Tag Archives: Born Free Kenya

A Shocking Mass of Leopard Fur

Category: Born Free, Born Free Kenya
Date: December 3rd 2008
By: bornfree

Anyone who’s been on Safari will tell you how difficult it is to see any of the big cats in the wild. The time of year, weather, location, luck and even one’s choice of safari guide all play a role in the Big Cat experience. And what a joy it is when you see these animals go about their daily lives, unperturbed by the happenings, the lazy lion stretching in the morning sun, the lithe cheetah stalking her prey and of course nothing beats seeing the extremely elusive leopard!

In nearly six years of having worked in the field of wildlife conservation I have only seen a leopard twice! in the wild. This most secretive big cat lurks in the dense foliage of trees, its fur providing the perfect camouflage. It is no wonder that when a leopard is sighted in the wild, word spreads like a bush fire. There is often a frenzy when Madoadoa ya juu * -as the animal is known among the Safari circles – is spotted.

It was therefore shocking!! to see a mass of leopard fur lying by the side of the Nairobi Mombasa Highway as we drove back to Nairobi on our way back from shooting a documentary on the illegal bush meat trade. We immediately pulled off to the side of the road to examine it closer. It was indeed a leopard! We suspect that it was killed by a large vehicle, a cargo trailer driven by an exhausted driver perhaps… Well, we thought it wise to call in the Kenya Wildlife Service as leaving the carcass unattended would mean that some unscrupulous person may well take the fur to sell off. We left after having reported the matter to the Tsavo West National park main gate who promised to act on the matter.

Leopard killed by a vehicle in Kenya © Born Free Kenya

Apparently road kills are not uncommon on this highway. A source who had spent months working in the Tsavo area told us that they had seen a cheetah lying by the side of the road a few weeks ago. Early this year, my colleague witnessed a group of villagers scampering to get a piece of an elephant that had been knocked down earlier.

The Nairobi Mombasa Road cuts across a huge area of wildlife habitat, traversing the Nairobi National Park, the Athi Kapiti plains, The Chyulu Kibwezi area and the Tsavo ecosystem. Its supports a huge amount of traffic – vehicles, people, livestock and even wildlife – moving from one area to another. This incident got me thinking that it may be time for a road safety campaign for this busy highway. As the festive season draws closer and the amount of traffic on our roads increase please spread the word to all your friends in Kenya. Let’s all Drive Safely. Save Lives. Save Wildlife!

Best wishes,

Elsie

*Madoadoa ya juu literally translates as the spots above.

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Young Conservationists turn their Passion into Action

Category: Born Free, Born Free Kenya
Date: September 12th 2008
By: bornfree

Hello all! My name is Elsie Kariuki and I coordinate Born Free’s de-snaring and anti-poaching project in Kenya. Kindly follow the link below for a brief introduction of the project

http://www.bornfree.org.uk/born-free-kenya/community-projects/de-snaring-community-project/

And then read on to get a glimpse into a day in the life of the young conservationists who join us to turn their passion into action. Karibu!

There is always talk about the illegal bush meat trade in and outside conservation circles and many of the volunteers come armed with all sorts of information, from their teachers, from those they know working in conservation, from books and materials they read and even the Media.

However, it is not until these young people experience the gruelling 15 kilometre walk through the bush, hour after hour in the oppressive eastern Kenya heat searching for the often elusive snares;

 A desnaring team walking through the bush in search of the often elusive snares © BF Kenya

It is not until the find their first live snare and measure the diameter of its noose, its height from the ground and thickness of wire used to establish what animal is targeted, and then remove it knowing that they have at least saved one animal.

 A Volunteer takes the measurements of snare to determine the species targeted by the poachers © BF Kenya 

Its not until they stand next to the carcass of a zebra and see its wide open eyes already gorged by vultures, or feel its warm body full of life barely an hour ago and feel the despair of the possibility that maybe, just maybe they could have gotten there in time;

A volunteer with the Born Free Foundation examines a dead zebra © BF Kenya

It is not until they see bicycle tire tracks or footprints in the dust and feel the frustration of knowing  that the poachers have gotten away yet again, or hear from the herdsmen tending their cattle in the bush that the poachers were spotted taking away bloody sacks ; it is not until they have to remove ticks stuck onto their bodies when they take a well deserved shower at the end of the day; or until they have their evening meal by the fire where they listen and reflect on the day’s experiences, from the novice who’s only just began his journey to the KWS ranger with over 20 years of experience they share tales of triumph and of despair; it is not until have to get up early the next morning, their muscles still aching from the previous day’s activities and brace themselves for another hard day’s work…

It’s only then that they fully realize the severity of the illegal bush meat trade. It is only then that they realize that by volunteering to be part of the de-snaring team, they make a significant contribution towards protecting threatened species, stopping individual animal suffering and keeping Kenya’s wildlife in the wild.

The June 2008 de-snaring team with 169 snares collected over a period of 6 days © BF Kenya  This zebra, whose foreleg had been caught in a snare, was lucky to have been rescued © BF Kenya

Reader’s Note:
The Born Free Foundation would like to thank the nearly 150 students from 12 different institutions affiliated with Wildlife Clubs of Kenya who have served as volunteers in this project. Their efforts have led to the recovery 1335 snares within a period of 49 project days. 929 of the snares were live, whereas 509 snares had already been ‘successfully’ used by the poachers. They have indeed saved countless wild animals by removing the snares and sometimes rescuing animals trapped in them.

With additional funding from our supporters we hope to continue providing these young enthusiastic students the chance to get actively involved in conservation; to increase their knowledge and most importantly help conserve Kenya’s wildlife.

Donate here at Wildlife Direct stating that you are donating to help the work of Born Free Kenya or visit http://www.bornfree.org.uk/shop/acatalog/Donations.html for the Born Free Kenya special appeal.

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Ol Moti School end of term ceremony

Category: Born Free, Born Free Kenya
Date: August 31st 2008
By: bornfree

My name is David Manoa, and I am a field project co-ordinator with Born Free in Kenya.  I’m currently based in Olmoti Primary School just outside Amboseli National Park where we’re building 4 new classrooms and a boys dorm to add to the kitchen, hall and girls dorm that we completed in 2006. 
 
For the first time in history, Ol moti primary school community organized an end of term closing ceremony. Parents and guardians as far as Oloitokitok (about 80 km away) and Kimana (about 50 km away), were all in attendance. Some ‘privileged’ parents arrived in style on their motorbikes while others simply walked to the school from the near by manyattas.

 Children at Ol Moti © BF Kenya

About 60 parents/guardians and 250 children convened in the schools airy multipurpose hall that was built by BFF with the help of Martin Clunes funds. After introductions, came the prize giving sessions where students in position one, two and three were honoured by heavy applaud. It was encouraging to see girls competing fairly well with the boys. The big shock to many was in class three, with all the top three positions being scooped by girls.

Award winners in the ceremony at Ol Moti © BF Kenya

Toward, the end of the celebrations, the master of ceremony (the head master) invited various parent representatives, school chairman and myself to talk to the gathering. I must say, I was really impressed with the whole ceremony set up. The speeches were brief and to the point. The speakers from the community encouraged the children to work hard and reminded parents to help the children to realize their dreams. A renowned parent representative said, ‘the greatest prize one can give their children is education’. Some parents even vowed to campaign against the outdated cultural practices such as Female Circumcision or FGM as it is now more commonly known, which undermines the education and general development of the masaai communities. And in their closing remarks, the headmaster and the school chairman thanked BFF for their continued support to uplift the lives of the Ol moti community and promised to take care of the provided facilities.

All these happenings are a notch high, contrary to what I used to see in the past years. I believe there is light at the end of the tunnel and I can’t wait to witness yet another purposeful event!

Manoa David

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Introducing Born Free Kenya

Category: Born Free Kenya
Date: August 18th 2008
By: bornfree

Hello readers of Wildlife Direct’s Born Free blog,

My name is Alice Owen, and I am the East African Regional Representative for Born Free Foundation, managing projects across East Africa as well as the Born Free Kenya office.

There are many aspects to Born Free’s work in Kenya, our small team of seven works from an office in Nairobi. Wildlife protection is crucial and we support the removal of animal snares through partner organisations such as the Bill Woodley Mount Kenya Trust and Youth for Conservation. For this work the fleet of vehicles generously donated by Land Rover is invaluable. 

One of the biggest challenges to conservation of wildlife and habitat in Africa is poor communities living inside or adjacent to wildlife areas.  But without the support of these communities, safeguarding wildlife becomes impossible.  That’s the paradox of conservation in developing countries and why Born Free in Kenya has established a programme that works directly with these communities.  We call it “Global Friends”.

Alice Owen with sponsors and children of Ol Moti School © BF Kenya

 
Let’s start in Amboseli.  Born Free has supported elephant research and conservation here for many years.  But adjacent to Amboseli National Park lies the Olmoti community.  This is a predominantly Maasai region.  Maasai are pastoralists and move their herds of cattle, goats and donkeys seasonally to find grazing and water.  With expanding populations they have less and less land every year and are forced to become more sedentary.  They are also keener on getting their children educated now, to open up new opportunities in salaried jobs.  It is estimated that only 1 in 10 Maasai is literate. Responding to the growing population, the increasing permanence of settlements and the interest in education, Global Friends decided to focus on supporting education within this community.
 
Two years ago, we found a tiny school at Olmoti with only 74 children and 3 teachers. But there were numerous additional children at home doing chores such as fetching water, herding goats or taking care of siblings.  We wanted to get these children to school too.  This took a year of negotiation with local leaders and parents and we eventually brokered an agreement that if we built a boarding school, the children would attend.  The boarding facility was important, as in a remote area with wildlife about and no public transport, some children can’t get to school as day pupils for fear of encountering elephants and lion along the way. Sponsors looking round the new dormitory © BF Kenya

By the beginning of 2007 a girls’ dorm was completed and when the school opened that term we started to see the enrolment going up.  By the end of March there were 120 children.  It was like a dream – every day there was a new enrolment or two.  Children simply starting streaming in, some with permission from their parents and some without.  There have been cases where children herding livestock, having seen their friends start to enjoy school, simply ran off and left their goats in the bush.

Ol Moti opening ceremony © BF Kenya
Now there are over 240 children attending Olmoti and half of them are full-time boarders, 60 boys and 50 girls.  With that encouraging result we sought further support to raise money for a boys’ dorm and more classrooms.  In April 2008, we started the construction of 4 new classrooms and a boys’ dorm thanks to Born Free supporters in the UK, Jack Froggatt and Laurence Bloom.  We’re in the final stages of construction now and will be having an opening ceremony in November 2008!

Temporary dormitory at Ol Moti © BF Kenya
The joy of working with rural communities is when you see the faces of the children.  It’s just the best thing in the world.  I have two children of my own who are more privileged than the children of Olmoti, but if they all get an education, the future may hold equal opportunities for them all. Alice Owen

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