh 118:1 US$, special camping fees and balloon revenue.
Deloittes started their Annual Audit straight after the elections, much of it being done remotely, most of the work has been completed and they have produced a draft report. This will be finalized and presented to the Board in September.
Repairs and maintenance
We repaired sections of our main roads, especially the lower road to Mara Bridge and the main road to Oloololo.
The road team repaired the drifts on the Maji Machafu Lugga and one heading to the border.
Report on focus for August
Focus for September 2022
· Complete Audit;
· Host Auditors in the Mara;
· Hold Board meeting on the 23rd;
· Receive firearms; and
· Host delegation from County;
Work on Collaboration Agreement
· Complete work at Mara Bridge;
· Complete toilets at Ol Kiombo;
· Grade roads;
· Plan for next quarter’s work programme;