The Milgis Trust

Category: Conservation Awareness, Forest Fires, Grevy's Zebra, Lions, Livestock, Mt Nyiru, Overgrazing, Samburu, elephants | Date: Dec 21 2008 | By: milgistrust

Before I start!… News on the cheetah cub is good, getting better… very playful…no more fits!!

This is written by the manager of the Milgis Trust… I like his traditional way of thinking… it may be quite long… but its interesting!!

Lately there has been a real increase in elephant’s movement to the north. For the first time in almost 30 years elephants visited Mpatpat area in the northern side of the Ndoto mountains, also keleswa to the west of the ndotos and are now permanently in Seren, Kasipo and Ura areas of the ndotos. A single elephant track was seen in the aparen area in the desert. He, the elders in the area said followed an old elephant route. This elephant could be a surveyor and could soon be leading others to this area. The north is now a strategically important region for the elephants as with the human population pressure and many fences being erected throughout Laikipia, the Elephants are beginning to feel safe in the north and are starting to “spread their wings”

It is because of this situation that our focus is on the north and a team of 9 scouts and the manager went for a 5 days awareness creation in the Ldonyo Mara area. The awareness involved community meetings, video shows and slides shows. The team conducted awareness in Tunguu, Arge, Kurungu, and Gorle and many informal stop overs in Keleswa, South Horr, Ngilai and Barsaloi.

All meetings started with a short traditional blessing, recited by one of the elders. The manager then introduced the Milgis team and the purpose of the meetings and started by telling the communities about the work Milgis Trust does, explaining why the conservation work is so important, and the communities that are trying will benefit from education, medical and water projects… The manager stressed that all these benefits are coming to the community because of wild animals. He then invited each of the scouts to talk about the animal he is named after. The approach is to talk about the animal, what it is like, and its importance in the Samburu community and its role in natural environment.

Elephants. Samburu.. Ltome . scouts name…Lentukunye.

He mentioned that elephants are the biggest land mammal. They can be friendly and will co-exist with human beings if not disturbed. He said they used to be almost everywhere within Samburu but were killed for ivory by the shiftas and the Lkishili generation of the Samburu, elders concurred on this and even pointed at places where some elephants were killed just near some of the meeting venues. He pointed out how important it is now to “welcome” them back in these areas.. They are under pressure in the south and they are starting to look for places where they can be safe, probing old routes and our predictions are that very soon they will be here in ldonyo mara, and Mt Nyiru.. We are here to announce their return so that you are prepared for them. He cautioned them that when the elephants return, please do not shout or shoot at them this makes them wild.. We have had reports from Ura that elephants are destroying trees. Of course they are a big animal and need food so they will break trees… thats their food…, but if they are not scared they do less damage…

Importance to the community; the manger asked the community what they know as the importance of elephants to their culture and the following were mentioned.

• When a Samburu marries the first fire is lite using elephant dung.
• Some families can not conduct circumcision ceremonies without a piece of ivory
• Elephants are useful in opening up routes in bushy areas
• Creation of water pans
• Seeds dispersal….

Lion, Lng’atuny—-Lolokuria

The lion is the king!! Please respect him!!…. Although we know the lion kills our livestock we need to take care of them, we must conserve wild animals so that the lion can find food in the bush. If you take your livestock into the bush, and you see predator tracks, or the birds warn you, then you are the one that needs to take precaution.. We need to avoid giving our livestock to very young children to look after, and at night we need to make proper fences around our homes to prevent them from getting in.

There used to be many lions in the old days but now there is serious reduction due to introduction of poisons, said an elder; though we use to kill lions with spears the impact was not as serious as the use of poison. We should stop using poison and report any person who uses it.

Importance to the community; one elder said though the lion is a killer to our livestock it is very important in our culture as follows

• No ritual can be conducted without a lion’s skin, be it marriage, or circumcision.
• If lions were not there wild animals would be too many and we would not get enough grass for our livestock.

Wild pig ,Lguiya…..Letura

The wild pig is similar to the warthog but according to the Samburu it is blessed, because of its colouring. This animal did not exist in many places but has been on the increase in the recent years and is now found in many places. There is no serious threat to him as the Samburu do not eat its meat. However destroying its habitat is a problem for any wild animal..

Importance to the community;

• The wild pig skin is used to make colours for cow’s bells.
• Its teeth are used as totems for certain families.

Grevys Zebra…Loibor kurum..Lenegwesi

This is one of the most endangered animals. Though the Samburu do not eat it’s meat loss or competition for essential resource is causing the deaths. This wild ass is endemic to the northern part of the country and the Samburu should be happy and feel lucky to have them within their area. The elders pointed out that they still have a lot of the grevys in the desert but they said the problem is water shortage.

Importance to the community;

• Early warning system. When the nomads do not see grevys where they are usually found they know something is not normal, either enemies or predators are there.
• Zebra hide is used as medicine for a certain cow disease caused by rats.

Gerenuk, Riko …..Lemagas

This is also a rare species. He asked how many people have never seen a gerenuk, the response was that all have seen but immediately said nowadays not so often. They said after the recruitment of a scout in the area there has been an increase and two months ago they came to feed on acacia pods near the villages. He said when he was young the elders use to say a prayer to NGAI that the herders, and travellers would stumble over an animal that has been killed by a predators. He says these days this is rare, and we must reverse this… He told them that should the gerenuk be extinct predators will be coming after the livestock.

• It is believed that if you keep a gerenuk with your goats you will become very wealthy.

The manager talked on general conservation in the area and asked the community to be serious on conservation as they are very lucky, they still have what the rest of the world does not have. They need to take conservation very seriously because the human population is increasing and very soon there will be no enough space to keep livestock in large numbers. He asked them to revert to their culture which was very rich in conservation education. Traditionally the Samburu have systems that ensure ecosystem balance. The Samburu have put in place taboos that prohibit the killing or eating of meat from certain wild animals and even cutting of certain trees. The elders in the meeting gave the following feed back on these taboos

Traditional conservation mechanisms of the Samburu

The Samburu community prohibits the killing and eating of meat from the following animals;

• All grey looking animals, donkeys, lesser kudu, wild pigs, elephants, rhinos, dikdik, hare, klipspringer, female ostrich
• All black animals and birds, male ostrich, wild dogs, crows,
• All gazelles with black patches on the sides, Thomson gazelles,
• It is a taboo for grown ups to kill a young animal that is still dependant on the parents or to kill a lactating animal. Usually young boys are allowed to kill them because it is known that they rarely succeed.

The manager cautioned that this culture is slowly eroding and is part of the cause for the disappearance of wild animals in the area.

He then browsed through the following areas which he said will be part of the video and slides shows.

Erosion…… Pastoralists are entirely dependant on the environment for survival. The livestock that they depend on for food entirely depend on the environment. Conserving the environment for the pastoralists is conserving their life. Destroying the vegetation is the major cause of soil erosion. Vegetation is destroyed in the following ways

• Over grazing…keeping too many livestock
• Careless cutting of trees— for fencing, for fodder
• Forest fires
• Human settlement-clearing land for farming.

Traditionally it is a taboo to completely cut or fell a tree, “in the old days if by mistake one cuts all branches of a tree a goat is slaughtered and fat is poured round that tree trunk”, said an elder. This culture is disappearing as sights of huge trees cut down are all over. It is important that we encourage these positive cultural practises. The main reason given for the destruction of the environment is livestock survival, the manager urged the community to start thinking of keep fewer livestock that have better value in terms of milk production and meat so that they can fetch better returns. He showed the community clips showing the effects of soil erosion in many parts of the district and warned that if they don’t take care their area will soon be affected too.

Fires…. The manager also talked about forest burning and the dangers that it causes to human survival. He gave examples of many places that used to have flowing rivers and now among the driest areas in the district. The elders gave further places and one elder of the Nkimaniki age group said when they were youths, about 1950s there was plenty of water everywhere unlike this days. The manager stressed that the main cause of water shortage is destruction of the catchments areas in the mountains especially by fires. He showed clips of fires destruction in the milgis lugga.

Human wildlife conflict……. In many incidents conflicts with predators is caused by human negligence or carelessness. Some of the circumstances that can lead to conflict are as follows;

• Poor/improper fencing
• Not taking precautions with livestock in dangerous places
• Using young children to look after livestock
• Leaving livestock to stray.

We desire to see a community that grazes their livestock with the wildlife together. In this way the community will start to benefit from both the livestock and the wildlife. The moment we start benefiting from wildlife then we will start to love them.

Conclusion…. The general feeling of the community was very positive and awareness on conservation is low but with very high expectations on immediate benefits of conservation. The leaders in the area were positive and already involved in the conservation effort through Lonjorin conservation group, which is in the early stages of forming a conservancy.

Our patrol trip to the sitan area of the desert was very good and there were many tracks of gazelles and grevy zebra in the lower muran area. This area needs another trip in the future especially Lonjorin area.

2 responses so far

Category: Conservation Awareness, Eco-tourism, Education, Health, Lions, Livestock, Mt Kulal, Mt Nyiru, elephants | Date: Nov 19 2008 | By: milgistrust

As I’ve said before… Nomadic communities, to put up with living with wildlife has it trials and tribulations… There are numerous reports from the scouts of predators of all kinds killing the peoples goats, cows, and camels… Elephants break their wells, that have taken them hours to dig, they tear down trees, when we are telling every one not to cut them!!…etc… All those ” bad ” things that wild animals do!!!… So people need to see benefits, or they will not see the point in looking after them… We do camel safaris through out this area, and we pay camping and conservation fees to the communities, and lots of people get employment, but we are not big enough for every one to benefit…Other wise there is very little tourism in the area… Its maybe too remote…[suits me!] Anyway the Milgis Trust has many other projects… Schools, employing teachers, water development, we help with many health problems… It all seems to be happening at the moment…

The SOLAR PANELS ARE IN FINALLY!!…Justus O, Karen B, Nora L, Robert S, and Charlotte B…Thank you all of you from all the Elders, Women and Milgis Pre-School Students from Ilgwe Eldome for giving them water again… Nobody in this wild area ever in their wildest dreams thought that somebody could cut the frame and get away with 4 big solar panels… Although there was somebody looking after them he wasn’t too serious, they had no idea they were so valuable… To them they look like a piece of magic glass, that takes water out of a well and pumps it 4 kms up a hill… !! We are sure it must have been some visiting tradesmen who took them…This issue became a huge problem in the community… When Diane Terry from Private Journeys, came on safari in July they could not stand it either and pledged the money!! Thanks so much…But what a palaver getting them up there in their metal cast so that nobody can steal them again….. So we do apologise that it has taken so long…. The elders waited all day, while they were being installed so that they could put a spell on the panels, in there own way…We now have two serious watchmen!!…

The elders came to say a special prayer to stop the solar panels from ever being stolen again…

We are building TWO new class rooms, one in Latakwen, and one at the Milgis School… Plus a store for the MS and we have fenced the school, with live comifera trees…65 Women did it in one day… All thanks to TOTO TRUST UK….

This week the water will be in Latakwen…Thanks to the VOSS foundation… The community are digging the one and a half km trench from the well to the town, schools and dispensary… All residents of the area have been given there quota of digging… great team spirit… I don’t dare try to put more photos on this page…

Three children were picked up by aircraft yesterday!!… thanks to East African Air Charters, and MEAK [ Medical and Educational Aid] and taken to Nairobi… Two with heart problems, and the other was the girl who was shot through her mouth… Dee Belliere of MEAK has decided that she needed further care and took her to the amazing Bethany children’s hospital in Kijabe for further treatment… Today she is undergoing a big operation.. Thanks to all…

Lastly… But very important for Milgis every day operations..VHF BASE RADIO moves to a higher hill for better communications…We are moving the radio room to a hill that is almost 1000 feet higher than Elkanto, just across the Parsaloi Lugga…. We need better communications to our VHF Radios to the North, and the radio will be on all day and all night…All the materials are being carried up with manpower!, or camels if they can, fit them on… Water and food will be delivered once a week by camel… Thank you Shikar Safari Club Foundation..for helping.. especially in our endeavour to see the Elephants safely home to the Northern mountains…

Tyeing the makuti [ palm thatch] on the New radio house on Orok Onyuki hill…The North end of the Ndoto mountains in the distance…The view from this hill is fabulous… I want to be the radio operator!!….

One response so far

Category: Conservation Awareness, Errosion, Forest Fires, Grevy's Zebra, Mt Nyiru, Northern Frontier District, Overgrazing, elephants | Date: Nov 18 2008 | By: milgistrust

Every things happening up in the Milgis this month!! Usually a quiet sort of place…except when the wind blows!…

2 weeks ago, ‘The Landrover’ left for the Milgis Lugga, from our workshops at Naro Moru… We were very kindly given this series 2 landrover by Marika Beckman, who came on a camel safari in March..She decided this was the place for this beautiful old car to spend her last days… We picked her up in April, she was a wreck as she had done many Rhino Charges with Donna Hurt!!.. But after a thorough going over, in the workshop, and a paint job, shes out in the bush again… What a lovely vehicle, just so quiet compared to these modern cars and yet so much power.. She cruises up Elkanto hill in second gear!!..

We want to find out more of the probably 40 year history of this car, I’m sure its interesting!..But what we know is its already done alot for CONSERVATION!!… Immediately the land rover got to the Milgis, we organised an awareness campaign up in the north…Ten scouts went ahead by foot to gather every one for meetings, all round Mt Nyiru, and Ol Donyo Mara.. The manager and some of our “clever talking” scouts from the Matthews area, have gone to meet up them, so as to inform the communities about the inevitable return of the Elephants, what its like to live with them, and please to welcome them home… They also have lots more to tell the communities…. water for the wildlife, erosion issues, the result of too much stock, tree cutting, the value of wildlife, especially the Grevy zebra and how rare they are, ideas of how to protect there bomas [ thorn enclosure] against predators, killing the predator is not the answer!! Of course one one of the major topics is the burning of the forests…He has a small inverter, which will work off the Land rover battery and he has many pictures on his computer to show them …and a small film on how to live with predators..

Last but NOT least… Andrew thank you for your donation….Its greatly appreciated….Lots more news tomorrow

2 responses so far

Category: Conservation Awareness, Education, Errosion, Grevy's Zebra, Livestock, Northern Frontier District, Overgrazing, Rendille, Samburu, Turkana, Water holes, elephants | Date: Nov 11 2008 | By: milgistrust

A REQUEST FOR

FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR A WILDLIFE WATER DEVELOPMENT PROJECT….

Project description

Following efforts from the scouts and the entire community within the Milgis ecosystem, we have observed a significant and rapid change in the behaviour and distribution of wildlife populations over the last few years. Overall, both wildlife and local communities appear to have become more relaxed and wildlife, especially elephants have been opening up old movement routes into the Matthews-Ndoto Ranges which they used historically. This has benefited local communities living near the mountains, providing them and their livestock access along these new elephant routes to areas in the mountains. Also the elephants are now feeling safe enough to probe the areas north of the Ndoto mountains, in the hope to go back to mounts Nyiru and Kulal.. where they were almost completely wiped out of during the tragic poaching of the 1970s and 80s..Those that were lucky enough to escape south, are the ones probing to go back… What they don’t know is that things have changed and human populations have increased dramatically, and the water sources are not where they were when they had to run for their lives…

As a result of the increasing presence and movement of wildlife under the protection of the community scouts within the area, the opportunity for conflict with people and livestock over water and pasture during the dry season presents itself. Conservation efforts now have to strike a critical balance: Wildlife and habitat conservation needs to be clearly understood, and the benefits need to be recognised.by the communities.. Our conservation efforts need now to be even more vigilant as a result of our success, which leads to an increase in demand for resources. One of the major sources of conflict in northern Kenya is over water, the resource is scarce in this region and the little that exists is needed by all.

In the northern frontier district, there are huge tracts of land that are unoccupied because of lack of water. Opening up such areas would ease the population in those currently occupied as the wildlife and even nomads would spread out and reduce the damage to the environment that is caused by over crowding. This will also ease over stretching of the available resources. Opportunities for accessing water to the communities living in the drier parts are enormous, there are numerous pans and dams that are no good, because of silting, while there are plenty of dry streams where flood waters during the rainy season can be harvested by developing new dams or Haffir tanks.

We are therefore requesting for support… A water project that will involve accessing water to communities and wildlife in northern Kenya… Some wildlife species like the Grevys’ zebra that are endemic to this region, are threatened by lack of water. The Trust will continue its security and monitoring operations which have been responsible for the encouraging change in the behaviour and distribution of wildlife in this region and in gradually building positive attitudes towards wildlife. This stability provides the platform from which the Trust can implement its other conservation activities which will ensure that for wildlife and natural resource protection to be sustainable there needs to be real development opportunities made available.This includes education, security, health care, livestock marketing and water development.

The specific objectives of this project are; De-silting pans and dams that are dry, and opening up new dams in arid areas. Creating water resource conservation, use and management awareness among the communities…

Benefits…

• Mitigating human wildlife conflict within the Milgis Trust area

  The Trust is dedicated to conserving the environment and wildlife in the long-term through the provision of real economic benefits to the communities…, To this end, the Trust is taking steps to make water accessible to the people to try and reduce situations that cause conflict with wildlife. By making water available to both the nomads and wildlife, opportunities for conflict will be reduced, and the communities will start to see wildlife as bringing benefits to them. This will strengthen our conservation efforts and the people will start to be more accommodating to the wildlife..

• Easing the elephants water problems, as the Umbrella species for all wildlife..

  ‘The Elephant’ is under pressure from fences and human populations to the south, so they are probing routes to go to places with less pressure.. The presence and movement of elephants within the area naturally increases the opportunity for conflict between people and livestock over water during the dry season..

• Especially easing the endangered Grevy Zebras plight of travelling huge distances to water …
• Accessing to water to communities, and solving overgrazing, and erosion …

  Through the Milgis Trust community scouts and the Manager, continued awareness creation on the importance of conserving the available water and other resources in sustaining human livelihoods is undertaken. Meetings are arranged… discussions take place on local conservation concerns with particular focus on water resource use issues especially during the dry season. The communities will be trained on catchments area protection, the relationship between the environmental destruction and water shortage among other conservation issues.

  Methods:

The Milgis Trust would do this by purchasing equipment to undertake this activity. Purchasing our own equipment will ensure sustainability of this project.

Project Impact:

As an established field presence, the Milgis Trust scouts have made a significant impact on improving security for wildlife and natural resources within the Milgis Ecosystem, in the three year time frame they have been operating… The role of the scouts has therefore been instrumental in maintaining the momentum of conservation and awareness activities across the region. Once this program is under way the following benefits are anticipated;

ü Reduced erosion due to congestion in areas where water is available, once water is made available to other areas the community will spread out.

ü Reduced human wildlife conflict over water resource use.

ü Improved human wildlife relationship and co-existence.

BELOW IS THE FINANCIAL NEEDS….

Tractor, ripper and Dam Scoop, and Back up pickup…

1 x SAME LASER TRACTOR 125 4wd ..

1 x 3.5 cubic meter Dam Scoop

1 x Ripper

offer 7 free services to our customers however depending on where this tractor will be located we will negotiate what we are willing to do for you as soon as we have further details.

Training: We offer full operator training for your operators and service maintenance training for your mechanics. The training is offered free of charge with only incidental costs of transport, food and accommodation etc being charged.

1 x 4wd pickup backup vehicle..

Extras… camping equipment…

Total costs to set up the Dam unit… …………………………………………….aprox Ksh 10,750,000/-

aprox….. US $ 150,000.

Operating costs per month… Fuel, maintenance, wages, and food… aprox Ksh 200,000/-

per year x 12 = Ksh 2,400000/= US $ 32000.

I am putting this on the Blog, because especially after this last drought, we have decided this is one way we can hopefully ease many of the problems… I am not expecting just any one to come up with this sort of cash!, but if anyone knows of any organisation that may beable to help…We really want to get this project going…As a independent mobile unit… Run By Pete Ilsley.. a Milgis Trust Trustee….

One response so far

Category: Forest Fires, Greater Kudu, Grevy's Zebra, Lesser Kudu, Livestock, Ndoto Mountains, elephants | Date: Nov 01 2008 | By: milgistrust

Sitting at Elkanto, Milgis base, with all all the trees in leaf, grass growing all round me!…AND looking out on to our 360 degrees view, to see greenery every where, wet Luggas.. It seems almost impossible to think that two weeks ago it was so dry, you looked out onto a brown horizon, dust, wind.. Now you can hardly see out, the trees have all thrown out long branches, the growth is extraordinary… … SO amazing!!

At the scouts meeting, every one talked about, how bad things had got in the drought, and the wildlife’s battle to get to water… Especially the elephants who are just innocently trying to get a drink but are described as these ‘giant dragons’, doing something wrong??..Again many of them pointing out the Grevys plight of searching for water…also alot of them looking thin…Also reports of ..Animals dieing… Beautiful old greater kudu male just couldn’t make it, many warthogs, all over, some falling into deep holes trying get at water. More lesser Kudu deaths reported, after the rain? Also interesting enough the samburu and Rendille lost alot of goats and sheep, before the rain came and after… The issue of over stocking has has come to light in a big way… Every one talked about how desperate these fires have been, and what can we do about this…[Will write more in my next blog..] Several reports of Grevys limping…Any one got any ideas of what could be affecting their feet… Looking more closely it seems that they have a swelling around the hoofs..especially at the back.. Another report of an Impala, that has moved in with a group of female gerenuks! Two reports of hyenas killing alot of goats, in two different bomas/manyattas.. It seems we need to help them improve the fences, even try and push live fences… [using cuttings from comifera trees, is very affective].. Another report of a bush pig, that has killed many cows.. but this is not new news, this pig is has a fetish for cows!!

The distressing news, and this was coming from the scout!! There are several projects in the area, where water is being piped out of the mountains down to places that people and there stock can get to easily… Yes.. its true… In stead of checking out the reason for the stem or lack in water flow, they just go above and bring the water down in a pipe… Can you imagine what this is doing to the environment..Its happening and its shocking.. The latest one being in Arsim, east of the Ndotos… a place the wildlife, used to beable to get at the water, now it has been dammed, and piped down to a tank… All the scout from that area were distressed with these latest developments…

One response so far

Category: Livestock, Milgis lugga, elephants | Date: Oct 30 2008 | By: milgistrust

This morning I could see Mount Kenya from the Milgis, Crystal clear,110 nautical miles away!!. What a pleasure..Its a good sign, it means the rains are still around even though there is a lull at the moment… Quite lucky for me as yesterday one of my camels sunk into the sand in the Parsaloi Lugga, up to his neck!!…Lucky it was a camel!,[not an elephant] and luckily theres a scouts meeting this weekend, so we had plenty of people to help…!!..It took a team of 19 men about 4 hours of hard digging to get him out… What happens is when the Luggas, come down in full flood, after a few days, the surface water is no more but you have water, flowing under the sand..Then you have areas where water is stagnant in pools, that when you had the flood, the water had been swirling, some how you get pockets of air trapped under the sand, and when some unsuspecting animal comes down to drink, it sinks straight in up to his neck, the air bubbles out and the sand ‘grabs’ round the animals legs and it can’t move…When you try to dig them out, the water makes it all most impossible to dig the 5/6 feet so that the camel can move… Its an unbelievable situation…A camel is so tall, and at the end of those long legs is a big foot, so adding to the problem… What amazes me, is that elephants, do not seem to get them selves into these situations… Can they feel that there is a problem ahead… Probably!!.. Many years ago on Manda Island an Elephant had managed to get him self on the wrong side of an underground water tank, something panicked it, and he wanted to run across the tank to get away, luckily he felt it was there, slammed on the brakes just before, [ it left good skid marks] and went back the way he had come from, which was quite complicated, as he had been browsing, not really concentrating in amongst the houses, and now he was in a hurry!!..

3 responses so far

Category: elephants | Date: Oct 27 2008 | By: milgistrust

After the rescue of Lesanju in October 2006 and the terrible things that the Samburu children did to her ears, ‘The Milgis Trust’ decided to name each scout after an animal… so that they could learn all about their respective animal, and then on their travels throughout, while on patrol, to teach every one that they meet, and any one that would listen, especially at all the schools, more about the animals… The reason why is these children cut her ears, was to mark her, when they saw her further down in life..They would recognise her… Little did they know that after she had been given cows milk, and that treatment to her ears, she did not have many hours to live… BUT thanks once again to DSWT , after a big battle, she lived… Her ear was so infected, and parts of it kept on dieing, and of course the stomach problems… But heres a picture of her below!!!

.. Lesanju two years after her rescue from the Milgis… Note how damaged her ear is…remember the elephant need their ears for cooling…

On the 12 September, when Lentokunye, ‘our elephant’ heard that there was a baby elephant in trouble, he ran many miles to take charge of the situation… No cows milk allowed, don’t do any thing until I get there… He fell in love with this little elephant, he tried to sleep with him under the same blanket!, but he would not keep still!, so they spent the night wondering around together…He was heart broken when the helicopter arrived to take him away… Little parsaloi died of pneumonia, on the 21st October.. He was just over two month old… Its taken me until today to get used to the idea… And I will be seeing Lentokunye, on the 29th… I know he will cry… Its not much that will bring tears to a Samburus eye, but having worked with this incredibly dedicated man… I know he’s going to take this to be VERY, VERY sad news…

Once again I apologise for the lack of pictures… I try and try, and only half of them go… lets hope this one shows up…

5 responses so far

Category: Milgis lugga, elephants | Date: Oct 17 2008 | By: milgistrust

Chuck Lathrop, from the U.S. came back to the Milgis in Febuary 07, this time not to hunt, but to go on a camel safari, and to remember those fun days back in the 60s.. He immediately noticed what had changed, and picked up on what The Milgis Trust was trying to do… He was determined that he wanted to see Shikar Safari club International Foundation [ SSCIF] support the trusts work and of course the area… After a great safari walking through his old haunts, he returned home with a mission… The first barrier he came across was that some of the members of SSCIF did not like the idea of supporting a project in a country that did not allow hunting… But Chuck and others persevered, with abit of encouragement from me with a letter in which I said… ‘Considering this area was a favourite hunting ground, and many a hunter had wonderful times here, and went home with very good trophies.. It would be fabulous if the foundation would consider supporting our project.. It would mean alot to me’… And they did….Huge financial support for 3 years.. We are eternally gratefull… First and foremost was to increase our scouts from 14 to 24, so as to beable to cover some of the areas further north, in preparation for the Elephants return.[ explained below] also..Milgis Trust goals… 7/6/08.. Secondly to move the radio room to higher ground, so as to get better coverage… It has helped our work immensely…Having the ten extra scouts gave us a real boost..All the scouts report in to base 3 times a day, with any interesting reports, animals seen, any wounded animals, or problems.. and generally give news of their area, and attend any meetings, to spread the word, go to schools to give talks…Check on fires, catch the perpetrators, bring them to the elders, follow up on trees cut down, teach people how to prune.. and so on.. All this is reported at the base… and recorded..

Why is the return of the Elephant important in the north… First after the complete destruction of the elephant population north of the Milgis see my blog over 100 years… and a short history… We never want that to happen again.. And its wonderful to know that there are still elephants that remember these areas, and want to go back… Our job is to give them safe passage and welcome them home!!… Also pressures from Laikipia area, and south, on the Elephants is growing every day… The human population increasing every day…Fences are being erected through out, and the elephant needs space… Not boundaries… Actually if you think of it theres not many places that can offer what we can offer them… This is why I feel chuck felt very strongly about supporting us!! Thanks once again to Chuck, and all the members of the SSCI…

One response so far

Category: Milgis lugga, elephants | Date: Oct 13 2008 | By: milgistrust

Just to let you all know that the elephant that was dragged out of the waterhole [ Blog 6.10.08 ] has been seen twice since by Lesambaua..It is back with his herd and relaxed…

The news this morning is wonderful.. The whole region has had a good dowsing of rain… This is such a relief as the rain on the 5th October did not continue, and this is when we started seeing all these fires… The worst one was in the Ndoto Mountains… Over a hundred acres of bush and forest was burn’t… The biggest worry being that the fire followed up one of the luggas that houses the few De-Brazza monkeys that live in these steep mountains… Seems that the fire was started by a hunter gatherer extracting honey, and he probably left the fire burning… Our scouts are following up on this..

A Grevey Zebra, fell into a water hole in the Guasi Lugga, and sadly before the scouts were able to rescue it, a big flood came down, and it drowned…..There are two reports this morning of grevey Zebras limping, one in the Sulabei area, west of the Suiyan… Two Milgis scouts have gone with two Ambassadors from the Grevey Zebra Trust to see why.. The other in Chagwai… It is in a herd of seven, and is not letting any one near it… At least it can move fast!

News from the lower Milgis [Elgerei] is that four lesser Kudu have been found dead… This is the area that had good rains on the 4th October [ blog 5.10.08].. There has been a virus killing goats in the area, so sadly I think this is hitting the Kudu… What a shame as the beautiful lesser kudu has made an incredible come back in the last few years…

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Category: Milgis lugga, Samburu, elephants | Date: Oct 08 2008 | By: milgistrust

Some of the comments we receive when ever we find an elephant in a well gives me a thought that people don’t quite understand what the situation is like…?? Its quite tough, and we are trying, on limited recourses…This area is vast… When it gets very dry the only water available is down below the sand or rocks in the dry river beds… We have come across wells as deep as 30 feet..This is pretty hard work for these nomadic people just to keep them selves and their stock alive… You can imagine how they feel when they find an Elephant has broken their well, or fallen into it after they have spent many hours digging… Our scouts are trying to keep as many of the wells already broken open so that the eleys can get in and out easily and drink.. But you can’t tell the Eleys these are the ones to use!!… At one time we tried to cut thorn branches to protect the good wells, but then you end up cutting all the trees down in the vicinity of the wells… Remember a flood can come down at any time and ruin all the wells and take the thorn branches away.. So then you have to cut more!.. With over grazing becoming more and more of a serious problem, the initial flood waters are very muddy, to a point that it becomes dangerous.. The mud becomes really thick, in fact thats how the little wart hog got stuck…When this muddy water comes down it fills these hundreds of wells, and every one has to start again…These wells are very dangerous at this stage because you can not see that there used to be a well and you can sink into them… What we really need is a huge amount of rain, that will bring good clean water down, wash every thing clean… Then every one will be happy! We had that initial rain but it seems to have disappeared.. What a shame..I hope this makes you realise the luxury of turning on the tap at home… But at least these Samburu don’t have to worry about traffic jams!!!

Below was a note from the David Sheldrick wildlife trust…on the story of the last elephant/well.. Which I felt was quite fitting! Daphne has been sent a beautiful walking stick by Lesanjus rescuer!..When he went to visit Lesanju, he was touched by the care and love that the DSWT give to the Elephants…

Great Story Helen. Well done to all concerned, and it is so heartwarming to
know that so many people care enough to make such an effort for one
elephant - this sort of thing would never have happened in the past so it
just shows how much these grass roots initiatives help for the future of
elephants in Kenya. Daphne will be so chuffed with her walking stick - and
when in Tsavo going on walks up the Galana with rocks and sand she does use
a stick so it will come into good use.

I think I may have made a mistake as I named your little elephant Barseloi
not Parsaloi! Anyway too late now, but the good news is he is doing really
well - loves the others, very vocal and active and is really happy.

Thanks for all the support Helen.

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