ITHUMBA TEAM

De – Snaring Report for September 2007

Participants

Patrick Mutuku Mutua Koti Lemanten Lambarakwe James Lodungokiyok Musau Kitulya Rajab Hamisi Nicodemus Kivindyo 2 KWS Rangers

Areas Covered

During the course of this month the areas covered were Ndia-ndasa, Kone, Tundani, Macho Kobo, Power line, Kyae Rock, and Edge of Yatta.

TOTAL SNARES COLLECTED 36

Findings

In the first week of September the team joined forces with Kijito Windmill Technicians to rehabilitate Ndia-ndasa and Kone boreholes. On the 5/9/07 the Team moved to camp at Ndia- ndasa area. Whilst there the team went about removing the pump rods and the big metal pipes. This was done successfully with no pipes falling in, but the pipes were very rusty.

The second day the team washed the dirt at the base level of the borehole; the borehole was not very dirty so we managed to begin fitting new pipes & the base pump. By the 3rd day the pipes and pump were setup and ready. After fitting everything the team encountered a problem, the windmill only worked for about 10 minutes a strange sound was heard from the bottom of the borehole. No water was coming up. It turned out the rubber piece in the pump had a fault. The team had to remove the pump and rods from the borehole which proved a rather difficult task. We had to use the rubber part from the old pump to replace the faulty one. The 4th day was spent making sure everything was operating properly and ensuring there were no further issues with the pump and windmill. In the morning we found some wildlife had gathered to drink the water that had been pumped out overnight.

The team proceeded to Kone after making sure everything was perfect with the Ndia-ndasa windmill. At Kone the team began the process of removing the pump rods and the big pipes plus the pump.

Some of the parts were broken so the team had to get replacements from Thika. While cleaning the borehole base we found that the borehole was bent. The base level of the borehole is 143 feet and the ground level is 270 feet. The bend was about 70 feet which meant that even if the rods and pipes were replaced it would not be possible to pump out water. The technicians found out that the hole was tilting from underground at a very fast rate. The soil type in that area is black cotton which could also be a contributing factor to the problem. The team had to seal the metal case at the tope to prevent children from dropping stones inside the borehole.

During the 2nd and 3rd week of September the team took a few days off. Upon return to work the team began its patrols. On the 3rd day of patrols the team lifted 36 snares targeting small game at Kyae rock which is a hotspot of poaching. Near the power line area there has been some logging activities at night.

The team found signs of poacher’s near watering holes, even though the poachers try to cover their tracks.

The team received some information that someone had cut the fence-line at Mukua-nima to let cattle herds in and out of the park. We informed the KWS, upon reaching the area it was found that the culprit was from the Kenya Army and had gone to Nairobi. We received information that an elephant had left through this open fence line and headed towards the community areas.

On the 30/9007 the team paid a visit to the Ndia-ndasa windmill to confirm whether it was still working. It was in good working order, only one of the pipes was slightly bent so the Kijito windmills technicians will have to come back to fix it before it leads to serious problems.

Report by Patrick Mutuku