Participants

Isaac Maina Jacob Dadi Mutua Koti Samuel Adero Philip Kipkorir KWS Rangers- Cyprian, Chepkwony and Abdi

Area Covered

This month we patrolled Ndii, Irima, Choke ranch, Lualenyi ranch, Kajire, Mbirikani and Manga.

Findings

This month a total of 194 snares were recovered. Throughout the month we were concentrated mainly on Lualenyi ranch which is sandwiched between Salt lake sanctuary and Mgeno ranch, with the Tsavo west and Burra community on one side. Our concentration here was due to two factors. • To curb the cases of lamping which repeatedly been observed at both Salt lake sanctuary and Lualenyi ranch. • To solve the problem of the repeated cases of animals, particularly Elephant, Buffalo and Giraffe, found in snares around Salt Lake. Even though two overnight ambushes were set up to catch the poachers our efforts proved futile as they never showed up. However once we left the ranch the authorities reported seeing lamps at night. Nevertheless we feel that our presence in the area discouraged the amount of lamping cases. We were able to find an area full of snares where a lot of big game had been getting caught. In the recent past in the Salt lake sanctuary area, numerous case of animals carrying around snares that they were caught in have been brought to the attention of our vet. However it is not know where the animals got trapped in the snares a lot of patrols have been carried out by the sanctuary scouts. Nevertheless we were able to find and remove 146 big and medium size snares in this region. A visit to the Mgeno ranch yielded 36 snares of all sizes. A rabbit was rescued from a snare a set free. Choke ranch yielded 3 big snares. Unfortunately a night ambush in the area neighboring Mwatate sisal estate and Kamtonga area did not result in any poachers being caught. Reports of game meat being hawked at Mwatate sisal estate had been received from various local informers. Patrols close to home were promising. Ndii-Irima area was clean with no snares being found. Ngutuni sanctuary and the Mbirikani area yielded 5 snares in total. None of them had been laid recently. Kajire was patrolled for a day and even though no snares were recovered a poacher carrying meat in a rucksack was seen. However upon spotting our team he dropped the meat and ran off.

The meat appeared to be from a young cow so we reported the matter to the village elder as we suspected that the poacher had slaughtered somebody else’s cow. However once we opened the rucksack we found that the meat was from a lesser Kudu. We followed the poachers footprints for two kilometers after which we lost his trail due to the fact that his footprints were obscured by those of a herd of cattle. We recovered four snares around the Manga hill pipeline. We also found a dik dik that was caught in one of the snares. Although the snares were not fresh they were still active.

Community Outreach

During the month the Jambo project was launched in the area with six primary schools, Kajire, Mwambiti, Kirumbi, Ikanga, Kabito and Ore being visited.

The Jambo project aims to exchange culture and information through letter writing and the sharing of ideas. Students from these schools received letters and gifts from students in the US. The idea was welcomed with enthusiasm and excitement. To culminate the exercise Sue and Jo, who are from the Jambo project, planted a tree in each school. Many thanks go to Sue and Jo for bringing the Jambo project to the Burra area. We hope to strengthen this collaboration so that students become proud of their culture and natural heritage so as to market their country globally and safe guard their heritage for prosperity.

Report by Isaac Maina