General
There was a heavy rainstorm on the 3rd and an even heavier storm on the 17th. Thereafter there were intermittent showers and the occasional localized storm – sufficient to send most of the wildebeest South. We had a few scattered herds remain with zebra until month’s end.
The Chief Executive met with a team from the Africa Foundation at Kichwa Tembo on the 3rd to discuss possible support for the proposed conservation area on Olorien. The Foundation is associated with & Beyond and the conservation area seems to fit with their mandate.
We received a donation of US$ 50,000 from Wildlife Protection Solutions (WPS) on the 15th, we cannot thank them enough for their amazing generosity and their belief in what we are doing in the Triangle.
We met with the Sub-County Security team, headed by the Deputy County Commissioner Mr G Onyango, on the 27th to discuss a proposed operation in the Nyakweri forest. They requested logistical and financial support for the operation which started on the 30th. We pledged a team of 15 people and Ksh 150,000 to cover fuel and allowances. On the first day they confiscated 14 bags of charcoal, destroyed a number of kilns and arrested 18 people.
Seiya started monitoring tickets and working with the anti-harassment team in the Main Reserve. The levels of corruption and the efforts taken to stop the team from working were a real eye opener. There were demonstrations and threats almost on a daily basis, much of it orchestrated by sections of the Park management. Some of the things we found were:
People entering the Reserve without a ticket, some of them through the designated gates. This happened on a daily basis;
People staying in the Reserve after their tickets had expired;
Large groups being given a waiver on Park Fees in return for a consideration to the Park
management;
The system going “down” at Talek and people being allowed to enter without tickets;
Off-road “permits” issued by rangers via WhatsApp for a fee of Ksh 30,000 to the ranger
or warden;
People with “permits” would call in a ranger vehicle if non-permit holders tried to go off
road. Such people would then be “fined”
Ranger vehicles finding key species such as leopard and charging people to view.
The cash collections went up by 100% in the first week and although there were numerous threats and intimidation, many people appreciated the work that was being done. Politics, greed and corruption finally prevailed and Seiya were stopped on the 22nd, after a large delegation went to see the Governor: to complain about “outsiders” monitoring them.
Research
One of the greatest fears – repeated constantly – was that ticket monitoring was the first step towards stopping illegal grazing inside the Reserve. This, probably more than the fact that we were tightening up on revenue, became an issue. Maybe the maps below can illustrate why grazing in the Reserve is so important – we just have to look at the changes from green to brown over a 30 year period – brown being cultivated, severely overgrazed, or sparse vegetation. It affects the whole eastern portion of the ecosystem – in particular the Talek catchment area and Talek town. Of course human population growth has largely accounted for the degradation. However, as the land became too degraded for cattle, people shifted to small-stock; sheep in particular are able to thrive in dry areas with very short grass. The second figure amply illustrates the exponential increase in sheep and goat populations over the past 45 years.
As land ownership changed from communal to private, so did pressure on the land. Some land was brought together as functioning conservancies and leased, but many people realized the importance of protecting their properties and fenced them off – potentially another environmental disaster (as highlighted in a number of recent reports). Maybe the fencing will, in time, improve land quality but it has had a devastating effect on wildlife – curtailing movement and causing direct mortality. Now the only open access land available for cattle is in the National Reserve and grazing pressure will continue to increase - already tens of thousands of cattle are grazing in the Main Reserve each night. This is a political time bomb affecting many protected areas and I am not sure that there is the will to deal with it.
Figure 1: Land use changes in the Mara 1985-2016.
Figure 2: Population trends for sheep and goats 1977-2018
Collaboration Agreement
We received some funds to continue work in the Main Reserve and used them to:
Grade roads – we completed two roads to Talek and also resurfaced a few badly damaged areas;
We fitted new tyres on ten vehicles and serviced two possible. The tyres on at least one vehicle were immediately stolen and exchanged with old ones;
We completed an engine overhaul on one vehicle and purchased a new radiator for it;
We purchased spares for at least ten vehicles. ;
We renovated staff housing at Keekorok by:
o Installing guttering and rainwater tanks to two houses; o Providing a solar back-up system to both houses;
o Replacing broken windows;
o Cleaning and repainting one set of housing;
• We started on constructing a pit latrine and outside shower.
COVID-19
The President lifted the curfew on the 20th after the positivity rate had dropped to less than 5%. Kenya continues to do well – we have had a total of 253,293 cases and 5,276 recorded deaths, Contrast this with 243 million cases and 4.9 million deaths worldwide. We have now received eight million doses and 3.5 million people have received their first vaccination. There is increasing evidence that a third vaccination will be required and that it is better to have a different vaccine to the first two.
Tourism
Visitor numbers dropped significantly in October but we continued to see a good number of visitors to the high-end camps. Angama and & Beyond continued to do well throughout the month, whereas the lodges such as Serena were operating at well below their normal for this time of year. We are beginning to see European travelers, as quarantine restrictions are lifted but it is too early to tell how this will work out in the future. There are already concerns in countries like Britain that there is a fifth wave and they are recording up to 45,000 new cases a day – and they are heading to the winter months.
Dogs
Finlays took four of their puppies on the 4th, we remained with one.
Staff
We disbanded our ranger post at Angama and re-deployed the rangers to different stations. We have left one Alpha Scout at Angama to operate the barrier.
We have ordered new uniforms for all our staff.
There is a chance that we will be able to train 20 rangers through the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) training school in Manyani. Ten of them will undergo basic training and the others will go through a Junior Commanders’ Course.
Wildlife
The wildebeest returned in good numbers at the beginning of the month, the fourth time they have gone and then returned this migration. Many of them left after the first week but we still had reasonable herds in areas that had experienced the heaviest rain until the third week. By month’s end there were virtually no wildebeest left but we still had a lot of zebra.
We cannot overemphasize the damage caused to the migration by uncontrolled tourism development and driver indiscipline in the Main Reserve. Unless this is urgently addressed there will be no spectacle of wildebeest crossing the Mara River in Kenya. Hardly a single wildebeest crossed out of the Triangle at the major crossing points near Lookout Hill and below Serena – in fact there were no wildebeest crossings at all below Serena this year. The migration has been effectively cut off by all the camps and development along the Mara and Talek Rivers. The majority of wildebeest are now crossing the Mara River in Tanzania as they head into, and out of, the Triangle – this year they all crossed back in Tanzania (where there is far more control and discipline at crossing points).
We held a planning meeting for an audit of all the rhino in the ecosystem and started a two week operation with our counterparts from the Main Mara and Serengeti on the 10th. The exercise started as scheduled and covered the Northern Serengeti and the whole of the National Reserve. We held a wind-up meeting on the 24th which was attended by the Mr Massana Mwishawa, Senior Assistant Conservation Commissioner for the Serengeti National Park, Mr James Sindiyio, Chief Park Warden for the Mara and ourselves. Mr Mwishawa recommended that we draft a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the County Government and Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) and we were very fortunate to meet with Dr Said Matano, Executive Secretary of the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) on the 31st. Dr Matano has a wealth of knowledge and experience in cross border agreements and has offered his expertise in assisting us draft a MoU.
One orphaned rhino calf was rescued on the 24th, it had been seen in the company of a male during the operation and had been monitored for several days before the rescue. It was taken to Nairobi but unfortunately succumbed to an injury, probably caused by the male.
We removed snares from three elephant calves on the 7th, two of them were in one family group. The injuries were quite extensive on two of the calves, on one the trachea had been cut and on the other there was a deep wound on a foreleg and around the neck. Thanks to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (SWT)/KWS veterinary team and to the Mara Elephant Project (MEP) for their support in removing the snares.
Two days later Dr Limo removed a snare from a giraffe, he also removed snare from a giraffe on the 22nd and treated a second giraffe with an old leg wound on the same day.
Security
Six people were arrested for poaching during the month, four of them in the Serengeti – the fifth was a Maasai Moran who was part of a group trying to spear a lion. We collected 274 snares and rescued four wildebeest, one zebra and one topi. The rangers found one giraffe, an eland, a lion, a zebra and three wildebeest dead in snares and recorded that at least 16 wildebeest had been butchered.
A total of 32 wire snares were collected on the 2nd, 29 of them near Maji ya Bett – the first time we have found snares inn this area for over a year. One wildebeest and one topi were rescued and we found where four had been butchered.
Sixteen snares were recovered on the 3rd, and a further 24 between the 4th and 6th – three of the snares were set for giraffe and one had been caught, as had one eland – both had been dead in the snares for some time. One wildebeest had been caught and butchered in a regular snare. One of our rangers, K Ololtele was hit by a buffalo on the 6th, whilst on patrol in the Konyoike thickets, just inside the Lemai Wedge. Fortunately his injuries were not extensive and he was released from hospital the following day.
Six snares were recovered on the 7th, near Mbali Mbali in the Northern Serengeti, one wildebeest was dead in a snare. The following day our rangers joined forces with our Tanzanian counterparts at Kogatende and managed to arrest two people from 1.00 am, the first arrest was made on a person checking his snares, he had already butchered one wildebeest. Two more people were arrested on the 9th, near Lempise in the Lemai Wedge, three snares were recovered.
We collected 32 snares on the 10th and a further 13 on the 13th, one wildebeest was rescued. One of our community scouts, C6, saw Maasai morans (warriors) as they tried to enter the Triangle very early on the 13th, he alerted our patrol teams. They chased the morans passed Isokon, well outside the Reserve. One moran was arrested and taken to the police in Lolgorien – he gave the names of the other eight in the group – four of them were in the hunting party we arrested months ago. Unfortunately the police released him on a cash bail and it is unlikely that any action will be taken against the others.
Seventy nine snares were recovered on the 14th and 15th , one wildebeest was rescued.
The Nigro-are team joined forces with their counterparts from Kinyangaga on the 18th and patrolled an area between Bologonja and Tabora B in the Northern Serengeti. They found two old poachers’ camps and then 15 snares near Tabora B – one lion, one zebra and one wildebeest were dead in the snares. They also found a recently vacated camp where 10 wildebeest had been butchered, it looked as if the camp was frequently used as there were a number of items stashed away there. The rangers set an ambush but no one came in.
Very little poaching activity was recorded for several days after the 18th, though seven snares were recovered on the 22nd and a further 47 between the 24th and 30th. One wildebeest and one zebra were rescued on the 25th and one wildebeest had been butchered.
Our patrols crossed the river at Kogatende and set an ambush at Ngira on the 28th. They managed to arrest one person from a group of nine who were hunting with machetes – one wildebeest had been injured.
Revenue and Accounts
Our expenditure for the quarter was 5% above budget. Although we factored in resumption of the old salaries, our wages and vehicle running made up most of the overspend. We will endeavor to maintain our older vehicles for another year but will have to plan for replacement in the next financial year. One Land Rover in particular has been very expensive to maintain.
One encouraging sign was that actual income was virtually double our very conservative estimate for the year, we hope that this can be sustained.
Table 1: Income and expenditure statement, first quarter 2021/2
September revenue was well down on August but better than expected and again we were able to just cover our costs with our share of revenue – the third month in a row. Yet again, the high-end camps did better than the larger, less expensive, lodges.
Repairs and maintenance
We made a new, all-weather road into Kampi ya Mungu, the original track was severely damaged by big trucks going in to set up camp.
We repaired the roads around Oloololo and resurfaced sections on the lower road between Serena and Oloololo.
We repaired the access roads to Olaro, Dirisha and Ndovu campsites;
We rebuilt the charcoal store at Iseiya, the original mesh walls were corroded by the saline water at Serena.
We have started on a toilet block at Eluai, a Public campsite near Serena. This site has become very popular over the weekends.
Collaboration agreement
We stopped work on the 26th, pending a new agreement with the County. However, we had done considerable work before stopping and this has been listed above.
Report on focus for September
Focus for November
Collect uniforms for all staff;
Start Staff appraisals;
Send rangers on a training course;
Continue with operation in the Nyakweri forest;
Sign new collaboration agreement;
Work on new section of road at Partikilat;
Complete toilet block at Eluai;
Concrete sections of the new road up the escarpment; and
Reshape most heavily used roads.
Work on Collaboration Agreement – Dependent on Agreement and funding;
Replace the pipeline to Ololomutia; o Maintain vehicles;
We will contine with grading roads:
Keekorok to Ololomutia
Musiara to Ol Kiombo; and
Repair housing.