Participants:

Isaac Maina Alex Macharia John Malonza Samuel Adero Peter Wambua Mwoni Ikuthu Rangers– Ibrahim, Mugendi, Noor Din, Warisame, Emuria, Letaman, Solomon

Area of operation:

The areas patrolled this month included Ndara ranch, Irima, Ndii, Kajire, Choke ranch, Mbulia ranch and Ngutuni ranch

503 SNARES RECOVERED

FINDINGS.

A dry spell is being currently being experienced in Tsavo which is characterized by cold weather, wind and frequent dust. The temperature ranges from a maximum of 28 degrees centigrade during the day to a minimum of 18 degrees at night. At the moment the farming communities are idle as they are only tending to their livestock due to the fact that currently there is no crop in the farms. Consequently there is an increase in the number of snares being set. The month’s operations started at Ndara ranch where 34 snares were recovered, 11 of these targeted big animals. Charcoal burning was also noticed which concerned the ranch owner who was intending to convert the ranch into a game sanctuary. Kajire ranch was visited for a day and 2 poachers were arrested in possession of 61 snares which they were in the process of setting. Both of the poachers were handed over to the authorities and were later arraigned in court. Choke ranch which neighbors Kamtonga village and the Mwatate sisal was the next area that we patrolled. A series of night ambushes were organized which unfortunately did not yield any results. 26 snares were recovered all of which targeted medium sized animals. Mbulia ranch which neighbors Tsavo East on one side and Tsavo west on the other yielded 82 snares including 3 big ones targeting. A hare was found rotting in a snare.

A report of the snaring activities in this area was reported by the local resident and area chief. Ndii and Irima were also patrolled this month with 112 snares being recovered in Ndii. Of the snares found 3 were buffalo snares. A dead bird and a snared Dikdik were also in this area. A further 26 snares were recovered in Irima, 3 of which were from the outer boundary of the park, with 10 of the snares targeted big game. A series of ambushes were laid which were tricky due to openness of the area we had to be careful not to be mistaken as bandits by the tourists. Ngutuni sanctuary, which is named after the Impala which are common to this area, yielded 165 snares which was the highest number of snares to be recovered in one area. 15 targeted medium sized and 2 targeted large game. We were unable to trace the origin of snare which had caught a Giraffe. With the help of the Vet unit the snare was successfully removed from the giraffe, which was later spotted along the Voi River in the Kanderi region. At a later date we once again visited the ranch after the neighboring community alerted us to the fact that they scared away a pride of lions that had caught a buffalo in order to take the buffalo from the lions. The perpetrators run away with some of the meat. On 29th of the month, with the help of the Vet unit, we managed to rescue a female elephant which overnight had gotten herself stuck in the mud at Satao camp. The exercise was challenging, but after four grueling hours we managed to pull her out and help her to her feet. A total of 503 snares were recovered consisting of 135 which targeted large and medium sized game and 5 targeting birds. Two poachers were arrested; an impala and giraffe rescued, and a hare, an owl and a Dikdik were found dead in snares. COMMUNITY OUTREACH

A series of video shows were screened to two villages and one college during the course of the month

Report by Isaac Maina