General
We had slightly over 100 mm of rain throughout the month, sufficient to turn the burnt areas green, fortunately no big storms.
The Chief Executive met with Governor Ntutu on the 22nd to discuss collaboration and the work to be done in the Greater Mara. The County Government is proposing that a Mara Conservation Fund be established, that all funds be remitted to the County and that the County will fund the new organization. This is essentially in line with the work we did two years ago, when we engaged lawyers to study the Kenya Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and enabled us to retain funds at source for the management of a crucial resource. The Governor asked that we continue working in the Main Reserve as we establish the new fund.
The Greater Serengeti Society held its Annual Meeting at Serengeti Serena from the 28th to the 30th. It was well attended with over 50 participants from both Kenya and Tanzania. There were five main topics for discussion:
Tourism related pressure.
Community, livelihoods and land use.
Ecological integrity.
River and wetland conservation; and
Conservation boundaries, and conflict.
They started with a 15-minute scientific report and then discussion. There is a real need to translate the wealth of information and data into some form of actionable policy. Some of the issues seem intractable – human population growth and the pressure on land; how are we going to deal with a 32x increase in settlement in the Mara ecosystem since 1977 and the estimated doubling of the population every 20 years. But maybe we can deal with the exponential increase in sheep – 27x more than in 1977 – and the resulting degradation. Maybe we can reverse the trend where fewer and fewer wildebeests are crossing into Kenya by better managing the location of camps and lodges. Is there any political will to do so? But the facts speak for themselves – fewer wildebeest, spending less time in the Mara each year. There are 40% fewer crossings than a few years ago. The Talek is now a complete barrier to the movement of wildebeest, the same is happening on sand River.
Some data was shocking 542 vultures killed in the Serengeti in the past year and a half. Most of them had their heads chopped off for traditional medicine.
We have started our annual rabies vaccination campaign along the escarpment
COLLABORATION AGREEMENT
We mapped all the approved game viewing tracks.
We completed work on the roads from Mara Bridge/Look Out and Talek and repaired the drift near Mara Bridge.
We completed work at the Angata GSU camp.
We have started work on the house at Sand River and this should be completed by the end of April. The water supply at Sand River is heavily mineralized and we have set up a filtration plant to clean the water.
We overhauled a grader engine, one grader will be returned to the County, both New Holland graders have constant problems and need to be replaced.
We connected the new borehole to the Maternity Clinic in Angata.
We have taken over management of the Conservation Centre and now have sufficient staff allocated to the Centre. The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust have agreed to renovate sufficient housing for the staff.
There were demonstrations at Ol Kiombo and Enombuai in response to a Court Order awarding 4,000 acres to an individual. The demonstrations resulted in considerable damage to buildings and infrastructure, and we have been asked to repair the damage.
The Simba Bridge over the Talek was blocked by trees after a flood, we assisted in clearing the blockage.
Staff
All our dog handlers passed their test with the Police. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) sent a team to evaluate our dogs, they will possibly purchase three.
Dr Asuka Takita has handed over to Dr Ashif Hafiz.
Wildlife
Dr Ashif, our new veterinarian, was kept very busy throughout the month treating animals that had been injured in cases of human/wildlife conflict. These cases are on the increase and this month alone: two lions were slashed and treated near Musiara, 15 hyenas were poisoned on the escarpment above Kichwa (this follows on 16 hyenas poisoned on Mara North in February and a lioness and hyena that were poisoned on Oloisukut in February), numerous zebra and giraffe were treated for injuries.
One cheetah was treated for an injury on the 31st, probably inflicted when trying to hunt a warthog.
Tourism
Tourist numbers are well down – we can expect the same for the coming two months. We have around 20% fewer visitors than last year.
Security
Two hippos were found butchered near Kogatende on the 6th, all the meat had been taken.
Four people were arrested on the night of the 14th in the Ngiro-are swamp. Three of them were arrested around 9.00 pm, one of them found by Morani – a tracker dog. A fourth escaped but was caught as he tried to go home early the following morning. They had killed a hippo.
Two people were arrested for poaching on the night of the 25th, they were carrying 10 wire snares.
I managed to meet with the Chief Park Warden in the Serengeti, Mr S Msumi at the cross-border meeting and discuss collaboration. I hope that we have managed to resolve issues and look forward to continued collaboration.
Revenue & Accounts
We have managed to resolve most of the issues with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), thanks to Mr. Charles Gitau and the KRA team he was dealing with. We have an assessment based on VAT payable to the County for improvements to the Reserve for the period 2019/24, this will be cleared up by June to take advantage of the amnesty on interest and penalties.
Report on Focus for March 2025
We replaced all the old asbestos roofing at Iseiya and then renovated the Wardens’ and Tourism Officer’s houses.
We managed to do a fair bit of burning before the onset of the rains, the burnt areas are already green and parts along the border have attracted large numbers of plains game.
We managed to repair a section of road to Ngiro-are before the rains, there is still work to be done. The road team then concentrated on the main road from Mara Bridge to Serena.
We have completed three new staff rooms, a mess and Kitchen at Purungat, as well as constructing a new toilet and shower block with their own septic tank. We will demolish a line of old housing.
Focus for April 2025
Hold Board Meeting in the Mara on the 11th,
Collar Cheetah on the 10th,
Continue with rabies vaccination,
Demolish old housing at Purungat,
Continue working on roads,
Complete filtration plant,
Purchase tables/chairs for mess at Purungat,
Possibly sell dogs to KWS and
Complete renovations at Iseiya.
WORK ON COLLABORATION AGREEMENT
Hold a planning meeting on the 9th.
Road team to take two weeks off.
Complete house at Sand River.
Start work on vandalised station at Enombuai;
Start on vandalised building at Ol Kiombo; and
Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to renovate housing at Keekorok;