SWT/KWS Quarterly Mobile Vet Report October to December 2021

Published on the 27th of January, 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 162 wildlife cases. During 2021, all the Units attended to a total of 639 cases involving 1,170 animals.

Of the 162 cases, 57 cases were related to poaching and 20 to human-wildlife conflict (HWC). The HWC cases involved a variety of species including 3 elephants, 5 predators, various herbivores and birds as well as a pangolin rescued from a controlled burning area. 60% of the HWC cases were successfully attended to. 24 of the poaching cases involved elephants with arrows, bullet wounds, snares, spears or poaching post-mortems. There were also 16 snared zebras, the majority of which were in the Rift Valley Area, and the other 7 were in Amboseli, Tsavo and Laikipia. Other snare victims included giraffe, oryx, buffalo, impala and a leopard. Of the snaring cases 82% were given a good prognosis whilst 13% were considered guarded. Of all the poaching cases 72% were given a good prognosis, 18% were guarded and 7% died from their injuries.

In total there were 68 elephant cases involving 72 elephants. The Units assisted with 24 rescues of elephants, 18 were taken to an orphanage, 2 were reunited with their mother and sadly 4 didn’t make it. There were also 9 post-mortems, most due to the ongoing drought, 3 collarings and 5 treated for natural causes. Amongst other cases, the Units also attended to 10 lions for natural injuries and collarings whilst 1 leopard was ear tagged. 2 rhinos were also ear tagged, another 2 were rescued, 2 treated for natural causes and 2 post-mortems conducted.

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