Born Free

Category: Born Free Kenya | Date: Feb 19 2009 | By: bornfree

The Born Free/ Wildlife Clubs of Kenya team recently spent 6 days patrolling the dryland that is the migratory corridor between Tsavo East & West National Parks. Even after having spent countless days on desnaring and anti poaching work in the Athi Kapiti plains nothing quite prepared me for what lay ahead in Tsavo.

While we had to contend with the occasional lion and cheetah in the plains, the first thing we were aware of when we started our foot patrols on Rukinga Ranch (in Tsavo) was the looming threat of elephant and buffalo. With heightened senses and the constant pressure of keeping up with the rangers who had mastered the art of tracking these animals we trudged along in silence. One time, the lead ranger came back running; he’d seen a herd of elephants less than 50 meters ahead of us! Our untrained eyes couldn’t see them through the dense thorny thickets but then we heard the unmistakable breaking of branches characteristic of elephants as the walk through the bush. Luckily the wind was blowing away from the elephants and they therefore did not catch our scents otherwise they would have been greatly agitated. One of us was too afraid to go on so we radioed the vehicle and the rest of us bravely walked on determined not to leave without recovering any snares. 

You would think that after collecting nearly 2000 snares this would be easy part, well we quickly learned otherwise.   The trees & bushes are so dry they turn a shimmery silver, making snare spotting very difficult. Not only this, but we also discovered that a majority of the poachers do not set snares in the conventional way. Poachers in Tsavo are known to hunt wild animals using bows and poisoned arrows; and then there is the torch & horn device. A poacher will make a powerful torch by combining 6+ batteries to a regular 2-battery torch.  He will then attach a bicycle horn to the torch and under the cover of darkness imitate an approaching vehicle. The bright light and noise from the horn will easily startle any animal rendering immobile particular species especially antelope e.g. Dik-dik and Tommy gazelle. Since the poachers often work in pairs, one will startle the animal while the other waits for it to become immobile. He then quickly hacks it to death using a panga (machete) or a knife.

While with experience it becomes easier to predict where poachers will set their snares and thus recover them, poachers who use torch and horn are more difficult to apprehend. They normally work through the night, hiding in the depths of the bush and following animals for miles on end. They often leave behind trails of the night’s activities mainly including animal skins and hooves. In one incidence, this desnaring team recovered the remains of 28 Dik-dik, 1 Impala and what was suspected to be a Gerenuk. The team however did not randomly stumble on the remains; they had followed bicycle tracks first by car then on foot for nearly 10 kilometres hoping to apprehend the poachers.

Other than poaching, the Tsavo ecosystem faces great threat from illegal logging and charcoal burning. Large numbers of men and women enter the ranches everyday illegally cutting down trees for firewood and charcoal. This desnaring team came across 4 freshly dug charcoal kilns and confiscated numerous bags of charcoal. They also apprehended groups of people who they came across while patrolling the bush. One particular group was made up of young women who had taken their children (one- only a few weeks old!) along with them.

Because of the long days that these people spend in the bush making charcoal, many of them also hunt wild animals for food. In one occurrence the team stumbled across a man tending to his charcoal kiln. Although he managed to escape, a few members of the desnaring team chased after him and followed him to his village. Unfortunately they did not get hold of him but recovered numerous bags of charcoal, a bundle of wire snares and the remains of a warthog from his house. By interrogating his family they discovered that this man was a known poacher who had on many occasions, been known to eat wild animals and sometimes share with his neighbours. Since the man got away, the team left the information they had gathered with KWS Tsavo East’s investigation team who promised to follow up and apprehend him.

During the project period, the group also learnt that a KWS team on patrol had arrested a man and his son. They had been apprehended as they left the bush after a night of torch and horn poaching. They had killed an Impala and a Dik-dik.

A few of the people I encountered during that daunting period in Tsavo remain etched in my mind. The 24 year old woman and her 3 week old baby; with the nerve to brave the elephants and take her baby with her, she said she couldn’t sit home and starve to death…The young man and his brother; who pleaded over and over to be set free, claiming that they only burnt charcoal as they had nothing else they could rely on… A man and his son; he couldn’t raise the fees required to take his son to school and was therefore passing on the ‘tricks’ of the only trade he knew would bring food to the table…

It is a tough call for those of us working in Wildlife Conservation.  If we are to succeed in our objective to conserve wildlife, we cannot ignore the plight of people struggling to survive…

Elsie Kariuki, Born Free Kenya

2 responses so far

Category: Lilongwe Wildlife Centre | Date: Feb 09 2009 | By: bornfree

Hello Hello,

Since the release, a research team has been monitoring the group’s daily patterns and adjustment to their new home. The research team, comprised of myself, the Project Manager for the Release Project, a local research assistant (provided by National Parks), an anti-poaching scout and a driver, will monitor the baboons for the next 6-12 months, helping to ensure their successful integration into the wild.

The initial weeks were adventure filled and difficult at times, but always exciting. In this first month, the group proved their ability to forage well on their own, explored a 2.5km radius around the release site and have begun interacting with a wild group of baboons. Initially, many members of the group were very attached to the vehicle, as well as the research team, continually climbing on the vehicle, inspecting the researchers and following the team’s every movement. Four weeks later, the group slowly started breaking their dependency on the research team, spending more time away from the humans and vehicle exploring and interacting with their environment.

In the 2nd week of the release a wild male occasionally visited the group, often times peacefully sitting among the group and sometimes being chased by Jack. At times an entire group (which may include this male) spent significant portions of the day with our group, up to 6 hours. No real aggressions occurred, rather these interactions have been quite friendly, though Jack will occasionally chase around members of his own group while in the presence of this wild group, most likely to prove his strength and command over his group to the wild troop.

Brenda, one of the 3 adult females in the release group, took quite a liking to the new wild group, spending much of her day with them. Brenda is the lowest ranking adult female, and therefore, may be looking to emigrate away from the release group, joining a new wild group. This is just speculation at this point, however.

The wild baboons will hopefully teach our group the necessary skills they will need for survival in the wild; skills our group may be lacking from their rearing in captivity.

Richard, one of the sub-adult males in the group is a baboon filled with character and innocence, which you all will grow to see in the coming months. He is the lowest ranking male in the group, not appreciated much by anyone. He tends to do his own thing, preferring to interact with the humans and the vehicle than any baboon. Sometimes I think that he truly believes he’s human and not a monkey. In any event, he has developed a very special relationship with the vehicle, which the research team has been trying to break, but will probably only come in time. Richard will come running from the brush every time he hears the vehicle, charging at full speed straight for the bonnet, which he will leap onto and settle in, as if this is his proper home. We have even observed Richard using the vehicle as a form of security, threatening Jack from the bonnet of the vehicle. Richard is a 7.5kg male and Jack is a 20kg male and the leader of the group, but one threat from Richard on the bonnet sends Jack running. Slowly Richard is breaking his attachment to the vehicle and research team, as he is spending larger and larger amounts of time away from us and off the vehicle, however, this time is not spent interacting with his group members, but rather off on his own inspecting his surroundings and feeding on scraps he finds in the bush. His lack of attention to the group often gets him left behind, one day 2.5km behind. Richard is a baboon who provides much amusement and intrigue and is certainly a case to follow.

We have now completed 2 full months of the release and this past month has been a very exciting and eventful one indeed!

We have seen a lot of the wild group of baboons; and it’s the whole group, not just the male. After the first encounter with Jack’s troop,  the wild baboons have visited our group on 4 other occasions. What initiated these encounters was a little adventure Chris, Ali, Bobby John and Brenda took one night. These 4 went missing for one afternoon and night. To where?…we’re not entirely sure, as we could not find Chris. However, that night we followed the signal on Chris’s radio collar to a wild group of baboons, sleeping about 600m from Jack’s troop.

While I did not see any of our missing group members with them, I am almost positive this is where Chris and the others ran off to, as the next day the wild group was around, persistently trying to get close to Jack and the others. The wild group stuck around for 3 days, sleeping near to Jack’s troop (within 50 meters), trying to interact with members, such as Chris, Brenda and the babies (Ruth and Nina) when they could. During these days no one else in Jack’s group took much of an interest in the wild troop, despite the great interest from the wild group, particularly an adult female and a male sub-adult.

The wild troop disappeared for several days after these encounters, only to return again 5 days later. Upon this next encounter, Jack’s troop inherited the wild adult female who was so curious with our group, and she has remained in our group, leaving her’s behind for the last 4 days. I’m not sure if she will become a permanent member of Jack’s group, but for the moment she’s hopefully passing on valuable lessons to our group. And Chris has already mated with her many times, so perhaps his genes will permanently become integrated in the wild population of baboons in Kasungu National Park. While we inherited a wild female, we also lost Brenda, whom I believe has moved on to the wild troop. The next several weeks are sure to prove interesting!

In other news, much poaching activity has been occurring just around the camp, where the project is based (3.5km from the release site and baboons) in the last 3 weeks. There have been 7 incidents in the area with poachers, 5 gunshots heard, 1 occasion of dogs barking and 1 occasion where 3 poachers were actually seen walking next to camp. Fortunately no one was injured during any of these encounters. And on 1 occasion, a poacher’s gun and the Kudu (a large antelope) they had killed were confiscated by the anti-poaching scouts in the Park, upon the project’s report of the gunshot heard. However, it has been challenging sometimes to receive scouts to follow-up on the reports we make to Parks of this poaching activity. For instance, the day the 3 poachers were physically seen, no scouts were deployed to try and trace them due to a lack of fuel by National Park’s staff. Typically the project would assist with the transportation of scouts, however the project vehicle was out conducting research with the baboons at the time the incident occurred and cell phone reception is very poor at the release site so there was no way of informing myself of the activity. A lack of resources both by National Parks and the Release Project is an unfortunate reality at the moment, which can be a problem in achievement of optimal results; however, we are working to resolve some of these issues.

Till next time, I wish you all happy reading, and I look forward to reporting the further progress of our babies next month!!

~Andrea~ 

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Category: Lilongwe Wildlife Centre | Date: Feb 09 2009 | By: bornfree

Born Free is delighted to have taken receipt of two laptops generously refurbished by the Green Standards Trust, having become obsolete at ICI. Green Standards provides businesses with an environmentally-friendly alternative to landfill when such items are no longer wanted, and after being handed over to Born Free last week, the laptops are now winging their way to Malawi to help support the vital work of the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre.

The laptops will be an invaluable resource for the field researchers currently monitoring a troop of rehabilitated baboons released into Kusungu National Park before Christmas. Data on the baboons’ behaviour and adaptability to their new-found freedom will be recorded in a format that can easily be transmitted back to the Wildlife Centre for analysis and dissemination. With more releases of other rescued primates planned for 2009, this equipment that had outlived its use in one context, is already serving a new purpose for the protection of wildlife in Malawi.

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Category: Lilongwe Wildlife Centre | Date: Feb 02 2009 | By: bornfree

You may remember one of our blogs about a small baby Impala (antelope), named Mitambo.  He was rescued by the Wildlife Centre after we were notified by the National Parks of Malawi that he had been injured.  Our vet, Wendy, went immediately to fetch him for treatment.

When Mitambo was brought to the centre his leg was badly injured.  There were two breaks in his right front leg, one even going through his skin.  Wendy worked hard to keep Mitambo alive with a cast that allowed access to his wounds for routine checks while slowly nursing him back to solids, but we are sad to report that Mitambo did not survive.

It is always nice to read about happy endings to our rescue stories – we love happy endings – but it is a reality that some animals will not survive.  We believe Mitambo’s leg was injured by a poacher’s trap and unfortunately poaching and the illegal pet trade are a significant problem in Malawi. 

The Wildlife Centre itself is a great place for the rescued animals, but the centre extends beyond that by educating visitors.  Children and adults learn about poaching, illegal pet trade, deforestation, and conservation while on tours of the centre.  We believe these problems can be combated through education.

Please send your donations to help our continuing efforts in educating the public about the dangers threatening wildlife on a daily basis.

Tags: impala, Lilongwe Wildlife Centre, Malawi, poaching

4 responses so far