With the onset of the short rains the month of April has been relatively quiet across Tsavo, whilst crops have been planted in community farms across the region bordering the Protected Areas.

During regular aerial patrols eight shooting blinds and one old poacher camp were sighted from the air. All sites were visited by the DSWT/KWS ground teams and destroyed. These blinds are used as vantage points to hunt game meat and elephants with poisoned arrows. They are dome shaped bushes lying on the edge of waterholes, where the poachers camp out and wait patiently for animals to come to water, usually over a full moon.  Such blinds are more active in dryer periods when the only water remaining is in waterholes, forcing wildlife to come to drink in predictable places.  

One elephant was treated for gunshot wounds during the month by the KWS Amboseli vet who was flown in to attend the case. The Aerial Unit monitored the bull for the week following his treatment until he could no longer be found.  You can read more about this case and other aerial activities in the monthly Aerial Report: