Targeted for his tusks - an African icon is saved
Posted by David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Animal Encounters
Spotted from the air by the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's Aerial Surveillance Team, an African bull elephant was seen to be struggling to keep up with a number of other male elephants he was travelling with in the vast Tsavo National Park. DSWT Pilot Neville Sheldrick immediately recognised this all too familiar suffering and a swelling on one of the bull's hind legs confirmed to him that the elephant had been hit by a poison arrow.
Across Africa elephants are being targeted for their ivory, to supply a rampant illegal ivory trade. A trade driven by a demand from China, where ivory is seen as a symbol or wealth and status. A report published in August 2014 revealed that more than 100 000 elephants have been killed in the last three years, this equates one elephant killed every 15 minutes. Pilot Neville Sheldrick immediately reported the case to the DSWT Field Headquarters and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Veterinarian Dr. Poghon mobilised. He reached the scene rapidly thanks to the DSWT's helicopter and darted the elephant from the air with a high dose of anaesthetic. All the while the DSWT/KWS Tsavo Vet Unit was travelling by land to the scene, arriving to support Dr. Poghon in the pending treatment.
Fortunately the bull elephant fell to his left side providing easy access to the wound. The helicopter was used to push back the other males, understandably concerned for their fallen comrade, so that the injured bull could be treated for what is a life threatening wound.
A large amount of dead tissue was cut away from the wound and Dr. Poghon was soon battling against the clock as the first rains of the season chose to arrive at this moment, bringing behind them a thunderstorm. Concerned that the large bull elephant might struggle to safely gain his footing on the increasingly muddy ground, Poghon worked rapidly in cleaning the wound, administering a long acting anti-biotic and finally packing the wound with green clay. The reversal anesthetic drug was given.
Soaked and coated in mud, Poghon watched from the helicopter as just minutes later the initially disorientated elephant rose to his feet and slowly moved to re-join his male friends who remained close-by.
"Our teams on the ground are there to carry out just this kind of lifesaving work, however when one considers the scale of Tsavo, it is a testament to the abilities and skills of our pilots and ground teams that we not only identified this injured elephant, but could so rapidly react to save his life" says Director of the DSWT Rob Brandford. He goes on to say: "The use of poison arrows is all too common, resulting in a slow and agonising death for an elephant if left untreated. In just the last two weeks our Tsavo teams working with the Kenya Wildlife Service have been able to save 11 elephants from poison arrow wounds".
The poaching of elephants for their ivory is at exceptionally high levels and the slaughter of Africa's elephants, which would have included this irreplaceable treasure had it not been for the intervention of the DSWT, is impacting not only the species, it has a negative economic, environmental and political impact.
About David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust embraces all measures that complement the conservation and protection of wildlife. These include anti-poaching, wildlife veterinary assistance, community outreach, safe guarding the natural environment and the rescue and hand rearing of elephant and rhino.
Ol Pejeta Conservancy loses one of its northern white rhinos (not to poaching) It is with great sadness that Ol Pejeta Conservancy announces the death of one of the northern white rhinos, "Suni".
Suni was one of the four northern white rhinos residing on Ol Pejeta Conservancy. He was born 34 years ago at the Dvur Kr�lov� Zoo as the first-ever northern white rhino to be born in captivity. Together with one other male and two females, he was translocated from the zoo to Ol Pejeta in 2009. Rangers found him on the morning of October 17th, 2014, dead in his boma. Suni was not a victim of poaching and we have yet to establish the cause of his sudden death. The Kenya Wildlife Service vets will conduct a post mortem as soon as possible. In 2006, his father Sa�t died in the Dvur Kralove Zoo by natural causes at the same age as Suni was now. There are now only six northern white rhinos left in the world. Suni was one of the last two breeding males in the world and no northern white rhinos are known to have survived in the wild. Consequently the species now stands at the brink of complete extinction, a sorry testament to the greed of the human race. The Ol Pejeta Conservancy will continue to do what they can to work with the remaining three animals on Ol Pejeta in the hope that their efforts will one day result in the successful birth of a northern white rhino calf.
So the rains have finally broken in the north, with some good and widespread rainfall across the NRT conservancies. We can expect a reduction in tensions that the long dry spell has fuelled.
October has been a diverse month as usual. Here's a flavour: NRT bought 1,580 cattle, a very timely set of purchases when needed most in the dry season, and we are well on target for our scale up to 3,000 head this year - this brings us huge conservation leverage in the conservancy communities. Six more conservancies were registered as not-for-profit companies, a target set out in our strategic plan. Our peace team negotiated the safe return of 189 cows from Samburu to their Turkana owners, and 89 cows from the Borana to the Samburu, and the new tourism agreement was finally agreed between Saruni and Kalama  Conservancy after months of negotiation.
In an effort to get young people more involved in conservancy activities, 60 morans (young warriors) were taken from Sera to Ol Pejeta to see what good grass and cattle management looks like, and they returned very impressed and enthusiastic to become peace and development ambassadors for NRT. They will also be key agents in helping the acceptance and management of the new Sera Rhino Sanctuary when this rolls out in 2015. In enterprises, a new women's group was established in Namunyak Conservancy for running bead-making enterprises.
And finally, the Lokichar Conservancy was established in Turkana. This is the first NRT conservancy in this County and perhaps a prelude to NRT's expansion into that area - more on this exciting new development in a future newsletter. We are looking forward to a green November. Mike Harrison Chief Executive Officer  Northern Rangelands Trust
Peace, Mountains and a Long Walk for Elephants For the first time in northern Kenya, elephants can retrace an ancient migration route using a safe corridor of community wildlife conservancies.
Ivory poaching isn't the only threat to African elephants. As populations across the continent increase (a new UNICEF report estimates that by the end of this century, 40% of the world's people will be African, up from the current 15%) elephants face increasing pressure on their habitats. As more farmland is developed across their ancient migration routes, elephants are being penalised for breaking fences and destroying crops, and farmers face devastating losses of income. Cases of human/elephant conflict are common, and both sides suffer the consequences.
But for the elephants of northern Kenya - this trend is being reversed. Now, for the first time, they can travel from the fertile slopes of Mt. Kenya all the way to Mt. Marsabit, over 340 kilometres away, using a corridor of community wildlife conservancies.
The elephants' journey would take them across savannah and shrub plains where they would find grazing, and water points along the Ewaso Nyiro River. The corridor also connects them safely to the Mathews Forest in Namunyak Conservancy, another important haven for elephants. NRT's dedicated anti-poaching team, known simply by their call sign '9 - 1', cover the conservancies of Sera, Namunyak, Melako and Biliqo-Bulesa; providing elephants with extra protection as they cross these vast rangelands.
The final pieces of the jigsaw puzzle were put into place last year, when the French Development Agency (Agence Fran�aise de D�veloppement, or AFD) channeled funding into the rehabilitation and protection of Marsabit National Park, managed by our close  working partners, the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Kenya Forest Service. Included in this, was a grant from the FFEM (Fond Francais pour l'Environnement Mondial - the French Global Environment Facility) for three new NRT member community conservancies; Songa, Shurr and Jaldesa, that now surround the Park.
Mount Marsabit is an extraordinary oasis of lush, green, well watered forest that rises out of the Chalbi desert in the north of Kenya, just 140km from the Ethiopian border. It is a vital water tower in an otherwise dry and barren area, and has a rich diversity of wildlife. But fighting between the Gabbra, Rendille and Borana communities has dominated this region for years; with devastating consequences for families, livelihoods and for local wildlife. Building peace runs through every vein of the community conservancy model; from tackling ethnic conflict through dialogue to ensuring equitable and sustainable distribution of natural resources, and empowering communities to work together. Having seen the model in action by visiting established member conservancies, the communities of Marsabit were keen to implement the same, and to ensure the sustainability of their mountain resources.
In late September, representatives from AFD together with NRT senior staff, visited Marsabit for a one year on review of the project. Manager of Shurr Conservancy, Ali Mohamed, reported that the level of awareness and perception amongst the community had changed since the establishment of the conservancy. He says a sense of ownership of the land, and its resources, has been key to changing mindsets here; and people are starting to see results; less conflict, returning wildlife, and the promise of better grazing.
Billfish activity improving in northern waters
Written by David Slater "Honeylulu"
Good weather continues at the coast, with some rain showers but the winds are gentle and seas remain calm. While it was slow on the fishing scene early in the week, recent days have shown improvement and some black marlin have been caught with others lost around the Watamu Banks, and the odd sailfish also has been caught.
Unreel found a sail on the 3rd and also saw some good wahoo action, while the next day was the best day for some time, with Castle Lager catching a black marlin and Unreel a sailfish, while Neptune from Malindi had four sail up to the baits from which they released two and they also missed a black marlin when the strike failed to hook up. Other boats had catches of wahoo and tuna and the odd shark was also reported. On the 5th, Alleycat released a black marlin on a morning trip, so it does seem that the fish are beginning to turn on. This could be due to the wind, which has shown signs of swinging into the east, and one can expect this swing to continue as the month wears on, ending in a full kaskazi or north-east monsoon by December. This is the signal for the beginning of the main marlin season which skippers and anglers will look forward to.
Nov 23rd will be the Eye Go Fishing Tournament at Mtwapa, which will be fully sponsored by Capt Andy's Fishing Supplies. This annual tournament raises money for the Kwale Eye Centre which over the years has restored the gift of sight to thousands who would otherwise been blind, and does an amazing job under the supervision of Dr Helen Roberts and her dedicated team. It is a popular tournament and always well supported, so let's hope the fishing will be good.
Some interesting news from the African Billfish Foundation, as two sailfish tags have been recovered in northern Tanzanian waters. One was tagged by White Bear off Malindi in 2008, and the other by Little Toot off Manda Island in 2007, so they had been at large for six and seven years respectively. The recoveries were 160 and 240 nautical miles south of the tagging, interesting to know these fish have survived safely for so long, and hopefully have bred thousands of little sailfish in the period!
Monster trevally claims world record
Visiting angler Manfred Schmitt from Germany, fishing on Tarka with skipper Callum Looman out from Watamu, boated a monster giant trevally, locally called karambesi, which weighed in at 71kgs and is being claimed as a world record on 24kg line. The previous record, caught three years ago in Tanzania, was 56.6kgs so this indicates what an amazing catch this is, and once again firmly establishes Kenya as one of the world's top sport angling areas.
Next day, the same team ran to the North Kenya banks and had a busy day, catching over 480kgs of yellowfin tuna, making for one very happy fisherman. Earlier in the week, Tarka caught a bullshark, so they have had a good run. Alleycat also has been doing well, with two black marlin, a sail and four nice karambesi up to 30kgs last week - these latter fish are generally tagged and released these days as stocks seemed low and they are resident fish rather than migratory. Unreel found a black marlin in the Banks area, interesting to see these marlin still around there in November after a good run since August.
From Hemingways, B's Nest tagged two sail with Robert Urthaler fishing, and the same angler had a good catch of wahoo, kingfish, barracuda, and a 35kg giant trevally for a busy day on one earlier trip, while on another trip they released two trevally of 35 and 20kgs and boated a bullshark.
Malindi boats are concentrating on sailfish in their local waters now, as these are starting to arrive now, presumably migrating south from the Lamu area which has seen good catches recently. Eclare had a busy day on Tuesday, catching five sail from the fifteen they raise to the baits, with Snowgoose having one from seven shots, but the latter boat came top gun the previous day with five sail from the dozen which they had up taking the baits and a black marlin as well, a terrific day for their anglers. On Sunday the same boat found four sailfish and Eclare three, so Malindi fishing getting hot, and the sail run usually peaks in early December so now is the time for sail aficionados to come and try their skills. |