Category: Poachers, Snares | Date: Jun 19 2008 | By: William

Rangers from Ngiro-are and poacher, with dried hippo meat.

Rangers from Ngiro-are outpost reported on the 19th that they had collected 35 snares in just one morning patrol at Kasarani. They found a topis caught in one of the snares, with the wire caught around it’s neck. That evening they laid an ambush at Endonyo Olpaek in the hope that poachers would come back to the area, which they did, and they managed to arrest one poacher, but nine managed to escape arrest. These poachers had succeeded in killing a hippo with spears. Yesterday rangers from Ngiro Are reported that they had collected a further 10 snares along the border.

Ranger Kosencha with wire snare.

With the migration coming we will see a rise in the number of snares being used and really need your support to help fund both day and night patrols. We cannot do this without you.

Please, make a donation, or help us by telling all those who you think may be interested in supporting us at this time.

Thank you.

3 responses so far

Category: Hippos, Poachers | Date: Jun 18 2008 | By: Kimojino

Rangers Nelson, Bett & Kimanjoi with dried hippo meat.

Last Sunday rangers from Serena Station were patrolling the border area with Serengeti when they received a radio call that a man had been spotted in the bushes on the Narok side of Mara River.

Immediately they were sent to the area and joined Ngiro-are and Mara Bridge Patrol Teams, as well as members of the GSU who had spotted the man and radioed our men. The area was searched and rangers quickly found scraps of paper recently discarded as well as some pieces of string.

Evidence of human activity inside the park.

Unfortunately the poachers were nowhere to be found. We searched all the surrounding thickets and along the lugga, but it was difficult to see where they had gone. Rangers did however find a poachers camp with dried hippo meat hanging in a tree.

Hippo meat hanging in a tree.

On Monday, rangers patrolling the Serengeti side near Mara Bridge came across another
poachers camp near Sand River, which had been deserted about 10 days earlier. It was very close to where the poachers camp was found on Sunday, as well as the man that the GSU had spotted. Rangers were able to tell that the poachers had been able to kill two hippos and had left with all of the meat.

It was agreed that although outside the Mara Triangle, this area is now a key area to check for poaching and should be patrolled regularly.

9 responses so far

Category: Lodges & Camps | Date: Jun 17 2008 | By: Kimojino

William and I have spent most of the day closing off all the tracks that lead from the bottom road to the river between Olpunyata and Serena. It is a tiring job of shifting stones in the midday sun and even more frustrating when you find that drivers have mostly ignored the road blocks by going round the stones and damaging the delicate river area further.

Road Closed!

I can tell from the tracks that it was drivers from another lodge this time who went round the stones, and managed to make a brand new road next to the water in just a couple of days.

13 responses so far

Category: Lodges & Camps | Date: Jun 14 2008 | By: Kimojino

By request, this photo has been removed. (23.6.08)

23 responses so far

Category: Lodges & Camps, Tourists | Date: Jun 13 2008 | By: Kimojino

It is such a beautiful day today in the Mara. These last few days it has been overcast and we have been feeling the cold, but this morning the sun eventually broke free and from then until now the day has been too beautiful.

Masai ostriches in the morning sun.

I went out for a final drive this evening to monitor the few tour drivers that are out and about. I caught a couple of drivers who were too close to the lions, about 5 metres away from where they were lying and so I told them that they need to keep the full 25 metres distance between them and the animals. It was good to see that the resident drivers were all respectful of this distance when they approached the lions.

I was rather annoyed however when later on in Olpunyata I saw this.

Tour Driver ignores closed road. 

Annoyed not only because the road is clearly closed, but because I recognise the tyre tracks and know that this is a resident driver.

The track leads to a very fragile area next to the river, and we must ensure all that we can to protect it from overuse.  I wish that the tourists in the car had spoken up when they saw this as they too must have known this was wrong.

Closed road leading to the fragile river area. 

Today with William Deed we have worked out how we will distribute the digital cameras that you kindly donated. We will post more about this tomorrow.

Please also feel free to receive the latest blog posts from the Mara Triangle to your email inbox by clicking here. It takes just two seconds, and you’ll always stay up to date and feel part of this beautiful land. Karibu!

4 responses so far