General
We had some very heavy storms from the 10th, triggering the migration back into the Serengeti. There was a particularly heavy storm on the 16th and then scattered storms throughout the remainder of the month.
The Chief Executive and Governor, Narok County met with the President on the 16th to discuss issues relating to the management of the National Reserve and the establishment of a conservation area to protect the unique habitat along the escarpment. It was followed up with meeting the Director General of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and another meeting with the President on the 21st. We will be working with the community and KWS to establish a 10,000 acre conservation area along the escarpment, a unique and very important habitat.
We received another dog, to be trained up as a sniffer dog at Oloololo. This now gives us three sniffer and four tracking dogs.
Collaboration Agreement
Work has slowed down in the Main Reserve, pending further funding. However, we did manage to complete the water supply to Musiara, service all the vehicles and grade the roads to Keekorok and Talek. The vehicles are not being cared for and treated very roughly – we had to replace nine spring leaves because they were broken – an indication of extremely hard driving in tough conditions.\
COVID-19
The second wave of Covid-19 has been far more severe than the first, with around 1,000 new cases each day and up to 20 deaths. Sadly the virus has impacted teachers and doctors, with a number of headmasters and senior doctors dying. It is difficult to say whether the wave has peaked , or if it will continue through to Christmas and New Year, seriously impacting the festive season. To date 83,618 people are known to have contracted the virus in Kenya and 1,469 people have died.
Tourism
Tourist numbers evaporated in November – we possibly had the lowest number of visitors in years. The prognosis is for local visitors in December and then the possibility of camps and lodges closing again.
Staff
All the staff agreed to take a month of unpaid leave in an attempt to reduce expenditure. This is an amazing gesture and very much appreciated. The implementation has been deferred until January 2021.
Mara Siria Camp very kindly donated hard rations for 20 people, and will continue to do so for a year.
Wildlife
The wildebeest had all moved out by mid-month and the zebra began to move back across the river, towards Mara North. We still have large herds of zebra along the border.
At least two hippo are known to have died along the river – presumably from natural causes.
Crocodiles have started hatching, the mortality rate for the young is extremely high and I wonder how many will survive to adulthood.
Our rangers recovered an elephant collar in the Northern Serengeti, near Bologonja, on the 28th. They were asked to look for it after there was an immobility alert recorded by the Mara Elephant Project (MEP).
Security
A total of 10 poachers were arrested in November, 90 wire snares were recovered and we found signs of two wildebeest, one eland, two hippo and a bushbuck that had been killed.
We received 25 advanced trail cameras from Wildlife Protection Systems (WPS), these cameras will be able to record and transmit images of any people who pass within range real-time. We are in the process of deploying these cameras in key poacher areas. A poacher was seen on one of the cameras the first night it was deployed and we will have to work out a protocol for responding.
Two people were arrested on the 31st when the rangers when on a 24 hour patrol across the river near Nyamburi. They were fishing when arrested and taken to Tabora B. That day 37 snares were recovered and a further six were found on the 2nd.
Iseiya and Nigro-are did a joint patrol near Binamu used the Flir camera and managed to arrest four people, they had killed two wildebeest. The following day two more people were arrested near Nyakita Pembe in the Lemai Wedge, they were setting snares when arrested and seven were recovered.
A routine patrol recovered 35 snares on the 7th, the next day a patrol saw people carrying eland meat, sadly they escaped. Two wire snares were recovered. A patrol found a poacher’s stop-over near Milima Tatu in the Triangle on the 11th. Three snares were found.
One person, from three, was arrested in the Nigro-are swamp at two in the afternoon on the 16th. They were going to hunt gazelle with dogs after dark.
The rangers received a report that people were entering the Lemai Wedge to hunt hippo on the 20th, they set up an observation post on Nyakita Pembe but saw nothing. Later we heard that they did indeed hunt and kill two hippo, but in the Nigro-are swamp, miles away.
A combined team from Oloololo and the Anne Kent-Taylor scouts arrested one person with bushmeat – most likely bushbuck - in the Nyakweri Forest on the 21st. This person is the son of a notorious poacher who hunted in the early 2,000’s.
Revenue and Accounts
We received another donation of US$ 90,000 from WPS their fourth donation – now totaling US$ 290,000. This is an incredible gesture and we are extremely grateful for their amazing support.
We have been working hard to release around US$ 70,000 in our Paypal account – this is money donated by individuals.
Our net income for the first four months of the financial year was Ksh 23,644,556 (this includes donations) – against Ksh 138,443,949 during the same period last year -17%. Despite our best efforts to reduce costs, our expenditure was still Ksh 59,074,544 – a reduction of 25% on last year. This gave us a cash flow deficit of Ksh 36,029,544 for the four months. Add this to the cumulative deficit from March last year and we have lost approximately Ksh 54 million. At this rate, and without any further funding, we will run out of funds in March 2021. We are extremely fortunate in that we had reserves, and we have had incredible support from WPS, but the funds are rapidly being exhausted. We don’t have the luxury of being able to mothball the Triangle – we must maintain security and infrastructure.
We are still negotiating a loan with Conservation International (CI) and funds may be forthcoming in February 2021. But, this is a loan and the Terms are very stringent.
Tourism Promotion Services, Mara Serena’s parent company, would like us to pay for power, starting October. Our usage appears to be around US$ 500 per month.
Repairs and maintenance
Our cost cutting is beginning to become apparent in the wear and tear on vehicles and infrastructure.
We spent most of the month patching the roads and making sure that the culverts were clear.
The oil pump on the Nigro-are Land Rover failed, causing extensive damage to the engine. We then had a problem with the JCB back-hoe rear axle and it was repaired on the 30th.
We have all but completed the new staff quarters and they should be ready for use in December.
Collaboration agreement
We have received insufficient funds to enable us to continue with our work programme in the Main Reserve. However, we have managed to complete some work.
· We now have running water at Musiara gate and Sand River – the first time in many years;
· We finally repaired the grader and graded the road between Sekenani and Keekorok, and also the road to Talek;
· We purchased spares to repair one Land Cruiser and maintained the vehicles but these vehicles are being seriously misused.
Report on focus for November
Focus for December 2020
1. Start constructing a shower and toilet for the new staff quarters;
2. Hold Board meeting on the 11th;
3. Continue with road repairs;
4. Work on Collaboration Agreement;
o Hopefully receive funding;
o Start rehabilitating housing at Musiara;
o Install solar at Sand River;
o Repair road between Mara Bridge and Keekorok; and
o Repair one vehicle.