Category: An Urgent Appeal, Cattle Rustlers | Date: May 20 2008 | By: Kimojino

Despite a period of silence, all the activities pertaining conservation in the Mara Triangle are on. Our Ranger Anti-poaching teams have been carrying out patrols regularly but no arrest made in the park, since the last arrest of the six poachers who killed the 37 Thomson gazelles.

The night patrols have been strenghtened along the Kenya-Tanzania border to protect the Thomson gazelles at moonless nights. This is alternated with day patrols and luckily on the night of 12.5.08, our Rangers successfully helped to retrieve the community cattle from the rustlers around midnight along the border. There was an exchange of fire but thankfully nobody was injured. Some standing observation patrols were temporarily established at the salt-lick ridges and have been running for a week now.

Ranger Teams on Patrol

On 18.5.08, Oloololo team with the Ann Kent Taylor Fund(A.K.T.F) scouts while on patrol along the escarpment arrested one Kipsigis, who was found to have killed a male Bushbuck. He was with a company of five others who managed to escape. The arrested man was handed to Lolgorian Police station for further actions.

On the 19.5.08, all the patrol teams from Serena, Ngiro-are and Oloololo jointly carried out a day long patrol at the Mara river riverine forest, which was so difficult this time round due to the heavy presence of elephants. They managed to walked through the forest and in some sections they were forced to cross the river by charging elephants. No poaching activities were detected and they will repeat the patrol, in two days time, just to be very sure.

Mara Triangle Patrol Teams

The tourists visiting the park at the moment are still very low and we are eagerly waiting the high season which is a month away from now. I hope to see many coming and the Mara alive again with visitors.

Once again on behalf of the Management and staff of Mara Conservancy, I wish to thank all of you for supporting us through this critical period, where we’re faced with an acute shortage of funds to finance our operations. It is only with your tremendous and generous donations we’ve come this far. Thank you so much!!

Giraffes necking in front of the escarpment.

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Category: An Urgent Appeal | Date: May 15 2008 | By: William

Sorry everyone for the silence these last few days. There were some issues with the website last week, and now I’m currently in Nairobi and then heading back to the UK on Saturday for two weeks.

Kimojino is also very busy at the moment, I left him with a German TV crew on Tuesday and then today the BBC are in the Mara to cover the plight of the Mara Conservancy. So Kimojino will be busy showing the guys around until tomorrow.

While I’ve been here I’ve been in contact with Charles our accountant and he has given me an update on how Ranger Leyian has been doing. For those of you who don’t know, Leyian was shot twice two weeks ago and has been in hospital since. Here is the bill that we are currently facing:

01) Air Ambulance charges Kes.450,000.00 ($7,282)

02) Aga Khan Medical Costs [as at 07.05.08] Kes.250,000.00 ($4,045)

The Air Ambulance we will have to pay ourselves, but we do have insurance to cover some (not all) of the medical costs. Unfortunately we have to pay the whole thing up front before we are able to claim back from the insurance company, which is actually not possible for us to do at the moment. If you know a rich kind soul out there who may be able to help, please let us know. Also any donation, no matter how small, will help at this time.

Ranger Johnson Leyian at Ngiro-are Outpost

I hope also to be soon receiving a financial report from WildlifeDirect to know how donations have gone this month. Once I have it I will post up here.

Thank you everyone for your support so far.

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Category: An Urgent Appeal | Date: Apr 17 2008 | By: William

While the investigation into the deaths of the lions is ongoing, our other work in the Conservancy still continues. This morning Kimojino was out on patrol in the early morning to check on the health of other lions in the area while the rangers from Ngiro-are and Serena Stations were out on patrol in different parts of the Triangle, looking for poachers.

The work must go on to ensure there is as much protection as is financially possible for the wildlife in and around the Mara Triangle, and also too we must keep looking for funds so that salaries can be paid at the end of this month. This morning Steve, a journalist from the UK’s Independent newspaper arrived and we have spent the afternoon showing him the problems that we are facing. Kimojino and I took him up to the escarpment to meet with the villagers there and so they too could have a voice in how this crisis is affecting them.

Last week Reuters interviewed Mzee Olenaigero, translated by Ben Nechalla

Since the meetings two weeks ago, when we told the local Maasai that the Conservancy is still unable to compensate for cattle killed by lions and leopards, the atmosphere was a lot calmer. The men were more open to talk about how the situation has affected them: they told us how they have been selling their cows to make ends meet, but because everybody is in the same situation the market is flooded and the price for cattle has dropped to far less than they were getting before.

This is another major blow for the local people; a drastic drop in income from tourist visits, the halting of the cattle compensation scheme at a time when cattle deaths are high due to the movement of predators, and now a drop in the price of cattle.

Steve asked what would happen if it took longer for the tourists to come back, and we didn’t see them returning in June. An Mzee said that if they don’t come back, then they will run out of cattle. The people round here will turn to bush meat.

Please everyone, don’t be alarmed, but he did raise an important point - if food runs out then what will people eat?

The situation is continuing to deteriorate, and we here at the Conservancy have been lucky enough to raise funds to pay rangers at the end of each month since January, but unfortunately this may not be the case at the end of this month, and then what can we do?

We will have to start laying off rangers. All of the rangers are local, and nearly all are Maasai, and so the suffering in the local communities will deepen.

Rangers Oletimito Kora & John Leyian

It is deeply worrying how affected the area has become from post-election violence which was elsewhere in the country. As you all know, the Maasai Mara is a National Reserve, not a National Park, which means that it is held in trust for the people and managed by the local county councils. The Maasai have, by working hard to protect and preserve the wealth of wildlife to be found here, made this such an incredible place to visit for people from all around the world, and we cannot turn our backs on them now.

Ranger Daniel Tunai with poachers last week.

I’m sorry if this is a bit heavy, but it’s been a long two weeks and this is an incredibly worrying month. Please, I know many of you are regular readers who have already donated far beyond your means - thank you so much - but we really need your help to have our plea heard by as many people as possible, so tell as many people as you know; We cannot lose the Mara.

Lion cubs playing.

Further cutbacks with electricity rationing have been made, which means we now have less hours to be online and keep you updated. Please, if you don’t hear from us for a day or so, know that the work is still continuing and your support is still needed.

Also I know that you are keen to find out more about the dead lions, but investigations are still continuing and so we are unable to release any more information at this time.

Special thanks to Hideo Ogihara from Weeds Corporation for the above design, who will be selling these as stickers in Japan to raise money for the Mara Conservancy.

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Category: An Urgent Appeal, Cattle Compensation | Date: Apr 01 2008 | By: Kimojino

On Saturday William reported on the lion which had killed three cows in Kawai village. The incident happened during the day, when two young boys were herding on the escarpment near their village. Two lions stalked the herd, and were noticed by the boys who made attempts to chase them away. Their efforts were in vain, and the lions managed to kill three cows.

When you go up on the escarpment, it is truly an amazing place of community, cattle and wild animals living together. Contrary to the park where at the moment you don’t see many animals, many of the herbivores have gone up the escarpment and are grazing next to the cattle. Unfortunately this means that the lions also follow, and when given the choice between a watchful zebra or a lazy cow, they often go for the latter.

This is one of the worse times of the year for predators killing cattle outside the park, and this has now fallen at the same time we lack funds to pay for the cattle compensation scheme.

This has prompted us to go and meet with the elders from the villages affected, as the situation has become quite heated with cattle now going missing most days.

Kimojino initiates the talks.

The meeting started today at 11am, and went on till 3pm. The elders were so angry and desperate about the situation now with the lions. They said that almost each day they lost cattle and in two weeks they have lost almost 10 cows and 2 sheep.

For about two hours they were so angry that they did not want to listen to us. They also could not understand why they were the ones who had to suffer the most with the collapse of tourism, they said that they could see rangers still working and vehicles still running. And yet they were losing cattle every day to lions and not being compensated, and they said as a consequence they feel neglected by the Mara Conservancy.

A village elder very angry with the situation.

We sincerely tried to explain the situation that Mara Conservancy is facing at the moment, and to explain that it was only because of donations that we were able to continue, not money from tourists. We said that we would try to help them find money for their cattle from donations, but they would have to be patient with us and understand that we are doing our best.

Towards the end of the meeting the elders said that they have seen real benefits since the Conservancy started, and they thanked us for all the work we have done to retrieve stolen cattle over the years. They said that they greatly valued our efforts, but right now at this time they are suffering.

They reminded us that they could easily make their situation better for themselves by slaying the lions that had been killing their cattle, but they did not want to do this as they have seen over the years the benefits of community conservation, and the tourists that this brings.

Kimojino and William near the end of the meeting.

In the end they said that they would be patient while we did our best to find them the funds. We will have another meeting with village elders this Thursday, and we will also be taking a film crew with us from Reuters, who we hope will highlight the plight of the Conservancy and the local communities, to potential supporters around the world.

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Category: An Urgent Appeal, Cattle Compensation, Friends of MT | Date: Mar 29 2008 | By: William

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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