Participants

James Mbuthia- Team leader John Malonza - Tracker Francis Chege Msakau Mbanga Wilson Nangua Francis Mwangi - KWS Daniel Samperm - KWS Abel Nzioki - KWS

Findings

Snaring levels have declined compared to previous months due to successful de-snaring patrols and community awareness. A total of 114 snares were collected this month, the majority of which were inactive, having been set before the rains started and never collected. The team covered a large area from kaluku to the Tsavo gate and Tsavo station. Interestingly, Kyulu Telkom, Kyulu station and the Chinese base had no snares whatsoever. Aside from snaring there has been a large amount of charcoal burning and cattle grazing on the outskirts of the park, too much of this will lead to the destruction of an eco-system through desertification.

Community

The community side of the project is going very well. Over the Easter holidays we organized a very large sporting event that involved 8 villages that all met at the Kyusiani sports ground. The villages that were invited were Kamunyu, Ngiluni, Kyusiani, Iviani, Nthunguni, Mavindini, Likoni, Makutano and Mbetwani. The event went very well and thanks to the Kerrigan Waves Trust that donated sporting equipment to a number of the schools that participated. The tree seedlings are doing very well indeed and will be ready to be transported to the schools in the next few months.

Report by James Mbuthia