SWT/KWS Quarterly Mobile Vet Report April - June 2023

Published on the 15th of July, 2023

The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (SWT), in conjunction with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) operate six Mobile Veterinary Units. Within the quarter, the Units attended to a total of 176 wildlife cases involving 197 animals.

There were 63 elephant, 24 predator, 8 rhino, 49 plains game, 19 giraffes, 3 buffalo cases as well as 3 security dogs cases, treatment and translocation of a python found in a school and management of a hippo with two spear wounds that unfortunately had to be euthanised.

Out of the poaching cases, there were 35 snaring cases, 19 spear, 12 arrow and 2 bullet wounds. 26 elephants, 26 plains game, 8 giraffes, 2 buffalo, 3 rhinos and 1 wild dog were treated for poaching related injuries. Sadly 3 elephant, 2 rhino, 3 zebra, 1 buffalo and 1 hippo succumbed to their injuries. 3 elephants were also given a poor prognosis.

Human-wildlife conflict cases continue to be prominent involving a various species for a variety of reasons. A waterbuck was relocated after it knocked down a hotel worker and a buffalo strayed into a farm threatening the workers. 11 elephants had to be relocated due to proximity to communities or persistent fence breaking. Sadly one of the elephants died due to anaesthesia complications. Two lions were relocated due to livestock predation and one leopard was taken into captivity after it attacked two people. It could not survive naturally in the wild as it had an amputation due to a snare wound. A further 9 lions were poisoned in retatliation to livestock predation as well as 1 vulture and 1 elephant. 5 of the lions were successfully treated, all the others succumbed to the poison.

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