national parks

Category Archives: national parks

Carbofuran the most widely used poison in USA

Category: furadan, national parks, wildlifedirect
Date: March 1st 2010
By: paula

A Kentucky man has pleaded guilty to poisoning migratory raptors using Furadan and has been fined US$ 5,000 for the offence. He admitted to lacing a turkey carcasses with Furadan to poison coyotes and ended up killing migratory birds, three red-tailed hawks and three vultures,

According to federal agent Jim Gale.

“Furadan is the most widely misused pesticide documented during wildlife poisoning investigations in the United States,” he said. “During the past 10 years Furadan has been documented in 26 investigations in Kentucky alone.”

The threat to Kenya’s lions by Furadan remains a high priority due to the growing human lion conflict resulting from the drought. Scientist are on high alert and have warned us that they expect a surge in killings.

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Saving Amboseli – Photos of Zebra translocation

Category: Africa, Amazing facts, Amboseli, Emergencies, In the News, Kenya, Lions, National Parks and protected areas, human wildlife conflict, national parks, tourism, wildlife, wildlifedirect
Date: March 1st 2010
By: paula

Amboseli is famed for the spectacular views of Mt Kilimanjaro and the elephant population made famous by Cynthia Moss, Joyce Poole and the Amboseli Elephant Project.

Amboseli was severely affected by the Kenyan drought, and even though it is now officially over, this is no paradise for wildlife.

It is extremely hot and dusty and there is hardly any grazing. According to local scientists, over 95% of the wildebeest and nearly all the zebras and other wildlife perished from starvation in the drought. In addition the drought took 50 – 80% of the Maasai cattle herds. Predators lost their prey base, and lions, already critically endangered in Kenya also faced starvation so they turned to killing the few remaining cattle and other Maasai livestock.

According to the Maasai on the ground, in a normal year five cattle are killed by lions, currently lions attack five times per week!

To avert the situation the Kenya Wildlife Service mounted the largest wildlife operation in Africa, to translocate 7000 zebras and wildebeest to the park to provide food for the lions and no doubt, to restore the touristic attraction to Amboseli.

morning waiting for chopper.jpg

We witnessed day 20 of the operation – the goal was to capture 50 zebras in a dawn operation. Everything started at 5.30am.

chopper 2.jpg

The Kenya Wildlife Service helicopter rounds up zebras and drives them into a cleverly hidden funnel

chopper 3.jpg

Once inside, the funnel is closed with curtains behind the zebras

The zebras are completely confused but not panicked. They settle down until the chute and trucks are in place.

Rangers make noise banging the floor and sides of funnel with sticks to move zebras into the chute.

container shute.jpg

Zebras run from funnel into the chute and directly into the waiting truck

kws in action.jpg

KWS rangers and veterinarians count the individuals and make sure all is going according to plan

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49 zebras are captured. Zebras are compartmentalized in the truck in groups of 10

Six hours adn 300 km later the first zebra truck arrives in Amboseli

The container is opened and zebra makes first tentative steps out

then race for FREEDOM!

The last foal looked a little lost at first

But quickly followed the others running to the elephants in the swamp – causing a minor panic by the pachyderms!

The next day the zebras had figured out where the grass and water was. Of 49 captured 48 survived the first day. One individual ran directly into the swamp and the jaws of waiting hyenas. Its carcass was rescued and taken to a hungry lion pride wtih 6 cubs.

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Tags: Africa, Amboseli, drought, elephants, Kenya, Kenya Wildlife Service, KWS, Lions, Naivasha, Paula Kahumbu, Soysambu, Wildebeeste, wildlifedirect, Zebras
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My life is not my own, it is my children’s

Category: National Parks and protected areas, national parks, tourism, wildlifedirect
Date: February 18th 2010
By: paula

My name is Kathleen Morriss and I am a 3^rd year university student at Princeton University. I’m spending 3 months studying ecology and evolutionary biology in Kenya.

“My life is not my own, it is my children’s – everything is for them.” This heartfelt statement from Teresia was the pervading theme throughout our conversation in the warm sun outside her boma as we discussed her feelings towards wildlife and Kenya Wildlife Service. Over the past week our class of 13 Princeton University students has been trying to understand how the Maasai people who live along the border of Nairobi National Park view the wildlife that the Park is increasingly struggling to preserve.

One of our teachers, Dino Martins, translating questions and answers during our discussion with Teresia.

On our first day of interviews we met Nixon, a participant in the Land Lease Program – a conservation initiative that pays US$4 per acre per year to land owners who agree not to fence the land they commit to the program. As Nixon described it, wildlife can be problem, but he understands the value of them and greatly appreciated the Land Lease Program because it provides money for education. He strongly believes education is key to future success, an attitude perfectly characterized by his brown t-shirt featuring the slogan “I <3 Wildlife.”

Nixon’s pro-wildlife shirt.

Like Nixon, Teresia is a strong advocate of education, especially for her children. Unlike Nixon, Teresia does not view the wildlife and government programs in a positive light. Teresia is not part of the Land Lease Program and her answers to our queries brought stories of long nights burning cow dung around the boma to discourage lion attacks and long delays associated with government programs. Teresia repeatedly told us how she and the other members of her women’s group struggle to pay school fees and feed their children while lions kill calves and zebras eat the grass she is carefully conserving for the high quality cow she hopes to purchase.

Burned cow dung piles around the calf boma.

Teresia told us that she understands that wildlife is an important part of the landscape and beneficial for Kenya as a whole, but that she only experiences the costs. She does not want anything for herself, she only wants education and a better life for her children. As of now, wildlife only hinders that goal by destroying her attempts at agriculture or killing her calves.

What struck me most about these two people, both of whom were open and welcoming to our group, was the contrast in attitudes that a simple compensation program produced. The wildlife cause similar problems for both Maasai, but for Nixon they also bring regular cash payments that pay his brothers’ school fees or buy food in times of drought. For Teresia the wildlife are a source of grief and expense – an obstacle to her efforts to better her children’s lives. After our discussions with Nixon and Teresia I am thoroughly convinced that successful conservation programs need to focus on bringing benefits to those suffering from the costs of preserving wildlife. The Land Lease Program’s success comes from its ability to provide economic benefit for a commodity (wildlife) that was previously viewed only as a nuisance.

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Tags: community conservation, conservation, Dino Martins, Maasai, Masai, Paula Kahumbu, Princeton University, wildlife, wildlifedirecdt
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This land is my land

Category: National Parks and protected areas, national parks, predators, wildlifedirect
Date: February 18th 2010
By: paula

Hi, My name is Erin, I’m a 3rd year student from Princeton. This is my first time to come to Africa and I’m interested in wildlife conservation. This blog is about the similarities and differences between my home town of Rosalia and Kitengela in Kenya.

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Tags: community, conservation, Kenya, nairobi national Park, Paula Kahumbu, Princeton University, Rosalia, wildlife, wildlifedirect
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The Future of Conservation Lies with Education

Category: Kenya, National Parks and protected areas, national parks, tourism
Date: February 18th 2010
By: paula

Every new generation will have to walk in the shoes of the older generation.

I had the opportunity and the privilege to talk to many Maasi men and women. I went out for a series of interviews with my fellow classmates in order to find out what the COMMUNITY wants from conservation programs. Specifically, I wanted to find out the opinions of community members from around the area of Nairobi National Park.

The communities surrounding the Nairobi National Park all have problems with wildlife. Lions either eat their cattle or other herbivores compete with their livestock for grassland. The problem remains that the community does not really see the benefit of wildlife. It is true, wildlife cause problems. How do we tell a starving family to support conservation programs when the animals only harm their livelihood? So, let’s try another approach.

Every conversation and interview produced one universal wish= EDUCATION.

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) program does build classrooms in areas without much access to schools, but it does not have the authority to build whole schools. In fact, only the Ministry of Education in Kenya can provide the authorization and funds to build a whole school. If we want to change the way that the community looks at conservation programs the KWS must have the ability to provide them with their greatest wish, education.

The future of conservation is tied to the future of the Maasi children.

KWS has the chance and opportunity to secure the wildlife of the Nairobi National park, but only if they are willing to provide better and cheaper access to government schools. I am not saying that this will be a cheap alternative, but it will be an option that works.

Conservation’s responsibility towards the community is education!

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Princeton University Students in the wild

Category: National Parks and protected areas, WD, WildlifeDirect news, conservation, national parks, poaching, wildlifedirect
Date: February 18th 2010
By: paula

Its that time of the year when WildlifeDirect goes back to school – we have just spent ten days running a field course for Princeton undergraduates as part of their semester in Kenya. What have they been doing? Well, the 13 students will tell you about it through their own blogs which will appear right here on Baraza, as well as on Nairobi Park blog

Here are some photos to illustrate what we’ve been up to.

Students interviewing members of the local community in Olerai Conservancy with David Paramisia who was instrumental in setting up this far sighted approach to saving wildlife in the dispersal area from Nairobi National Park.

Patty John and Evelyn.jpg

John Solonka and Evelyn who work for The Wildlife Foundation talk to Princeton student Patty

Rangers in Olerai Conservancy – a new wildlife sanctuary. These rangers were trained by the Kenya Wildlife Service

Johnson and Jane.jpg

Most of the men were hundreds of kilometers away with the livestock so we interviewed mostly women. The women had unique perspectives on the future of wildlife in their areas.

Kohi and kids.jpg

Kohei made friends with the local kids

team with Theresia and Jane.jpg

Interviewing Masai women was followed by song at this homestead.

Dino Martins of Dudu diaries assisted with the course and drew attention to the bugs in the ecosystem. A KWS ranger named Jacob accompanied us to ensure we were safe.

car in river.jpg

Gettings stuck – nearly every day. To reach the National Park dispersal area we had to cross the Mbagathi (Empakasi) river.

Olerai conservancy allows pastoralists to graze herds of sheep and cattle in a controlled manner to ensure that wildlife can coexist with the livestock

Children in the villages were just as interested in us as we were in them

molly elephant.jpg

Molly meets a baby elephant on our one day off

bridge Patty

Patty on the suspension bridge

adjani

Adjani measuring grass recovery after the drought in a livestock exclosure

morgan and HIllary

Morgan and Hillary assess grass condition outside the park which was rather overgrazed

bridge Erin

Erin and others cross the suspension bridge in Kitengela to cross a dangerous gorge to continue our vegetation sampling.

team

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Devastating drought in Amboseli

Category: Africa, Amboseli, Climate change, East Africa, Kenya, National Parks and protected areas, conservation, drought, elephants, national parks, wildlifedirect
Date: December 23rd 2009
By: paula

Dear all,

We are indebted to Scott Ward for this guest post who wrote from Amboseli National Park with spectacular photographs he took there. Scott raises some tough questions. Read more about Scott Ward below.

Photo Scott Ward

As I drove into Amboseli National Park from across the long dry lakebed, I was immediately taken aback by the large number of carcasses that were dotted everywhere. In some places it seemed as though a bomb went off and destroyed every living creation within a large area. It seemed as though a great battle took place with no one winning. Among the dead an inordinate amount of hyenas plundered the dead and decaying. Of course, to me, the saddest thing was to see the giant decomposing bodies of elephants. If elephants lived as short of lives as mice, bred like rabbits, and were abundant, I might be able to relegate their death to just a mere cycle of nature. But I think it is more than that. When one sees a wild elephant up close and experiences the wisdom of long years in her life and the power within her massive body one quickly realizes that we are sharing our planet with a truly wondrous creation. The death of one of these magnificent creatures somehow diminishes our Earth.

Amboseli drought

Amboseli drought elephants

Amboseli drought photo from http://www.elephanttrust.org

But in the midst of the macabre dance of the hyena, there is life and green. Rain has returned to Amboseli – maybe not in the abundance that was hoped for, but arrived nonetheless. As I drove through the park it was wonderful to see elephants playing in the chest deep water as if celebrating themselves the return of the rains. Cape buffalo once again have mud to wallow in. Zebra and wildebeest are slowly returning. Three beautiful lion cubs were feasting on a freshly caught warthog. The Rains have returned and hope springs to life again, yet the drought has taken its toll and causes me to wonder what’s next.

Photo Scott Ward

As I sat around the pool at our lodge, I began to contemplate that probably this swimming pool was filled with water while animals perished just a short distance away. The freshly manicured grass was definitely kept watered through the long drought, while on the other side of the fence the grass literally dried to dust. Tourists enjoyed a whole host of drinks and foods while the animals struggled for a drop of water or a morsel of food. As these thoughts rolled around in my mind, I began to ask myself, “Why can’t we help?” According to leading scientists, global warming is our fault. Others say that we should not interfere – that we should take a hands-off approach to wildlife conservation. Many people just don’t care either way what happens, because they have their own life to worry about. But they did not see the casualties.

Photo Scott Ward

I certainly don’t know all the answers, but it did impress upon me the necessity to continue my support of conservation efforts. The lives of these incredible creatures are too precious to simply let them slide into eternity without a fight.

Scott Ward

About Scott Ward: My family and I are missionaries in Northern Tanzania near Moshi. I am also an amateur photographer trying to take steps into a larger arena with my photography. I currently have a number of images in the online gallery called Art for Conservation (http://www.artforconservation.org/artists/scottward). It is here that I have been supporting the George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust with sales from my photographs on this site. We live right next to Mkomazi National Park and have visited with Tony and Lucy Fitzjohn who run the conservation effort there. My personal portfolio website is http://www.sbward.com. I have my sepia-toned images for sale and on display at the web address listed above. I also have some color photographs of African wildlife at http://useatripod.imagekind.com.

Tags: Amboseli, conservation, drought, elephant, elephants, Kenya, Kilimanjaro, Scott Ward, tourism, wildlife, wildlifedirect
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Drought cattle and anthrax threatens Nairobi Park

Category: Africa, Climate change, In the News, Kenya, Lions, National Parks and protected areas, Rhinoceros, big cats, drought, national parks, richard leakey, tourism, wildlife, wildlifedirect
Date: September 5th 2009
By: admin

In a previous story about cattle dying in the Nairobi Park We have been going purple in the face trying to raise awareness about the public health, ecological and economic threat facing Kenya as a consequence of uncontrolled movements of cattle during the current drought.

Cattle dying in Nairobi Park

This is Dauti Kahura story published in today’s East African Standard

A week ago, a man died of anthrax in Nyeri after eating infected cow meat. A week earlier, although not reported, two rhinos from Nairobi National Park died of anthrax. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) confirmed the cause of deaths.

The death of the man should raise the red flag. There is great fear that some of the meat being sold in and around Kitengela and Ongata Rongai butcheries could be contaminated with anthrax, foot and mouth and east coast fever. Investigations by The Standard on Saturday revealed that sick and dying cattle are slaughtered on the roadsides and expose nearby communities to outbreaks.

Temporary bomas

Last week, five kilometres into Masai Lodge Road in Ongata Rongai where herders have set up temporary bomas, The Standard on Saturday team found sickly cattle being slaughtered for distribution to neighbouring butcheries.

Mr Rolf Schmid, a restaurateur who has lived in the area for almost two decades, raised the alarm.

“My first instinct was to contact the Ministry of Health and veterinary officials to come and witness the slaughter of dying cattle,” he said.

The Ministry of Public Health officers and vets from Kajiado concur that some of the cattle appeared sickly although not all were emaciated. The Government health officials, who sought anonymity because they are not authorised to be quoted, confirmed that the animals pose danger.

Due to drought, Maasai herders drive the cattle up to the city and many of them are kept in bomas along Mombasa Road. Tens of thousands of cattle that have been migrating from Loitokitok, Tsavo West, Kibwezi, Sultan Hamud and Kajiado are also being held in bomas on the northern and southern sides of the Nairobi National Park.

Cattle dying in Nairobi Park

By day, these cattle are hosted on the local ranches around the park and by night driven inside it for grazing. Early this week, The Standard on Saturday observed hundreds of cattle being driven into the park on the southern end from the Masai Lodge Road. Tired and exhausted, they walked in a profile, with some not completing the journey.

herding in parks

According to a KWS senior warden, herders have been cutting the fence to allow large numbers of cattle into the park. KWS impounded 1,000 cattle and when the herders came for them the next day, they said some of the animals belong to “well connected Kenyans”.

Due to severe drought and exhaustion of grazing fields, Nairobi National Park is the only location in city with ample grazing field.

Cattle dying in Nairobi Park

But now it is also massively threatened with decimation. More worrying is the fact that the wild animals are also at great risk of being infected with diseases. KWS officials say some antelopes have been infected with foot and mouth.

Tags: anthrax, cattle, Dauti Kahura, Lion, Lions, LIvestock, Nairobi Park, rhino, wildlifedirect
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A message from Game Watchers on lion poisoning

Category: Kenya, National Parks and protected areas, Poisoning wildlife, big cats, conservation, furadan, national parks, poaching, predators, wildlifedirect
Date: August 29th 2009
By: paula

We are pleased to discover that we are not alone in our concern about the poisoning of lions with Furadan and it’s impact on Kenya. This is an email sent by Jake Grieves Cook to all in the tourism industry in Kenya.

There are 2 main reasons why lion numbers are declining in Kenya:

1. Human-wildlife conflict – spearing by herders and poisoning with FURADAN:

Lions are usually not very welcome in areas used for grazing livestock by pastoralists such as Maasai cattle herders. As a result lions are often speared when they go into these grazing areas and especially after they have killed livestock. The pesticide FURADAN is banned in many countries but is widely available in Kenya and is used by pastoralists to poison carcasses of livestock killed by predators. The predators return to the carcass and are killed by the poison. This can get into the food chain as any animal consuming the dead predators are also killed, from jackals to vultures.It is also poisoning people, see link below:

http://stopwildlifepoisoning.wildlifedirect.org/2009/03/06/detoxication-of-furadan

For more on Furadan click on the link below:

www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=furadan+lions&aq=3&oq=furadan+&aqi=g10

As well as deliberate poisoning, some lions have been lost through accidental poisoning. One of the leading lodges in the Mara was using Furadan as a pesticide on its vegetable garden. Last year a hippo died after eating the vegetables sprayed with Furadan. Then a pride of lions died after eating the hippo. Then hyenas and vultures died after eating the lions. And so it went on…

2. Loss of habitat

Many wilderness areas which were formerly inhabited by herbivores and predators such as lions have been turned into farmland and are no longer available as wildlife habitat. In the outer Mara area there has been fragmentation of land with sub-division into small individually owned parcels.

See the map below of the Koiyaki and Ol Kinyei areas of the outer Mara divided into hundreds of 150 acre parcels:

mara sub divisions.jpg

The loss of habitat means that lions are no longer able to move freely around these areas as they did before and there is no longer availability of large numbers of wild herbivores which form their normal prey. So lion numbers decline.

SOLUTIONS

However there is a way that tourism can combat the decline of lions. This is by establishing wildlife conservancies on land owned by the local communities adjacent to parks. If the local landowners can earn a better economic return from their land from wildlife conservation than they can from cultivation or from keeping livestock then they will be ready to set up wildlife conservancies. They do not need to turn all their land into wildlife preserves but a community with over 150,000 acres, such as the former Maasai group ranches, could set aside 20% as wildlife conservancy and keep 80% for livestock grazing. I have been involved with the setting up of 3 community-owned wildlife conservancies over the last 12 years: Selenkay Conservancy in the Amboseli eco-system and Olare Orok and Ol Kinyei conservancies in the Mara. See maps below:

SELENKAY CONSERVANCY OL KINYEI & OLARE OROK

We have had great success with our 3 conservancies and have been given very enthusiastic support by the local communities who own the land on which we have established the conservancies. Since the conservancies were set up, wildlife has increased substantially, in sharp contrast to the surrounding areas. We have 2 American researchers based at Selenkay who have collared a female lion and have been tracking her pride. Two lionesses there have both had cubs. In our 2 conservancies in the Mara we have several resident prides of lions and estimates are that over 30% of all the adult lions in the Mara eco-system are now resident in Olare Orok and Ol Kinyei. Our lion numbers are increasing…

mara ecosystem map.jpg

mara map.jpg

You might be interested in watching 2 short TV clips of a couple ofminutes eachon the links below:

The first is a BBC clip about a recent report by researchers on declines in wildlife numbers in the Mara eco-system but which also highlighted the success of the community wildlife conservancies with which we are involved at Ol Kinyei and Olare Orok within the same Mara eco-system. All the wildlife footage was shot in our two conservancies.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8129816.stm

The second is a clip from local KTN TV which highlights the two conservancies:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PT7c8LPxHM

Below are a couple of pics, taken on a night game drive recently by wildlife photographer Paolo Torchio, of our resident lions in Ol Kinyei.

There is no doubt that total lion numbers are declining in Kenya. The answer is to ban the use of FURADAN and also to encourage the establishment of more conservancies. Now the government tax authority says it wants to charge VAT on the conservancy fees! Not exactly encouraging…

Kind regards

Jake

**********************
Jake Grieves-Cook
Managing Director
Gamewatchers Safaris
P O Box 388
00621-Village Market, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254-(0)20-7123129, 7122504, 7121851
Fax: +254-(0)20-7120864
Website: www.porini.com
Email: jake@gamewatchers.co.ke

Tags: conservaiton, endangered species, furadan, Kenya, Lion, Lions, Maasai, Masai Mara, wildlife, wildlifedirect
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Cattle dying in Nairobi Park

Category: Africa, Climate change, drought, national parks, wildlife, wildlifedirect
Date: August 24th 2009
By: paula

In a meeting this weekend with the warden of Nairobi National Park, Mr. Michael Wanjau of KWS and some other government officials as well as residents of the area, it was revealed that tens of thousands of cattle are grazing in the Nairobi National Park as a result of the ongoing devastating drought.

cows in park.jpg

Mr Wanjau admitted that the numbers of cattle in the park has reached record levels. So weak from walking hundreds of kilometers in search of grazing, many do not make it.

dead cow rangers.jpg

Some herders are cutting the fence of the park to let cattle in. Some are being herded across rivers.

vultures on dead cow.jpg

The southern part of Nairobi park is littered with cattle carcasses and vultures, hyenas and lions have eaten their fill.

dead cow in Kitengela.jpg

Out on the staging grounds in Kitengela adjacent to the park where cattle are gathering, hundreds are dying and nobody is removing carcasses. The Kenya Meat Commission tried to buy up the herds for Ksh 8,000 per cow (about 100$) but herders have refused to sell, they say they are hoping for rain.

dead cows in river.jpg

road side butchery.jpg

Some dead and dying cattle are being butchred on the roadsides which poses a horrific public health situation. The Ministry of Health is being informed as I write this blog post.

dying calf.jpg

Many cows affected by foot and mouth disease simply cannot walk anymore like this calf. She lay down by one of the entrances to KWS and just died right there. It broke my heart that no one would touch her or put her out of her misery for fear of whatever disease she was suffering from.

The meeting on Saturday felt that the situation is a crisis and are demanding that the governmetn conduct compulsoray purchase of cattle to avert a public health and environmental disaster. But it is being whispered that these cattle are owned by rich and powerful Kenyans, a challenge that few Kenyans are willing to take head on.

Technorati : Nairobi National Park, cattle, disease, drought, wildlife, wildlifedirect, zoonosis

Tags: cattle, disease, drought, nairobi national Park, wildlife, wildlifedirect, zoonosis
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Category Archives: national parks

Carbofuran the most widely used poison in USA

Saving Amboseli – Photos of Zebra translocation

My life is not my own, it is my children’s

This land is my land

The Future of Conservation Lies with Education

Princeton University Students in the wild

Devastating drought in Amboseli

Drought cattle and anthrax threatens Nairobi Park

A message from Game Watchers on lion poisoning

Cattle dying in Nairobi Park

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