I, on behalf of my entire family would like to thank you all for sending your messages of condolences following the death of my brother. Thank you so much for sharing the pain with us, by doing so you make us feel strong.

I had resumed my duties on the 30.3.2008 and was very happy to see many activities on our blog. The Ranger Sponsor campaign has been introduced and your response has been tremendous. Today many rangers visited me while I was working in the office, just to find their pictures on my computer, with the word ’sponsored’ written in red across the bottom of the photographs.

They were so happy to hear that people from around the world do care about us and the conservation work we are engaged in, within the Mara Triangle. Truly speaking, our men are willing and ready to ensure that Mara Triangle does not fall into the hands of poachers. They vowed not to relax their efforts even if salaries are not paid, in order to secure the Triangle from poachers. They believe that the Mara Triangle and its beautiful wildlife is their inheritance which they must pass on to their children.

On behalf of all my comrades, I greatly wish to thank William Deed for working tirelessly in my absence and bringing this campaign into action. Also we thank every individual or organisation for sponsoring our Rangers. Your support will absolutely see us through this critical moment.

Tomorrow will be a busy day for me at Kawai village, as we are meeting the community elders over the cattle compensation issue. The situation is tense and we have been hearing of more threats from them to take the matter into their own hands. Our intention is to make sure the community understands the real situation as far as this issue is concerned. It is so important for them to know the efforts we are making to get funding from donors, and our concern for the loss of their livestocks to our lions.

We thank everyone who have donated towards this cause. We are appealing for more donations to avert this already boiling situation.

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We would like to say an enormous thank you to the Kenyan organisations who have stepped forward and are willing to support the Mara Conservancy.

Two weeks ago we were approached by the lovely Louise Wood from Dormans, the coffee experts of Kenya. Not only is she a demon scrabble player (although I am winning), Louise suggested that Dormans bring out a line of coffee with the profits going to the Mara Triangle.

We’re currently working on the packaging and so soon you will see ‘Conservation Coffee’ sold in supermarkets, lodges and Dormans coffee shops across Kenya. When you come visit make sure you buy some; it’ll be the best damn coffee you’ve ever tasted.

Also a huge thank you to Sunworld Safaris, who were very quick to respond to our email asking them to sponsor a ranger, and have agreed to sponsor Simon Kimanjoi. Their banner will stay here on the homepage as well as on Friends of MT.

Paws Africa were also very quick to respond, and will be sending their banners next week to put up on the site. They also deserve a great big thank you for sponsoring ranger Jackson Singai.

It’s incredible really as, with the collapse in tourism, both these companies will be suffering incredibly, and yet straight away they were willing to help out. When you come to visit Kenya, please consider using their services.

Rangers Simon Kimanjoi and Jackson Singai are now both sponsored.

Also, thank you to the Daily Telegraph who continue to host a weekly diary from the Mara Triangle on their Earth site. Mike Pflanz was incredibly quick to cover our story as soon as he found out about the crisis we were facing, and continues to be very supportive. Cheers Mike!

We also cannot forget Asuka who has raised over $50,000 from supporters in Japan! It is only because of Asuka that the Mara Conservancy has been able to make it through March. You are amazing Asuka. Asante sana!

Asuka at the beginning of this month in Lolgorian.

And last but not least, a great big thank you to all you readers. You have been incredibly generous and not just with your donations - thank you for all your comments and emails with suggestions and ideas, we would have been lost without them. Also, thank you to those who decided to sponsor a ranger without even giving it a second thought. Truly outstanding generosity, and I know Kimojino will be overwhelmed when he gets back.

As you can see, the support is incredible, but this is only the beginning. We have another 40 rangers to sponsor and we need to do this as soon as possible. Keep it coming with the donations, comments and the emails, together we are making incredible progress and we need to keep this momentum going until the tourists come back.

Thank you so much to you all.

Other news: Rangers from Oloololo reported this morning that yesterday a lion had killed three cows in Kawai village. Dana, I saw your recent comment on this post with regards to the cattle compensation scheme and I will post about this shortly.

Our thoughts are also with those in Zimbabwe, who are out today voting in the general election. We hope that the results bring the change that you are looking for, and with as little violence as possible.

For real updates on what is happening in Zimbabwe, please visit the Sokwanele blog: This is Zimbabwe.

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I’ve just been talking to Jackson Semeiyoi, the latest ranger to be sponsored in our campaign. He has been guarding the poacher all of this morning, until he was taken to Kilgoris Police Station.

He was caught late yesterday afternoon, with one machete and four snares, and he was on his way to hunt so had not yet killed any animals.

Rangers also found out from the man that he was part of a group of five, and they will lay an ambush for the remaining men.

The poacher is Kenyan, and it is probable that he would have eaten some of the bush meat and the rest he would have sold commercially on the local market, maybe even in Kisumu.

Poacher taken to Kilgoris Police Station this morning.

Other news:

I’ve also just been talking to Janet Kabue who is the Corporate Affairs Manager for Celtel in Kenya.

For those of you not in Africa, Celtel is a huge mobile phone network that covers fourteen countries, which you can apparently roam at no extra cost - pretty amazing really (although my Congolese Celtel sim card would never work here in Kenya). Their brand colours are red with some yellow, and at the end of last year one of their billboard adverts was a stunning image of Maasai men in traditional dress.

I’ve searched everywhere for the image online but unfortunately can’t find it, however to give you an idea of how well the Maasai fitted in with their branding, here is a photo I found in Flickr, taken by neku2:

I’ve also just found some of this Maasai/Celtel branding left over on their website.

Anyway, because we are in the Maasai Mara, and most of our rangers are Maasai, and because we work closely with the Maasai communities up on the escarpment, I spoke to Janet this morning about the Sponsor a Ranger Campaign, thinking that they would be quite interested in taking part. With regards to Celtel and sponsorship, Janet told me the following:

“We are not interested in animals or conservation, we are only interested in music and young people.”

Well, at least she’s honest.

And it made me wonder; are young Kenyans also not interested in animals and conservation?

Do any of you Kenyan bloggers out there think Celtel’s interest in conservation is a fair reflection of your own?

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We now have four rangers sponsored. Big thank you to Sunworld Safaris and Paws Africa who were very quick to respond and help out. You will be hearing more about the two of them shortly.

I’ve also just heard that rangers have caught a poacher, I’m not sure of the details yet and the electricity is due to go off soon, so I’ll have to update you all later on tonight.

Until then.

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We have received our report from WildlifeDirect for the third week of March, and we are pleased to say we have received the following donations:

Open Donations:

Alfred G. - $25; Anne K. - $50; Anne S. - $50; Akihiro W. - $10; Carmen E. - $30; Carol Z. - $50; Celia M. - $155; Dawn H. - $20; George I. - $50; Gerry B. - $50; Janet M. - $50; Jonathan R. - $50; Joseph K. - $50; Joyce K. - $25; Karin K. - $50; Karnum S. - $100; Kate B. - $100; Kathy S. - $40; Kit C. - $100; Laura F. - $50; Luiz P. - $100; Melissa D. - $3,000; Sauwah T. - $100 + $100; Sheryl B. - $127 + $15 + $22 + $25; Suzanne C. - $50; Theresa S. - $50; Wanda H. - $25.

Monthly Donation:

Kathleen I. - $20

Total for 14 - 22 March: $4,739

Total so far for March: $10,866

(with another $560 on the Facebook Cause bringing the total to $11,401)

A big thank you to everyone who has donated so far, and a great big thank you to Melissa D.; we are very grateful for all your support.

Keep telling everyone you know about the Sponsor a Ranger campaign, and if you want to approach an organisation that you think may help, drop me an email and I’ll send you all the relevant info: wdeed at wildlifedirect dot org

Thanks again from everyone, in fact every living thing, here in the Mara Triangle.

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