General
We had scattered showers and thunderstorms throughout the month, sufficient to keep the grass green and some wildebeest herds around. However, most of them moved off by the 20th.
We were visited by a team from Conservation International (CI) based in South Africa on the 9th. The team, headed by Bjorn Stauch had been in the Mara for a few days, evaluating potential support for the conservancies outside the Reserve and a possible loan to the Mara Conservancy. Maybe we were fortunate in the timing, the Triangle looked at its very best with hundreds of thousands of wildebeest, and teeming with other wildlife.
We received the Iseiya Flir camera on the 11th, after nearly two years with it out of action. I would like to thank Eric Becker for all his work in fixing it and Brian Kearney-Grieve from bringing it out from the United States. Sadly the cables were forgotten and will be sent in the near future.
We attended a meeting hosted by the Governor, Narok County on the 16th in which GIZ (Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), the German development agency, presented a proposal for emergency funding to the Conservancies. This proposal was born out of a project that had been worked on by KfW – another German organization – that was supposed to support cross-border conservation between Kenya and Tanzania. The consultants had seen an urgent need for emergency funding in the wake of Covid-19 and had stressed the importance of securing the core area – the Masai Mara National Reserve. Unfortunately the project was somewhat hi-jacked by other interests and the focus was now purely on the Conservancies – supposedly 15 – surrounding the reserve, with nothing allocated to the core area. The County Government were certainly disappointed, as were we, especially as the proposal was being presented as a fait accompli. It is a five million Euro project for two years, with the first funding expected in the first quarter of 2021.
Collaboration Agreement
We completed a number of on-going projects but were then hampered by a lack of funds and we are now a month late in starting the next phase.
COVID-19
The number of Covid-19 cases has risen dramatically in the past month, possibly as a result of relaxing the restrictions on movement and lifting of the curfew. There is a chance that the Government will reinstitute further restrictions. To date we have had 53,797 confirmed cases, 981 people have died and we are averaging over 700 new cases a day.
We are seeing corresponding spikes in parts of Europe and the US and this is bound to affect international travel. It is very unlikely that we will see any significant increase in tourism this coming year and we will be looking at next to no revenue for at least one, maybe two years. The implications are almost to difficult to contemplate – not just for us in conservation but for the whole hospitality and tourism industry.
Tourism
We are beginning to see a few – very few – international tourists; in September they made up 7.5% of our visitors, up from 3.8% in August. However, contrast 360 foreign visitors in September with 10,174 (it is 3.5%) in the same month last year. We don’t expect any significant increase in the number of foreign tourists before July 2021, even then we won’t get to anywhere near 2019 levels.
Staff
The driver and officer in charge of the vehicle that overturned were each suspended for three months for reckless endangerment and careless driving.
We held as staff meeting on the 26th to explain the current situation and the need to further implement cost cutting measures. It was agreed that all staff would take one month’s unpaid leave, in the hope that this will be sufficient to see us through to July next year. However, it was explained that tourism will not recover fully and that we can expect at least two more years of austerity. I wish to express my gratitude to all the staff – both for their understanding of the situation and the sacrifice they are prepared to make in order to see us through this very difficult time.
Wildlife
A female elephant was found collapsed on the 15th, she had dystocia (difficulty in calving) and it was decided to euthanize her.
The majority of wildebeest moved out around mid-month and by the 20th there were scattered herds only. However, we still have good concentrations of zebra and they don’t seem in any hurry to move.
Security
A total of 12 people were arrested for poaching in October, all of them in the Northern Serengeti. We recovered 557 snares, rescued 15 wildebeest and one topi, found eight wildebeest and a warthog dead in snares and where 12 wildebeest and one ostrich had been butchered,
Our Tanzanian counterparts saw three people entering the Lemai Wedge near Kigonga on the 1st, to kill a wildebeest caught in a snare and called for our rangers to help. Two, of the three, were arrested. A total of 13 snares were recovered and two wildebeest had already been butchered.
The Iseiya team collected18 snares on the 2nd and another 47 between the 5th and 7th, seven wildebeest and one topi were rescued and the rangers found where two wildebeest had been butchered.
The Iseiya rangers joined forces with their Tanzanian counterparts on the 8th for a late patrol near Machechwe; they saw one person hunting soon after dark and managed to arrest him. They stayed on until 1.00 am but there was no other activity.
We recovered 15 snares on the 9th, rescued one wildebeest but found two dead in snares. Our rangers left Iseiya at 4.00 am on the 10th And set up an ambush site Lugga ya Ngiri. Five people came in at 1.00 pm to butcher a wildebeest that was caught in a snare – three of them were arrested and the meat recovered. Later that afternoon they joined the Nigro-are ranges and managed to arrest one more person soon after dark. A total of 53 snares were recovered and four wildebeest butchered.
A total of 68 snares were recovered on the 11th and then on the 12th the Iseiya team crossed the river and patrolled around Binamu. There they found where an ostrich had been snared and butchered, they also found a the remains of a wildebeest and recovered four snares. The Nigro-are team recovered 21 snares, rescued one wildebeest and found where one had been butchered. The following day, the 13th, ten more snares were recovered and two wildebeest rescued.
Thirty-three snares were recovered on the 15th and 16th – one wildebeest was rescued. The following day the Iseiya team managed to arrest two people from a large group of 15 who had hunted and killed a wildebeest near Binamu – across the river. The same day the Nigro-are rangers arrested one person and recovered six snares.
The Nigro-are rangers managed to arrest one person, from a group of three, who were trying to kill a buffalo near Serengeti Ndogo in the Northern Serengeti. The buffalo managed to escape with a slash on the hind leg.
A total of 53 snares were recovered between the 20th and 23rd, one wildebeest was rescued, one was dead in a snare, as was one warthog. The Nigro-are rangers saw three people hunting a hippo near the Lemai airstrip – the three escaped across the river.
The rangers continued to recover snares in the Lemai Wedge – 216 were recovered by our various teams. Two wildebeest were rescued, one had been butchered and five were dead in snares. The Nigro-are rangers managed to arrest one person at 3.00 am on the 28th. He had checked his snares and was on his way home.
Revenue and Accounts
Our management accounts for the first quarter of 2020/21 clearly show the very difficult financial position we face. With Park fees well under 10% of last year and expenses at 80% we are due to run out of funds by March 2021. Figure 1 below clearly gives a comparison between revenue collected in 2019 and to date in 2020.
Figure 1: Comparative revenue 2019 & 2020
Table 1: Cash flow for first quarter of 2020/21
We have started the process of further reducing costs, but without the loan from CI, or more donations we will virtually stop functioning from March next year.
Repairs and maintenance
Our JCB Back-hoe loader was out of action for most of the month with a damaged differential. It was finally repaired on the 25th.
We resurfaced sections of the river road between Serena and Oloololo.
The road team spent weeks cleaning out culverts in anticipation of the rains.
KAV 010Z was rolled on the 19th, when the driver was chasing a wildebeest with a snare, seven people were slightly injured. The car has been taken to Nanyuki for repairs.
Collaboration agreement
· The New Holland grader given to us by the County was finally repaired on the 30th – this machine has hardly worked two weeks in four months and has been a disaster
· We received 30 uniforms for senior staff
· We collected one more rehabilitated vehicle
· We completed work on the Musiara road and opened the two causeways at Double Crossing
· We connected the three rehabilitated windmills to tanks at Sand River, Sekenani and Musiara
Report on focus for October
Focus for November 2020
1. Chief Executive to take 10 days off;
2. Start on unpaid leave;
3. Complete staff housing at Iseiya;
4. Work on Collaboration Agreement;
o Receive funding;
o Start rehabilitating housing at Musiara;
o Grade Keekorok airstrip;
o Work on solar at Sand River;
o Repair one vehicle; and
o Possibly start on road from Talek to Sekenani;