Several veterinary jobs kept the Aerial Unit busy in October. The first of these was a badly injured elephant from a suspected spearing. Initially reported by the community, several hours were spent searching for the elephant before it finally turned up again and could be successfully darted and treated by the SWT/KWS Tsavo Mobile Vet Unit, with assistance from the SWT helicopter. Despite this intervention, the prognosis is guarded due to the severity of the injury. A further six injured elephants were found — either reported by third parties or sighted during aerial patrols — and four of these resulted in successful treatments. The other two cases appeared to be healing on their own and the decision was made not to intervene.

Of the bulls treated, all were given a good prognosis. One had two arrow injuries on its left and right flanks. Another had an old injury on his front right shoulder. He had been previously sighted during a fixed wing aerial patrol but was lost before a treatment could be carried out. Fortunately, this time the treatment was a success.

The other two cases were also spotted during aerial patrols and successfully treated. One elephant, found near Ithumba, had a fresh (one week old) suspected arrow wound. In this case, an aerial transfer of the SWT/KWS Amboseli Mobile Vet was facilitated so treatment could be carried out. The other case, near Kamboyo, had a confirmed poisoned arrow wound with an arrowhead retrieved from the injury site.

Three cases of elephants with permanently injured limbs were also attended to by the Aerial Unit, which did not require veterinary intervention. These included a female elephant with a wound on her leg, which is expected to heal on its own; a young calf with a previously broken but adapted leg; and a bull elephant with a permanently damaged right rear leg, who was not darted as no treatment is possible. Finally, one other young bull, reported by Mbulia Wildlife Conservancy, was darted with the help of the SWT helicopter in order to remove a snare from his back leg.

The number of elephant rescues from wells and dams is reducing as rains arrive, but there were sill three cases in October. Three elephants were rescued from a dam in a community area near Kilibasi. In this case, an SWT helicopter flew to the scene and directed the rescue effort. A low bed truck and backhoe were deployed from Voi. They dug a ramp out of the dam in order to safely extract the elephants from their predicament. The team also returned to a now familiar location on Kuranze Ranch to rescue another elephant from one of the many shallow wells there. The helicopter arrived with equipment and personnel, who successfully managed to lift the animal out of the well.

In addition to the above cases, two orphan rescues were also conducted with helicopter assistance during the month. The first was a very young baby elephant that wandered into one of the Trust’s lodge construction sites in Tsavo West by itself. The young elephant was collected in our helicopter and flown to Kaluku for specialised care. An orphaned eland calf was also collected from Voi and brought back to Kaluku for further care.

Human-elephant conflict was fairly minimal in October. Seven cases were attended to, however, more than half of these involved splintered groups of bull elephants that seasonally move into a large patch of undeveloped land near Kibwezi. Unfortunately, pushing elephants out of this area is extremely difficult since the surrounding area is heavily populated. The helicopters did, on several occasions, attempt to push the elephants as far as they could towards Tsavo East National Park, with the hope that they would continue the journey on their own under cover of darkness. This strategy appeared to have some success.

One additional human-wildlife conflict case involved a collared lion that was seen deep within community land near Kaluku HQ. The SWT helicopter successfully pushed her into a nearby conservancy where she remained for the remainder of the month.

Several instances of poaching were observed in October, including multiple poachers’ harbours, containing various equipment such as snares, sacks, and water containers, as well as human and motorbike tracks inside the park, which were later followed up by ground teams.

Only one elephant carcass was found in October with both tusks intact; it is assumed that the animal died of natural causes. Initially sighted by a fixed-wing aircraft while on patrol, a helicopter was deployed with the SWT/KWS Canine Unit to collect the ivory since it was in a relatively inaccessible area. Additionally, two other carcasses, one of an eland, and the other a giraffe were also spotted along the boundary of Tsavo East. No cause of death was established, but poaching is suspected.

Three fires were responded to by the Aerial Unit in October. Fixed-wing pilots provided aerial overview as well as deploying firefighters to difficult to reach fire lines with support from the helicopter. Some incursion of illegal livestock was observed in the Parks in several locations, but overall, the situation remains better than previous years.