SWT/KWS Quarterly Mobile Vet Report April to June 2022

Published on the 23rd of July, 2022

The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (SWT), in conjunction with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) operate six Mobile Veterinary Units in the Tsavo, Mara, Amboseli, Mount Kenya, Meru and Rift Valley Regions. Within the quarter, all six of the SWT/KWS Vet Units attended to a total of 175 wildlife cases involving 593 animals.

Of the 175 cases, 61 cases were related to poaching with 25 plains game, 5 elephants, 4 buffalo, 3 giraffe and 1 baboon attended to for snare related injuries. Other poaching related cases include 16 spear, 1 gunshot and 16 arrow victims. Only 5 of these animals succumbed to their injuries and another 4 given a guarded prognosis. Human Wildlife Conflict cases have increased during this quarter with 30 cases attended to involving a range of species including elephant, predators, plains game, giraffe and buffalo. In Gicheha Farm, Tsavo, 282 herbivores, consisting of zebra, gazelle, oryx, eland, impala, hartebeest, wildebeest were relocated out of the privately owned ranch into various sites within the National Park to reduce the existing human-wildlife-conflict due to competition over reduced resources.

Out of the cases, 47 involved elephants; 5 snared, 11 speared, 4 arrows, 1 bullet wound, 7 for natural causes, 4 post-mortems, 10 rescues as well as 1 elephant that was known to be blind and habitually raided farms so required his tusks to be trimmed to deter him from breaking fences.

The Mt Kenya Vet Unit assisted Ol Jogi Ranch in the ear-notching of 20 black and 11 white rhinos within the Conservancy and the Rift Valley returned to Ruma National Park to assess the condition of the newly released Roan Antelope to offer advice on the remaining antelopes care and welfare

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