SWT/KWS Quarterly Mobile Vet Report | January - March 2024

Published on the 15th of April, 2024

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 117 wildlife cases involving 752 animals. The rains experienced at the end of 2023 have greatly reduced during the first quarter of 2024, however the there was still enough green vegetation and water for wildlife to flourish.

There were 45 elephant, 17 predator, 12 rhino, 20 plains game, 14 giraffe, and 4 buffalo cases as well as treatment of 3 security dogs, 1 security horse and collaring oof a baboon troop. There were 43 poaching cases involving 23 elephants, 3 hyenas, 1 rhino, 8 herbivores, 7 giraffes and 1 buffalo. The most common poaching method for elephants was spearing whereas the herbivores/browsers were mostly treated for snare injuries. Three hyenas were also caught in snares but probably weren’t the intended target. 34 of the poaching cases were successfully treated, 2 given a guarded prognosis whilst 7 succumbed to their injuries, including 2 postmortems where the exact cause of death was not clear, but the tusks were removed showing human involvement and poisoning was suspected. There were also various human-wildlife conflict cases under different circumstances including fencing/trapped, human attacks and road traffic accidents.

Other significant cases, include the extensive operation where 13 black rhinos were ear notched and/or fitted with horn transmitters, translocating 3 Masai giraffes to improve genetic diversity of the giraffe population in Bora bora Wildlife Sanctuary and a comprehensive mass capture and translocation of 631 diverse wildlife species Kenya Nut farms, Naivasha to Tundra Conservancy to ease pressure on pastureland for cattle production, enhance genetic populations in Tundra and prevent any Human- Wildlife Conflict.

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