Baraza

Category: Africa, Kenya, Lions, Mara Triangle, Pride of Kenya, poaching, predators, wildlifedirect | Date: Aug 27 2009 | By: paula

Kenya’s lions are in trouble. Over 30,000 lions once prowled the wildlands of Kenya, today only 2100 are left! About 70 lions die each year after eating carcasses laced with deadly pesticides.

So what has a pink lion got to do with conservation? Well, if you haven’t guessed it already - the poisoning of lions using the pesticide carbofuran (Furadan) is thought to be the main cause for the decline of our lions, and it could push Kenya’s tiny population over the brink and into extinction.

The first thing you notice is that the Androcles lion is painted magenta pink.

It’s the colour of the brand Furadan, which is made in USA by the firm FMC and is distributed by Juanco SPS in Kenya.

Every lion in Kenya is estimated to be worth US$ 1 million. This is why the Androcles lions mane is made up of a thick layer of cash (photocopied money under permission from the Central Bank of Kenya). Money is also why lions are endangered, the commercial value of carbofuran is one of the main reaons why this dangerous poisonous product is being sold in Kenya. After realising that Furadan is killing lions, FMC said they have withdrawn Furadan from East Africa - but it’s still available in shops in Kenya and Uganda.

The Androcles lion is bound in a silver chain, each link is labeled, with the impacts of the chain reaction caused by this pesticide. On farms it kills insects, which are eaten by rodents, birds and small mammals. Hippos, antelopes, cattle and other wildlife eat the crops covered in Furadan and when they die, vultures, hyenas and other scavengers eat the carcasses and in turn they get poisoned. Many animals die from deliberate poisoning including lions, eagles, wading birds, and animals deemed to be pests like baboons, moles, stray dogs and rats. Some birds and even fish are poisoned for human consumption - so Furadan also threatens humans. Dino Martins has told us that bees and many other valuable insects are especially vulnerable to this deadly pesticide.

Although carbofuran sold in Kenya, it is made in USA where its use has been banned there due to its deadly effects on wildlife. To break the chain we must ban carbouradan in Kenya, Africa and the world (Carbofuran is currently banned in the EU and the EPA has revoked all tolerances for carbofuran in USA).

The Androcles lion will stand on a concrete base at the Yaya shopping center in Hurlingham just a stones throw from the offices of WidlifeDirect. The base will be covered in crushed purple glass, just like the purple granules of the pesticide. Carbofuran granules are purple but is hardly visible when sprinkled on a carcass. It has no taste or smell, it kills anything that eats the carcass, including lions, hyenas, jackals, and vultures. It only takes a few granules of Furadan sprinkled on a cow carcass to kill an entire pride of lions.

We owe so many people BIG thank you’s

1. Peter Greste for taking the lovely photos
2. The BBC Network Africa for airing the story on World News!
3. David Mascal a lion lover like no other - for the roar - you’ll hear it soon!
4. Boy Genius Tonee Ndungu who is creating something we can’t talk about yet
5. Elizabeth Klem, MD of the Yaya Center who gratiously agreed to host the Androcles lion for the next 2 months
6. The Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya who approved the wild idea of using photocopied Kenyan currency on the lions mane (yes it’s illegal without permission)
7. The Card Center in Yaya for fabulous poster pens - we’ll tell you about those later
8. John Muturi, Val Leakey and Mr Mwangi and all the Friends of the Nairobi City Park who initially offered to host the Androcles lion. It wasn’t possible this time - but perhaps next time?
9. Jake Grieves Cook for donation of a prize - weekend for two at a luxury camp in Masai Mara - we’ll tell you about the raffle later
10. Alice and Wanja of the Born Free Foundation for their patience and amazing tolerance - you guys are amazing

and most of all

THANK YOU MARY COLLIS - an amazing Kenyan woman who worked 24/7 to get the Androcles Lion ready on time.

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Tags: Androcles, Lion, Lions, wildlifedirect

19 responses so far

Category: Kenya, Lions, Mara Triangle, Mau Forest Complex, National Parks and protected areas, conservation, national parks | Date: Aug 04 2009 | By: paula

The drought in Kenya is having terrible consequences for everyone especially in arid areas which are sending out appeals for help.

Wildlife is also at risk. Today, yet again, I came across herds of starving cattle in the Nairobi National Park.  The problem is provoking a muted response especially from KWS who seem hesitant to chase them out.  Some people think that this is the right “for humanitarian response”, and I’m hopping mad.According to the IUCN, a national park is meant to be a protected area where natural ecosystems are not materially altered by human exploitation or occupation and where the competent authority (KWS) takes steps to prevent or eliminate such impacts. National Parks are used for inspirational, educative, cultural and recreative purposes.

The KWS Vision is “To be a world leader in wildlife conservation” and it’s Mission is “To sustainably conserve and manage Kenya’s wildlife and its habitat in collaboration with stakeholders for posterity”.

SO, WHAT ARE LIVESTOCK DOING IN KENYA’S NATIONAL PARKS?

Even though Livestock is critical to our economy and contributes 12% of the GDP, the Kenyan government has failed Kenyan herders. Pastoralist occupy the ASAL areas (arid and semi arid lands) which make up two thirds of the country’s surface area. But very little has been done to help them. Historically the colonial government dispossessed land from pastoral communities, and our current government has been complacent and allows our political elite to benefit from the status quo by serving their private interests.

I believe that corruption in public institutions may be the greatest cause of Kenya’s economic decline, environmental degradation, and deepening poverty for millions of people.   It has created a humanitarian situation, for many Kenyans livestock keeping is a matter of survival.

This is why every time there are problems in the northern range lands, like droughts, conflict and disease, cattle are herded into the parks as a refuge.

KWS may in fact be powerless to stop them unless they take on a political war.

But does this effect conservation? Should we allow cattle in the parks?

I say “Hell No!! Chase them out as fast as possible!”  You may think me heartless in demanding that KWS drive the starving cattle and poor communities out of the parks. But  the long term consequence will cripple us – look at the devastating implications of corruption and impunity as a result of the destruction of the Mau forests.  Kenya’s entire economy is suffering and some 2,100 people will soon be homeless because of the greed of a few politicians.

There are also short term consequences of allowing cattle into our parks during droughts. Tourism is the backbone of this faltering economy, can we afford to ask visitors to pay $60 dollars per visit to see this?

Cattle taken into park after closing hours - Photo taken 6.20 pm last night at Nairobi National Park

Or this?

Photo taken 8.30 am this morning in Nairobi National Park despite several reports to KWS

Instead of this?

To me the answer to the cattle in the park problem is simple. Would the KWS director, or any of our ministers allow these sick starving cattle onto their personal property where their grazing would eat entire crops and destroy flower garden leaving a dust bowl and lots of parasites and diseases? Of course not!

Why is it that conservation areas are seen as opportunities to soften the devastating impacts our other failed policies? Numerous reports have concluded that the livestock ministry and related government departments, as well as our greedy political elite are  responsible for the crisis facing our cattle today. They created this problem, they must solve it.

In my opinion, letting cattle into the parks will not solve the problem any more than loosening the belt of an obese man will help him manage his weight.

What do you think? How can we send that message loud and clear that the Parks should not be used as emergency fodder for livestock during extreme droughts?

Tags: drought, human wildlife conflict, Kenya, Lions, national parks, poaching, wildlife

4 responses so far

Category: Kenya, Lions, Mara Triangle, big cats, furadan | Date: Jun 09 2009 | By: paula

Dear Friends

I hope you won’t be offended when I show these photos which are so shocking and sad that they will make you cry, then demand an immediate response from FMC and the Kenya Government for hesitating over the ban on Furadan and carbofuran.

Dead lion cub estimated to be only 8 months old. He was in a pride of 6 that fed on the poisoned carcass.  Nobody knows what happened to the others.

Stomach contents of dead lion cub contained parts of the cow (this is it’s tongue) that was laced with a pinkish poison suspected to be Furadan - a carbofuran based pesticide that was widely available in Kenya until the recent buy back by FMC. It is still available in some stores.

36 vultures of several species are known to have died in this poisoning incident. Others may have flown of and died elsewhere.

Two people were responsible for this act, and according to KWS one has been arrested, the other fled across the border into Tanzania.
“County council rangers revealed that prior to poisoning; lions had attacked and killed four (4) cattle from larger herd of cattle that were grazing in the reserve at night. The owners of the cattle were seen slaughtering and transporting the meat of the killed cattle on a bicycle. It was therefore suspected that they carried all the meat and finally poisoned one of the bovine carcasses intentionally to kill lions and other wildlife which had attacked their herd. It was their way of retaliating for the loss of their cattle”.

In conclusion KWS state that

“This is the second time when the lions have suffered from poisoning in Mara, in April, 2008, a pride of 6 male lion got poisoned from yet unidentified source near Mara Serena lodge along Mara river, two of the lions died at the scene while the rest disappeared with clinical signs of paralysis and incoordination gait and were presumed dead. This was likely to be an incidental poisoning after the lions fed on a hippo carcass that apparently died after grazing on a vegetable farm sprayed with a pesticide, due to indirect exposure and less concentration of the chemical on the hippo carcass, the severity of the symptoms in lions was mild and death only occurred after 2 – 3 days.

The poisoning this month was acute and very severe, presented with an instant death soon after feeding on the carcass. This was an intentional poisoning as opposed to the previous one, and involved deaths of several vultures already confirmed and examined. Previous poisoning was confirmed at the Government chemist as carbamates (Carbofuran) which is sold in Kenya as Furadan.

It is very likely that the same Carbofuran (Furadan) chemical has been used to poison animals again this time. The laboratory results will confirm this”.

Tags: carbofuran, FMC, furadan, Kenya, KWS, Lion, Masai Mara, poison, wildlifedirect

12 responses so far

Category: Lions, Mara Triangle, Poisoning wildlife, furadan, national parks | Date: Jun 04 2009 | By: paula

Will Kenya ban Furadan? That’s the big question that many are asking.

In the wake of the latest lion poisoning incident in the Masai Mara, the Kenyan Parliament on Thursday responded angrily to the response of the Kenyan Minister for Wildlife on the issue of whether to ban Furadan. He informed the house that the manufacturers had withdrawn the pesticide, thus suggesting there was no need. He also shifted the responsibility for bannng the product to the Minister for Agriculture. Parliamentarians were furious, stamped their feet and yelled in protest.We have been talking to friends all over the country and nobody can find Furadan in a shop anywhere, though a number of people have said that Agrovets have admitted to having a stash behind the counter that they will sell only to trusted ‘friends’.

Even though the Furadan buy back seems successful, everyone knows that the withdrawal of Furadan from Kenya is just not going to be good enough

Here are three reasons why

• First FMC reserves the right to reintroduce Furadan at any time
• Secondly, a ban provides that much needed platform for awareness about the dangers of this pesticide. Furadan is said to be the pesticide of choice for pest control and is used to control moles, baboons, lions, elephants and even termites by uniformed farmers and pastoralists. Even when used according to the label, the EPA says that carbofuran is not safe enough for highly regulated American farmers, consumers and wildlife.  If it’s not safe enough for people in USA, then it’s certainly not safe enough for poorly regulated and largely uneducated Kenyan farmers.
• Thirdly FMC does not have the monopoly on carbofuran pesticides. It is now manufactured by a number of firms in China, India and Pakistan. These companies can easily fill the market in Kenya.

We give John Mututho, MP for Naivasha and Chair of the Parliamentary Committee Two thumbs up for his courageous efforts to have Carbofuran banned. We congratulate him for getting this issue into public debate, and we wish him full success in winning this battle.

We also congralate KWS for their swift action  following the recent lion, hyena and vulture poisoning inciden in the Masai Mara on May 25th. Like KWS, we highly suspect  Furadan to be the pesticide. One Mara resident stated ‘it’s certainly Furadan, it’s the only poison that is used here to eradicate pests’.

We regret that the poisoning incidents are tarnishing Kenyas name, and makes the Masai Mara seem like a place where the local community are at constant conflict with wildlife. Things couldn’t be further from the truth. Most of the local communities benefit tremendously from tourism here and  value lions higly as the most sought after species for visitors. Indeed, tourism revenues even pay for their cattle which represents their wealth. However, there is a drought and cattle are being driven into the protected areas in search of grazing. This is illegal and the authorities are trying to enforce the law, but there landscape is vast and are a few individuals slip past the patrols. This is when cattle get taken and pastoralists sometimes lose their pateince when a cow gets taken by a lion. Furadan is a convenient way of disposing of the lions, it is very cheap, tasteless, and has no smell. Only a few grains will kill a lion. It usually kills much more than the intended targets.

The local communities are not at all happy about these incidents and are pleased with the arrest of the culprit. They have regularly appealed for help in reducing the wildlife livestock conflict. This is an opportunity for conservationists and many of our partners have come up with innovative approaches from guarding the lions to building re-enforced lion proof bomas for the cattle to sleep in. Support these projects to help save our lions.

Please help us to continue raising awareness to save our endangered wildlife. Thank you for all your support towards WildlifeDirect.

Tags: carbofuran, conservation, FMC, furadan, government, Kenya, Lions, Poisoning wildlife, wildlifedirect

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Category: Mara Triangle, National Parks and protected areas, conservation, poaching, wildlife, wildlifedirect | Date: May 18 2009 | By: admin

A new study has found that the Masai Mara is in a crisis. Based on an analysis of the monthly sample counts indicates that the losses were as high as 95 percent for giraffes, 80 percent for warthogs, 76 percent for hartebeest, and 67 percent for impala. Researchers say the declines they documented are supported by previous studies..” and  “Researchers found the growing human population has diminished the wild animal population by usurping wildlife grazing territory for crop and livestock production to support their families. Some traditional farming cultures to the west and southwest of the Mara continue to hunt wildlife inside the Mara Reserve, which is illegal, for food and profit.”

The report which is based on the analysis of 15 years of monthly counts for 7 species of ungulates; Cokes hartebeest, warthog, waterbuck, zebra, giraffe, impala and topi. The researchers didn’t examine the data in its raw form but manipulated it with a statistical model to illustrate the trends. In doing so, the authors claim that they were able to remove the effects of rainfall in order to highlight the individual impacts of land use, poaching, competition from cattle, range contraction and deterioration of habitat on the ungulate populations.

The graphs in this paper illustrate population trends in all 7 species. For all except zebra, populations initially decline between 1989 and 1993. This is followed by a recovery period peaking in 1995 and then further decline and stabilization until 2001/1 /. After this all species show upward trends as populations recover to 2003. The zebra population however is simply stable from the start of the study in 1989 until 2000 when it shows a dramatic increasing trend to the end of the study in 2003.

Finer detail is provided in a series of 21 graphs illustrating trends in each species giving a clearer picture of how these species numbers have changed in there different blocks of the Masai Mara Reserve. Many show a general downward trend between 1989 and July 2000, and almost all illustrate upward trends after 2000.  For the life of me I cannot find the 95% decline in giraffe in any of the blocks – the greatest decline that I can find is in block 3 where numbers of giraffe decline from 37 to 12 individuals.  That’s only a 67% decline.

The study has attracted global attention and hundreds of news articles. Here in Kenya the report caught many by surprise and prompted disbelief. One paper condemned the report as false  and at least one manager in the Mara refuted the results and said he did not know which part of the ecosystem the study actually referred to.  I spoke to the lead author, Joseph Ogutu to find out more.

Q1. Is the Masai Mara really in trouble?

Ogutu: This study found that the numbers of giraffe, warthog, impala, topi and hartebeest fell by 50% or more between 1979 and 2002. These declines were linked to rapid growth of Maasai settlements around the reserve.

Q2. Your paper documents a fantastic explosion in huts and bomas in the Koyiaki Group Ranch – some people say that this is an exaggeration.

Ogutu. We physically counted and mapped using a hand held GPS. We also used national census data which show more modest population increases. The number of homesteads or bomas increased dramatically because of the recent break up of group ranches into individual land titles. Families that once lived in small communal bomas in a large land area, have now built their own homesteads on their individual parcels of land. This multiplication of settlements has greatly increased the human footprint.

Q3. But the increasing human populations is occurring outside the reserve, how can this affect resident wildlife inside the reserve if these animals are non migratory?

Ogutu. The wildlife that are residential in the Mara Reserve are non migratory but they still move between the ranches and the Reserve seasonally. This is because the constant grazing of livestock outside the reserve keeps the grass low and nutritious in wet season. Inside the reserve the grass grows much faster than it can be consumed and gets tall and fibrous. Tall grass is not only unpalatable, it also hides the predators so grazers seek short grass for safety.  Once the wildebeest arrive on the annual migration, and after fires burn down the grass, these animals move back to the Reserve. Therefore anything that happens outside the Reserve affects what happens to migratory and resident species inside.

Q. 4 I witnessed the migration last year which was hailed as one of the best in recent years. Haven’t you guys exaggerated the situation a little?

Ogutu. Let me warn you that we are in for catastrophic declines in wildlife if we do not act now. He said that it was unfortunate that some people have challenged the study without looking at the data. If you are in the Mara Triangle you will only observe a small part of the ecosystem, and you will be oblivious of what is going on in the entire landscape. The Mara conservancy is a small section of the reserve where wild animals are increasing in number simply due to displacement of wildlife from elsewhere including the Loita plains

Q 5. Is it too late, is the Mara ecosystem collapsing? 

In the Mara Reserve some species are declining to worrying levels, but it is in the greater system Lemek Koiyaki, Loita and Siana there is a real cause for alarm” He says. According to Ogutu, we have already reached the tipping point in the northern wildebeest migration, which is restricted to Kenya. This unique but smaller migration involves the movement of wildebeest from the Mara Reserve to the Loita plains group ranches. The number of wildebeest has dropped from 120,000 – 190,000 in 1979 to fewer than 10,000 today. The wildebeest calving grounds of the Loita Plains have been ploughed, fenced and filled with cattle. Ironically, the increasing numbers of cattle have been paid for from tourism earnings.  Having studied wildlife in the Mara for 20 years now, Ogutu says that it is not clear if this northern migration exists anymore and laments that people see this everyday but nobody is saying anything about it.

Q 6. Scientists like David Western claim that the Masai way of life is wildlife friendly, your study suggests that they are villains causing to the collapse of the Mara ecosystem.

Ogutu. The traditional Masai way of life can co-exist with wildlife if their numbers and cattle do not exceed a certain density. Individual land ownership has led to the abandonment of traditional nomadic pastoralism in favour of cultivation which is now occurring right up to the Mara Reserve boundary. Subsistence farming and large scale commercial wheat farming are filling up the plains and destroying wildlife habitats, while rapidly growing developments including the settlements of Talek, Sekenani and Aitong are also blocking the migration routes. Add to this the illegal and unregulated extraction of water from the Mara river, and the destruction of the Mau forests which feeds the Mara River and we have a ticking time bomb. “Without the Mara River, the migration will cease” Ogutu warns.

Q. 7. Is it too late to save the Mara?

Ogutu. One of the most positive signs of hope is the growth in community owned wildlife conservancies. If this can be supported we can keep large parts of the the Greater Mara ecosystem open. Conservancies are becoming increasingly popular. The Masai like the conservancy idea because the land is rented by tourism companies from the individual land owners. This eliminates the corruption which was rife when dealing with elders and chiefs representing large communities on group ranches.

Q. 8 Given the economic opportunity, why have so few conservancies in the Mara ecosystem worked?

Ogutu. It’s no easy task to create a conservancy. Since the land is divided into 100 or 150 acre individually owned units, creating a conservancy needs the collective and coordinated action of numerous families. This can be difficult and slow. Nevetheless, families are signing contracts with tourism concerns. These leases typically run for up to 5 years, it is not a long enough period to ensure sustainable long term management. Longer leases would benefit both the investor and the land owner but neither side is willing to take the risk. Given what happened after the elections in 2007, investors are hesitant to accept full liability should tourism nosedive again, while families want to be assured of payments regardless of visitation.

Another problem that is holding back the speed with which conservancies are being registered, is the absence of policy framework or legal foundation for establishing private conservation areas in Kenya.  KWS, he says, provides no leadership or direction in this area, and are virtually absent on the ground.  As a result, each group ranch works independently, with little or no legal support.

Q 9. What can the world do to help the Masai participate in keeping the land open and saving the Mara and the great migration?

Ogutu. It is critical that some form of security is needed to back up or insure the land owners and investors. We need to create a trust fund to ensure the long term viability of wildlife conservancies in the greater Mara.  He is hopeful that this can happen because many people are interested in saving the Mara, and he mentioned in particular Sir Richard Branson.

After talking to Ogutu I am convinced that we have a crisis on our hands, not only in the Mara but in many of our other ecosystems too. Ogutu fears that this dismissal of the results will delay or even prevent the government from taking action. “KWS and DRSRS have been monitoring wildlife numbers for decades, but are they simply monitoring them into extinction? Why are they not analyzing trends and making the findings available to the public, the policy makers and the land owners?”

Ironically, KWS recently celebrated the launch of their new strategic plan which was proudly presented to the public by the Minister for Wildlife and the KWS Chairman who hailed it’s contribution to Kenya’s vision 2030. I asked the Director why members of the conservation community who contribute so much to the state of knowledge of wildlife in Kenya and on whose land most of Kenya’s wildlife resides, were not involved in drafting the document. He said it was done in-house but did not seem to agree that the voices of the public would have helped to create a more useful document. Amongst his strategies, he intends to improve customer service and raise park fees to improve the viability of the KWS.

I can’t help feeling that this blind business approach is why we are hemorrhaging wildlife in Kenya. No longer are wildlife or wilderness areas viewed as worth saving in their own right. Wildlife is now viewed as a commodity, something that should be paid for, and it’s assumed that only tourists appreciate it.  To everyone living outside of conservation areas, wildlife is a pest that costs $$ and should therefore be eliminated.  To unscrupulous traders wildlife anywhere, represents trophies or meat that can be sold for $$. To pastoralists and poor communities, parks are just stolen grazing or farming lands and many are fighting to have these protected areas degazetted.

There seems to be a shrinking community of Kenyans who visit wilderness areas to enjoy the peace and pleasure of unspoiled landscapes, to hike for health reasons, and who are excited by just watching zebras playing, lions greeting each other, or birds feeding their young. I can’t tell you all how sad I was to see that the new KWS strategy does not mention strategies to inspire Kenyans to care about wildlife. Instead KWS is looking to extract more money from the few Kenyans who do still go to the parks. No wonder, the KWS Director feels alone when neither the public nor businesses come out to support his proposals for greater government commitments to our wildlife heritage.

Leave a comment with your ideas, how can we turn around the situation in Kenya around. Or send me a question to ask the KWS director! What can we do to win over the general public, the communities, the government bodies and the management authorities?

Tags: Kenya, Mara Triangle, Masai Mara, migration, poaching, population crash, wildebeest, wildlifedirect

2 responses so far

Category: Mara Triangle | Date: Mar 16 2009 | By: baraza

 The encroachment by developers into the world-renowned Maasai Mara National Reserve has ignited a bitter row between the Kenya Tourism Federation and the National Environmental Management Authority.

“The industry lobby on Tuesday accused Nema of being behind the encroachment of the reserve by developers which was now threatening the existence of wildlife and the ecosystem.
Nema on its part said that it had issued licences to the developers in accordance with the law.

“All environmental impact assessment (EIA) licenses issued in the Maasai Mara ecosystem are procedural and have followed due process, and are in line with the provisions of the Environmental Management and Coordination Act, ” the state agency’s public relations officer, Ruth Musembi said in a statement.

She said in approving the projects, Nema had worked closely with lead agencies who confirmed that they had no objection to the licensing of the projects in the reserve.

KTF complained that the proliferation of unplanned development of tourism facilities in the Maasai Mara that is at the heart of the wildlife corridor has put the integrity of Kenya as a leading tourism destination at stake.

Despite plan

Lobby chairperson, Lucy Karume, and the organisation’s environment chairman, Allan Earnshaw, led more than 20 tourism private sector investors in voicing their displeasure with Nema.

They said that in the last four years, over 35 new camps and lodges have sprung up in the reserve and several others are about to be approved despite a new management plan for the Mara supported by both the Narok and Trans Mara county councils in Rift Valley province.

“Nema has also just licensed a cheetah rehabilitation sanctuary to create a zoo at the main entrance of the national reserve,” they said in a press conference.

The organisation asked the Kenyan government to intervene and stop the unplanned and unregulated developments.”

Coming at a time when tourism is declining while Kenya is trying to recover from the post election violence of last year, this does not bode well. We hope that NEMA listens to the stakeholders and at the same time injects some professionalism into their procedures. If they don’t have the capacity to do their job well, then they have no right to be giving licenses in the first place.

Tags: Kenya, Mara Triangle, Masai Mara, wildilfedirect.org

2 responses so far

Category: Mara Triangle, tourism | Date: Aug 19 2008 | By: Maina

In a rather unusual event, Kenya’s top guy ‘migrated’ with a large portion of his clan into the Masai Mara this Sunday to see the the popular Wildebeest Migration from the Serengeti to the Mara. Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki - amusingly described by Tourism Minister, Najib Balala, as Tourist Number 1 - seemed to have had a ball down there. I hear that the migration is particularly thick this season and the accompanying wildlife is superb. Well you just need to look at Paula’s post to see the magnificent images she brought back just a few days before the country’s CEO pointed his family towards the Mara River.

In President Kibaki’s words “It is a wonderful world, wonderful indeed and of course it is wonderful for me to be here,”

President Kibaki is in blue floral shirt.

It was big news here in Kenya and most of us suspended (voluntarily) our evening activities either at 7pm (for the news in Kiswahili) or at 9pm (for the English version) to watch the not-so-often-in-the-news president and his grand children relaxed and watching game. And the man seems to be having lots of fun. Picture this: it is common knowledge that the President hardly ever gives a one-on-one interview with the press. He avoids the press like the plague. But the sight of tons of gnu spread out into the horizon must have softened his heart and he gave an uncharacteristically jovial interview with Linus Kaikai of Kenya’s premier private TV station, KTN. The migration can have this effect on people.

Its a good thing for Kenya’s tourism when the top mwananchi*is publicly seen visiting the Mara. It definitely will encourage us, middle-class Kenyans, to visit our country (we’re conspicuously absent in tourist spots - except as tour guides and hotel staff). His appeal to the international community to come visit the Country, and the Mara, is also welcome given that the tourism industry is yet to recover from the traumatic post-election violence that shocked the whole world early this year. According to reports however it seems that the recovery has been much faster than expected although we are not there yet.

The Mara remains the top wildlife tourism destination in East Africa and such high profile endorsement might be of help to such places as the Mara Triangle that have been struggling to get back on their feet after the crippling effects of the violence.

Read more about the Presidents visit to the Masai Mara here and here

*mwananchi is citizen in Kiswahili

Tags: Kenya, Masai Mara, migration, Mwai Kibaki, President, Serengeti, tourism, wildebeest

One response so far

Category: Mara Triangle, Uncategorized | Date: Aug 17 2008 | By: baraza

I’m back from an amazing 3 days in the Masai Mara. Apart from a rather irritating spate of punctures that took us to some amusing experiences which I wrote about on a blog called Afrigadget, it was absolutely spectacular.

We drove in from Nairobi along a road that could be described as Africa’s worst, and into a camp run by JK Safaris. Since the election crisis tourists have not returned in full swing even to the Mara which meant we had the entire tented camp to ourselves, and the most relaxed wildlife viewing  that I’ve had in a long time in the Mara. Instead of hundreds of cars there were tens.

Arriving in the park had particular significance as we’d just overcome a puncture that nearly ruined the trip.

Spectacular wildlife viewing - the migration is in full swing and the landscape was saturated with herds of wildebeeste, zebra, gazelle and other species.

After much “hmming” and bleating the first wildebeest leaped into the water setting off a frenzy of excitement amongst the crocodiles. The flow of the river was stronger than I’d imagined, causing them to drift downstream while they swam like crazy to get across to a safe landing point.

Once the crocs had one animal in their clutches, the othere were safe to cross. The sacrifice of one wildebeest seemed worth it - hundreds if not thousands made it across safely, bleating excitedly as they emerged .

Hippos avoided busy crossing points and rested a bit further upstream.

Our guide Moses claimed that hippos mate for 3 hours. It certainly seemed like a slow process!

Not just migration - the Mara is exciting

Dung beetle - with a massive ball

Wildlife seems tame - this stunning lilac breasted roller let us get very close.

Topi guarding his leking spot

Lazy lions

….and an uncooperative leopard

The best moment came last for my son Josh - he received a Masai name and  spear for his 16th birthday.

The challenge of saving the Mara comes closer to home after a special trip like this. Losing the area due to political fall outs in Kenya would be the height of stupidity and short sightedness by our leaders. Thank you all for your support towards the Mara triangle through Kimojino’s blog.

Tags: Kenya, Kimojino, Mara Conservancy, Masai, Masai Mara, Wildebeeste

5 responses so far

Category: Mara Triangle, Podcasts | Date: Apr 04 2008 | By: admin

While in the Mara I enjoyed how quiet it was, the absence of noisy irritating tourists, there were virtually no other cars around, the wildlife was having a great time. But the people and the Mara are suffering. This post was recorded while I was visting Kimojino a few weeks ago. I posted stories, podcasts and photos earlier about the tourism collapse here and the killing of a lion by a warthog here. This post is about a conversation I had with Kipas, the village chief.

This is Kipas, the chief of Enkereri Masai village. I think that what he has to say about the effect of the tourism collapse on his community is one of the most touching conversations I’ve had in a long time. Another person has written about his wisdom, charm and wit here.

The photos help to illustrate the scenes

The village is perched on the escarpment. The community and their goats have a view to kill for!

I don’t think these are all his wives, but he is chief of all these women, 18 families in all.

The women are among the most beautiful creatures on earth!

In the village, work is segregated, men carve weapons and talking sticks using only a machete

Women adorn the talking sticks - listen to the podcast to learn more about the Masai talking stick

All the women are involved in the beautiful art of beading, including Kipas’s mother here.

And apart from beauty, and crafts, the women are sensational singers.

The men are responsible for bringing the cows home at the end of the day.

I’d really appreciate feedback. Did you like this podcast? Shall I keep them coming?

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Category: Emergency appeals, Mara Triangle | Date: Mar 07 2008 | By: admin

Although the political crisis in Kenya may be over or at least reduced, tourist and tourism revenues have not and will not snap back. The cancellation of flight routes, closure of hotels and tour companies, and booking cancellations all took place over a few weeks. Restoring confidence in Kenya as a tourism destination however, will take years and massive investments in marketing Kenya.

While in the Mara I had long discussions with the CEO of the Mara Conservancy, Brian Heath.

His dream was and is to make the Mara economically sustainable from tourism revenues. I thought you’d like to read some of the extracts of his February report to get a good understanding of the scale of the problem. Notice how long the security section of the report is!

Tourism

February has been another disastrous month for tourist visitations. There was a short period in the middle of the month when people began to return and it looked as if the situation might be salvaged to some extent. However, the stand-off between the two main political parties and renewed threats of mass action throughout most of February meant that tourists are still very reluctant to visit. We may be lucky and maintain the expected 30% of our original estimates for the coming months but can not foresee any significant improvement in tourist visitations before July.

Security

Ten poachers were arrested during February, 9 of them were Tanzanians and the tenth a Luo poacher who had been arrested before. This brings the total to 1,013 poachers arrested since June 2001.

The Ngiro-are team arrested one poacher on the evening of the 9^th. He was one of three people entering the Lemai Wedge to hunt along the escarpment near Kinyangaga.

Some meat was found stashed in a tree near Ol Kurruk by a routine patrol between the community scouts and our rangers on the 15^th. The following day we mounted a patrol in the Sankuria forest and arrested one Luo poacher, he had been in the forest for six days and had killed a zebra and a waterbuck. Three wire snares were recovered.

The Ngiro-are team arrested two wa Kuria poachers on the 19^th as they were traversing the Lemai Wedge, on their way to hunt hippo along the Mara River. They informed us that they had met with another group of poachers, also on their way to hunt hippo on the Narok side of the river. The following day we mounted a joint patrol along the Narok side of the river but found no poacher activity.

The Ngiro-are team arrested one poacher as he and his companion came down the escarpment to hunt in the Lemai Wedge late in the evening of the 22^nd. They recovered four wire snares.

The Ngiro-are team were asked to assist the rangers from Kinyangaga on the 24^th. The rangers had confiscated some wa Kuria cattle for illegal grazing in the Lemai Wedge and were taking them to Kinyangaga when they were accosted by an irate mob of wa Kuria, trying to recover their cattle. The situation became tense, with arrows and bullets fired at the rangers. Our rangers assisted in getting the cattle into the Kinyangaga compound and then withdrew. The wa Kuria continued firing into the compound. The Tanzanian rangers managed to apprehend one person with a firearm, only to discover that he was a policeman from the local village.

The Ngiro-are rangers found a temporary poacher’s camp at 9.00 am on the 25^th in a water-course between Ol Dono Nasipa and Konyoike – about half a kilometre into Tanzania. The five poachers were the group we had been looking for on the 19^th on the Narok side of the river. They had camped upstream from the search area, had killed one hippo and were on their way home after drying the meat. All five were arrested, four by the Ngiro-are team and the fifth after they were joined by the Serena rangers. Three wire snares and three heavy pears were recovered.

Revenue and Accounts

In January we had to re-calculate our budget, based on possibly receiving only 30% of our anticipated revenue. Although we implemented most of our cost-cutting measures in January our January Profit and Loss account indicated that we have a shortfall of Ksh 1.576 million (US$ 22,500 at the current rate of exchange.

We have been very fortunate in receiving support to meet our projected shortfall and would like to thank the following for their support. I would particularly like to single out Asuka for her support; she has raised US$ 29,000 in three weeks through her articles and blog for the Mara Conservancy. This shows the power of the Internet in raising funds if the message is right.

CMC Motors - 2,500,000 (approx US $ 40,000) for vehicle service and spares for one year

Asuka - 2,030,000 (approx US $ 23,000) Donations through her blog

Anne Kent-Taylor Fund 1,050,000 (approx US $ 12,000) donation for community scouts and security allowances

WildlifeDirect 700,000 (US $ 10,000) Donations through the blog

Care for the Wild 70,000(US $ 1,000) Donation for anti-harassment

Mc Phelps and family 70,000 (US $ 1,000) for Cheetah 1 (patrol team)

Total Raised to date 6,420,000

The exchange rate is about 1$=Ksh70Brian also noted that the Masai who had been laid off by hotels had returned to their villages where they were now herding livestock. These include diploma holders who just can’t make a living anymore in tourism.

We interviewed Dixon qualified in hospitality, who had returned to the village to herd cattle, a job normally reserved for boys. He was not alone, there were hundreds of cases like his. He was very bitter not about the hotel that fired him, but with the Kenyan leaders who are ignoring the suffering of so many as a result of the violence that followed the election dispute.

If the Maasai cannot get jobs in the tourism and wildlife sector, they will do what they need to do to survive- increase their herds in the Greater Mara ecosystem. This is perhaps the greatest threat to wildlife which migrates through the entire ecosystem which includes the Serengetti in Tanzania. Cattle, sheep and goats all compete for the same grazing as the wildlife…if we lose the Greater Mara, it will only be a short time before we lose the Mara as a consequence. The harmony between the Maasai and wildlife is on the verge of shattering as a result of this crisis. You can learn more about the Maasai wildlife interface in Asukas blog (she deals with livestock diseases that could affect wildlife) and at this website called reto-o- reto which means ‘I help you, you help me’. It’s a research project all about finding better land use management for pastoralists.

For the Mara Triangle the lack of funds means that planned developments have been put on hold. Only essential road works are being done (anyone who has been to the Mara knows what why roads maintenance is so critical).

These workers were on a break - the machine had broken down! Most of the road working machines are lying idle now.

Roads can wait but patrols cannot.

Despite all the cost cutting, we are now facing a situation where patrols are threatened. If patrols are halted, poaching will escalate and could go out of control, this we must prevent.

Before I go, this one’s for Theresa, Sheryl, FJP and all the others who love donkeys. This foal was absolutely tiny and adorable. Enjoy

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