General
The President visited the Triangle with his family and friends on the 6th and 7th. They had a game drive followed by a picnic lunch at Kiboko Camp on the 7th.
We held a Board meeting on the 11th and followed it on the 12th with a celebration to mark 20 years in the Triangle. The celebration was attended by the Board, members of Narok County, leaders in the community, our Tanzanian neighbors, the Mara Elephant Project (MEP), Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and some camp and lodge managers. I would like to thank Angama for hosting the Board for the night of the 11th and Ms Nicky Fitzgerald, and the staff, for being so gracious.
Ms Janyne Preston donated US$ 25,000 on the 12th, unfortunately the payment was by cheque and the Bank would not accept it. We will have to return it and ask for payment by RTGS. Wildlife Protection Solutions (WPS) very kindly offered to ensure that we have at least three months operating capital and donated a further US$ 50,000 – an incredible gesture from them. Certainly, without their support, now US$ 540,000, we would not have survived this past year.
We reviewed Tenders for the supply of essential supplies for the coming year and changed suppliers for hard rations and hardware. We retained the same suppliers for fuel, charcoal briquettes and vegetables.
The Chief Executive met with the Chief Operations Officer from Nairobi West Hospital on the 30th. He proposed that they establish a Covid-19 testing unit in the Triangle, and another in the Main Reserve. They are now capable of giving a result within 5-6 hours after the test ad are proposing a charge of US$ 110, of which ten goes to the facility providing space for the equipment and technicians.
Research
The Mara Meru Cheetah Project produced their Annual Report for 2020. There wasn’t much on the Triangle but they did identify 71 individuals (40 males and 31 females) in the Mara ecosystem. They estimate the lifespan for a cheetah in the Mara at 11 years for males and 13 for females and the main causes of mortality being predation 36%, unknown 23%, disease 27% and human/wildlife conflict 14%.
There is no doubt that competition from predators – lions, hyena and leopard - is the main reason that we see so few cheetah in the Triangle. We haven’t had a female successfully raise cubs in the Triangle for years.
Collaboration Agreement
We are still to receive funds to continue support to the Main Mara, the last funds were received in December 2020. However, we continue to provide some support and have:
· Serviced vehicles;
· Sent over the County grader to work on roads;
· Serviced the grader;
· Provided new tyres for the tipper;
· Repaired the water supply to the Chief Park Warden’s house; and
· Repaired the water supplies at Musiara and Sand River.
We have. Been assured that funds will be forthcoming in the near future and that the Collaboration Agreement will be renewed.
COVID-19
There was a peak in Covid-19 cases in parts of Western Kenya, resulting in a lock down in several Counties surrounding Lake Victoria, elsewhere the virus seems reasonably under control – though there are concerns about a fourth wave, given the cold weather being experienced at this time of year. To date Kenya has had 184,161 positive cases, with fatalities reaching 3,634. Vaccinations are picking up again and a total of 1,378,585 people have now been vaccinated, with 370,465 receiving their second dose. Around twenty of our staff have received their second dose. Kenya is set to mount a major vaccination campaign and there is talk of ten million people being vaccinated by the end of this year.
Tourism
We are beginning to see overseas tourists in the Mara, in particular Americans who have been vaccinated. The high-end, expensive camps seem to be doing better than the mid or lower level camps – particularly as they cater for the American market.
Staff
We held a function, primarily for the staff and neighbouring community, to celebrate 20 years in the Mara on the 12th. It was attended by over 300 people and we gave long service certificates and a present for those that had been with us for 20 and 15 years. We also awarded staff who had excelled in each department and members of the community who had been very supportive over the years.
David Aruasa lost his elder brother in an accident on the 24th . Our condolences to him and his family. Edwin Saiyalel also lost his wife recently, again we say “Pole sana”.
Wildlife
Scar, the most famous and iconic lion in the Mara died on the 12th, aged about 14 – a good age for a male lion. Despite having one eye, a large scar on his forehead and a lame back leg he managed to survive for years. He became progressively weaker over the past three or four years but still managed to dominate the coalition of males he was with – until very recently.
Dr Limo from the Kenya Wildlife Service/Sheldrick Wildlife Trust veterinary team treated two animals this past month. The first was to treat a giraffe with a spear wound on the escarpment; the second was to remove a severely damaged eye from a lion near the Kichwa airstrip.
KWS also rescued a large python near Angata and released it near the Little Governors ranger post.
Zebra started crossing into the Triangle before the 10th and continued throughout most of the month. One small heard of wildebeest crossed but the main herds remain in the central Serengeti.
Security
Two people were arrested during the month, in separate incidents. Ninety two snares were recovered, one zebra was found dead in a snare, another was rescued and two had been butchered. At least three hippo were killed, as were 10 Thompson’s gazelle, a dik dik and a hare.
One snare was collected on the 3rd and another five on the 4th. The ones on the fourth were set on Limana and aimed at catching giraffe.
The Ngiro-are team joined forces with their Tanzanian counterarts for an evening/all night patrol in the Lemai Wedge on the 9thand around midnight they saw torch activity near the Nigro-are swamp – miles away. They managed to move position and arrested one person from a group of twelve after hours of following. The poachers had killed 10 Thompson’s gazelle, a dik dik and a hare by the time the team had caught up with them.
The camera at Daraja la Mzee recorded people crossing the bridge on the night of the 11th as they went hunting. It also recorded them returning. The Nigro-are team were mobilized and set up an ambush – the managed to see five people with the Flirequipment but unfortunately were unable to arrest anyone, as they disappeared into long grass. The following night the same camera picked up a donkey. The rangers searched and found 19 empty sacks and a spear – maybe something spooked the poacher. It would appear that he and the donkey were off somewhere to load up with hippo meat. One dead hippo was found in the river, but there was no sign of one that had been butchered.
The remote cameras continue to record people and on the 18th the camera at Watu Kumi recorded three people. The team that was out on an ambush responded but were unable to catch up with the poachers. The following day the rangers found where two impala had been butchered. The Nigro-are team recovered 13 wire snares at Kokamange, along the escarpment in the Lemai Wedge. On the 20th one old snare was recovered at Miungu.
One hippo carcass was found on the 21st and the tracks of about 10 people were seen.
A routine patrol came across a freshly butchered hippo on the 24th and searched for the poachers for the whole day, they never caught up with them. The Nigro-are team recovered 16 wire snares near Lugga ya Ngiri. The following day the Iseiya team came across a dead hippo, it had been hamstrung before being speared – it had not been touched.
Our patrols recovered five wire snares on the 26th, a zebra was found dead in one of them. The next day a further 29 snares were recovered at Nyakita Tone in the Lemai Wedge.
One person was arrested by a combined Tanzanian/Nigro-are patrol on the 28th. He and his companion were first seen at midnight as they returned from hunting. We was carrying zebra meat. He reported that they have observers with binoculars on the escarpment to watch for the rangers and when animals are caught in snares.
One zebra was rescued and another found butchered on the 29th, a total of 22 snares were found.
.
Revenue and Accounts
We are still a long way from getting back to “normal”, as it was in 2018/19 but there are definite signs of improvement and we look forward to a reasonable high season. Certainly, we have started seeing a few foreign visitors.
Our management accounts for the first 11 months of the financial year show total income of Ksh 95,692,636 – against Ksh 277,277,521 in the previous year. Our Park fees only accounted for Ksh 40,674,683, just 20% of the amount collected in the same period the previous year. We received Ksh 50,125,030 in donations – we cannot thank our supporters enough, especially WPS. We continued to maintain expenditure to within 1% of budget at Ksh 147,181,524
Repairs and maintenance
We graded the roads to Oloololo, Little Governors and Mara Bridge and then the one along the river to the crossing points upstream from Serena.
We cut over 600 kilometres of tracks to open up game viewing areas.
We opened up a crossing point on the Sand River to assist in anti-poaching and then cleared the campsites along the western portion of the Triangle. We also ensured that the crossing points on our game viewing tracks were repaired.
We painted faded sign posts and cut the grass around them.
We completely revamped Oloololo and Purungat Gates. They were repainted, all the unsightly posters removed, the toilets and basins scrubbed clean. We then we put up photographs to improve the look at the gates. Angama put up a number of their award winning photos from their competition at Oloololo.
We have started repairing the roads on Oloololo Game Ranch as part of our agreement and this work should be completed at the beginning of July.
Collaboration Agreement
· We sent the County grader over on the 8th to work on the road to Talek from Sekenani;
· We provided the final, refurbished ambulance to the County;
· We replaced tyres on the tipper; and
· Repaired the water supplies to Musiara and Sand River gates.
Report on focus for June
Focus for July 2021
We will complete work on roads and tracks on Oloololo Game Ranch;
We will work on crossings, drifts and culverts;
We will grade the lower road to Oloololo from Serena;
We will open up the three western campsites, they have been closed since November 2019;
Work on Collaboration Agreement – funds permitting;
o Repair grader and continue grading roads in the Main Reserve;
o Repair damaged sections;
o Grade Keekorok and Ol Kiombo airstrips;
o Maintain vehicles;
o Replace the water tank and some piping at Musiara; and
o Hopefully repair some of the housing at Musiara.