The Milgis Trust

Category: elephants | Date: Jul 21 2009 | By: milgistrust

The report from the ‘Leopard’, the scout that is from the Keno, went like this… A very big Elephant has been killed, after a huge fight, the triumphant keeps on checking to see that his rival is dead’… UNBELIEVABLE!!.. I could not but think… Maybe actually he did not mean to kill him, and wanted him to get up again.!!.. Our scouts went in the Land rover to retrieve the tusks, and to take them to KWS, for safe keeping…. They were pretty big… In the region of 80 pounds each… The tusk of the other elephant had pieced his lung /heart area… This was a totally natural death, and the main reason for showing you this picture is… I feel its fabulous to know that there are still some big tuskers around…AND LONG MAY THEY LAST!!

The size of one of the tusks from the Slain Elephant…

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Category: Conservation Awareness | Date: Jul 16 2009 | By: milgistrust

Over three months have passed in a colourful blur of wonderful experiences and this last week was no exception.

Having been fully immersed in this wonderful culture and land it was high time Helen decided, to ‘abandon’ me at the Milgis. Of course I was by no means on my own through I had the wonderful company of singing Samburu warriors, the welcoming communities and naturally the beautiful wildlife.

My first task was to begin our very first Eco-Screen event comprising of our new projector, some great conservation films dubbed in Maa, and a white cotton bed sheet (which the Morani warriors were all after to add to their handsome dress).

The screening was a huge success and the entire town of Latakwen turned out to grab their place to watch the films. The Milgis Trust knows how important it is to keep the people involved in its work throughout all its projects - only they can protect their land, their wildlife and their futures. We were also able to show them some filming we took of them during the water and school opening which went down a treat. This isn’t a one-off screening through, it is one of the Trust’s new awareness programmes and we will be travelling around all our communities showing them the different conservation themes from erosion to poaching intermingled with some fun films like the Lion King.

Next on my task list was to handover some supplies to the new primary school; a great selection of books on environment to art, pencils, crayons, paints…even a kit to create a little pawpaw shamba (garden) so each child has their own seed to plant, look after and water in the hope of some yummy fruits - a wonderful exercise to promote the growth of the land and reduce the felling. The teachers and children couldn’t have been happier and it just shows how such simple and inexpensive gifts such as these can really develop and lighten the lives of so many people. There are several other schools in our area that need similar materials and equipment to run effectively and of course such things only last so long - the need for educational support is always present and the Trust does as much as it can to provide to all the schools writing to us for help, which we couldn’t do without everyone’s continued support.

Latakwen Nursary children showing off their new books!

During my stays at the Milgis there is always something happening; this day a camel was in need of rescuing; not just the elephants need support, this land is harsh and accidents can always occur for any animal. This camel had fallen down a rocky knoll and could not stand due to an injury to its back, unable to get to food or water it had to be moved to a safer place. On arrival at the scene in the midday heat the camel grunted irritably at us clearly suffering, but the question was how on earth were we to get a fully grown camel that can’t stand into our pickup?! But suddenly out of nowhere fifteen Samburu appeared - some warriors, some pastoralists and just some people nearby. After ten minutes of discussion they decided on their plan and working as a perfect team manoeuvred the camel as gently as possible into the pickup. I was delighted and so very impressed by the caring nature of these people - this is exactly what happens when any animal is in need of help and it’s wonderful to know these people are there and eager to lend a hand . The camel is now in a safe area with water and food - so let’s hope he finds his feet again!

My journey back down to the modern world was just as much an adventure. Driving down the snaking Barsaloi lugga we passed herds of goats, sheep and cows and their Samburu and Rendille owners - all flocking to the area where there is just a little water to ease the suffering of the drought. Having usually flown to the Milgis it was certainly eye-opening to see the changing of the land from the ground; the further we got towards civilisation the more the land was in disrepair, a ‘tree graveyard’ was my initial thought after a few hours of driving as we followed the dusty track towards Maralal. As clear as anything you can see the slow spread of the ruin of the land, pushing ever further north towards the Milgis - a swell of destruction that we must prevent before it consumes more beautiful ecosystems and that of the Milgis.

This was once forest.. Now its almost desert… Due to fires…

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Category: Water holes, elephants | Date: Jul 13 2009 | By: milgistrust

I am replying to your comment Sheryl, on ’sad and lonesome death.’.as I feel its worth blogging about… …. I wish it was as simple as that… Keep the Elephants from falling into wells!!… Its a huge huge area, and sadly it is desperate times… The Elephants have increased because they are being pushed out of areas to the south, and before the seventies thousands of Elephants roamed this part of Kenya, actually they are returning home….. If only we had the money to employ lots of people to patrol… We so so appreciate your help, and I have told the manager that this money goes towards helping the Elephants, and all our well problems… Now is the time to get the communities involved in helping keep the Ely wells open, and if any one else is feeling generous, we would so appreciate, some financial support, for this project… Two reasons… If the communities benefited more from being nice to the Elephants, then they would try harder… Also I have just received the news below… We don’t want to reverse, the good balance of living together that we feel has been achieved, after this incident….

I have just spoken to the manager and he told me we had a very sad problem yesterday, where an Elephant tossed somebody, so they… The authorities decided they had to shoot the Elephant because he was now a ‘rogue’… Apparently it had killed a camel a few months ago… They stunned him, having shot at him several times, and they thought he was dead, and then for some reason they cut his ears up, and speared him several times…after a bit, and as every one was off guard, he got up again and killed somebody… This elephant is now out there, very badly wounded, and unfortunately dangerous… Now who’s to blame?…

Its very sad, and distressing, as we have tried so hard to tell every one, ‘you don’t hurt/disturb the Elephants they won’t hurt/disturb you, always keep a good eye/ear out for them, and avoid going too close’… And the first person he tossed, who was going about his day, was not harmed, more shaken, and the Elephant removed him from his path, he did not follow him up or any thing… Many times we have watched, as children are out with their stock, when they come across Elephants they watch from a distance, as the stock go through the trees , and they meet them the other side..

MAN MADE INTERFERENCE is an interesting statement actually… Man has to survive out there as well, and have for hundreds of years, in harmony with the wildlife…Actually if it was not for men digging water holes there would be no way the Elephants could survive here once the water goes down past a certain level… Most of the life out there, is share, and share a like… Men and Elephants do very well together, and really help each other out… The Samburu especially can take huge credit for their incredible patience, of living side by side with the wildlife, and have shown many times serious tolerance… But below is a picture showing a well, that the Elephants were using, every day, but the owner decided to cover it up.. Now where do they drink?… Tough times.. And difficult decisions…

Covering this well to me is now a misunderstanding on mans part… Or what??…

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Category: Milgis lugga, Water holes, elephants | Date: Jul 10 2009 | By: milgistrust

As the horrors of drought continue, the answer is to fight back….The Milgis Trust scouts have embarked on a major well digging campaign, up and down all the big luggas to ease the Elephants, and other wildlife’s plight to get to water… Also at the same time going on a fact finding mission to find out where all the disused wells are, after an Elephant had fallen into one and was not found until it was too late… They will talk to all the locals about exactly where all the old wells are, so that they can be monitored every day… The pictures and story written my Moses Lesoloyia below is the reason for this decision…..

On the 19^th June 2009 at 3pm a report reached our office that there was an elephant stuck in a water hole in Laana Nikan lugga, it came from a herder who was on a survey mission for pastures for his livestock.. He was also desperate, to find grass for his hungry cattle, so in stead of turning back to bring the report , he gave it to a KWS patrol vehicle, a day later… They picked the man up and brought him to where he thought he saw the Elephant, and searched the whole place but he could not quite remember where it was in the very thick bush along the Lugga.. They then sent a message to Elkanto, and asked us to bring some more people and any one with knowledge of the area…We immediately packed our land rover with water, rope, spades and digging tools and 8 of us, met up with the KWS team and headed back up the Lugga, grinding up in the soft sand… The land cruiser got stuck, but with many people gathering to try to help, they managed to get it out quickly… about 3 km from the Barsaloi and Seiya junction we stop, as the man leading us said he saw the elephant around there. He seemed to be behaving strangely, and we asked him to show us his tracks but there had been many Rendille camels in the area and it was not possible to retrace them, at one point we thought the man was cheating!! He kept on saying I promise you I saw an Elephant in a well, But where is it!… After a brief gathering of thoughts, Ltankian, a local warrior told us that he remembered where a well was when he was a child…We asked him to lead us there and sure enough we found the elephant which we assessed to between 10 and 12 years. The hole was very narrow and the elephant had fallen from the back and the whole body except the head got trapped into the hole. When we arrived she looked ok and used her trunk to scare away anyone going towards her head. We decided to open up the hole all round her back and tried to pull her out by passing the rope below her fore legs.

We pulled her ¾ out and while trying to pass the other end of the rope below her hind legs she was calm and looked sleepy, we passed the rope very easily and when pulling it out someone shocked us all by saying.. “hi ndovu imekufa” [The elephant is dead] no one believed him. We continued pulling but stopped after realising that the elephant is no longer trying to come out and a foul smell filled the area. We found out that the hind legs were rotten and the skin peeled off when touched. It was at this time that we really started to believe that the elephant could be dying. After a few minutes the elephant was dead. Everybody’s spirit went down and all were tired. How, why, what, followed for about 10 minutes as all wondered why it died… This Elephant had been stuck in this well for at least a week or more,,, It breaks my heart…

Disbelief after all that effort, as the Elephant seemed to be dieing..

One of the very strange things about this poor trapped Elephant is why did the hyenas not attack it when it was stuck in the hole, and apparently even ten days after it died it had not been touched…Despite lots of hyena tracks all round.. The people who tried to save this animals life say that they believe that this elephant has to have been cursed… ” tanang’a negol “ …to die in a hidden place…Why?? I can’t understand as my experience with these people is they hate to see suffering, but they say maybe some body in a family was hurt by an Elephant, and they must pay… I must mind my P’s and Q’s!!! ….

I apologise for so many photos not coming up on my blogs… I am trying…

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Category: De-brazza Monkeys, Eco-tourism, Livestock, Matthews range, Water holes, elephants | Date: Jul 08 2009 | By: milgistrust

Why?…. I suppose its because there are more people on the world??….. IE More trying to live off less… In Northern Kenya we can expect a pretty bad drought every ten years, but its worse each time… And this time its no exception… I’ve just come back from another beautiful safari in the Matthews, we climbed to the top, but we could not avoid seeing the people and animals enduring hard times…. And doing more damage just to stay alive… As in the pictures below…

Two valuable trees cut down for hungry livestock to try to keep them alive… But then what will they eat tomorrow?… We have so much work to do on this issue..

During our safari we saw plenty of Elephants, but every time one could not but think … Where is the nearest water?, for this beautiful herd of Elephants… Most of the wells we came across are over 20 feet deep, not even a chance for them, but we found flowing mountain water, thanks to the beautiful forest above on the slopes of the Matthews range, in the Ngare Narok Lugga, where the De Brazza monkeys frequent.. Indeed two herds of Elephants came into drink, at the same time, just behind our camp, plenty of trumpeting went on, which made our little camp with the camels all hobbled abit restless!!..

Huge tree in the Matthews range… Strangler fig, growing up a Newtonia..

Below is a positive note from a geologist who comes out to Kenya a lot… and he seems to be giving us some bright news!

Lets look at the forecasts at the Climate Prediction Centre and the
International Research Institute for Climate and Society. We are
currently moving into an El Nino year, slightly anomalous sea-surface
temperatures in the W Pacific, the El Nino/Southern Oscillation is
coupled with the Indian Ocean Dipole that influences E African
rainfall. They are not yet sure about the strength of the El Nino if
it comes later this year. El Nino means more intense short (oct-nov)
rains for most parts of E Africa. The prediction maps do not show any
difference in the rains from other years except for Oct-November where
there is a 40% probability of heavier rains in this time of the year.
Well, get an umbrella soon!!!

Our Milgis Trust website has been updated, If any of you have got time to read whats going on, it out lines all our plans and goals…

Finally a little note on how Pete is doing!! Hes walking!!… But the Doctor is still working on getting all the dead tissue, killed by the Snakes poison, out of his foot… What a palaver… but hes in good spirits, and looking forward to getting back to the bush…

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