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: Forest, Livestock, Matthews range, Samburu | Date: Dec 05 2008 | By: milgistrust

The amount of time I’ve spent on my computer, due to this forest destruction in the beautiful Matthews forest, is ridiculous and sometimes one thinks… Its just a drop in the ocean, compared to some of the things that are happening.. But then I don’t sleep, thinking about it.. WHAT FOR?? WHY CUT THESE TREES?..Then who is this person who cut the trees, the university advisers, the person who gave out the permits, probably people who’ve never been to the northern mountains..which incredibly have managed to keep out of the charcoal problems, and logging..The main damage to these forests is fires, of which we’ve battled with, as you know, with very little support..Also when it is very dry, and there is trouble in the west with the Turkana, the nomads tend go up into the forests, and unfortunately, if there is no grass, tend to cut trees down to save there cows from starvation… But they do not win quite often, and when the rains come its quite often a disaster for the cow population… I know that Kenya has recently had a change in the forestry department, and we all hope its a good thing, but this permit being issued has really shocked us.. Any way… see below the MT manager, says he’s not going to be maligned.. He saw for himself and he did-not like what he saw…

Response from the Milgis Trust Manager…to comments made by Luca about his report!!

Luca…It is clear that you have done some damage to the forest, and you are now trying to reduce the magnitude of this destruction…

1. Plots size. I am certainly not the only one that came up with 50/60 meters diameter…To the best of my knowledge… Even the MP counted 50 steps to measure the size of the plots that were cut, and others that came in from Wamba.. I counted 56 long steps in one cut plot and 60 in one not cut but marked with tapes.But because of the damage to the trees around the plots, I felt that 60 is fair to say… Leadekei from KWS also visited the area and could also be asked to give his measurement. I think the photos show even that the areas are bigger that 24 m. diameter… Is this really the issue??.. What ever the size its not ‘on’, in this day and age….

2. Over 80% of the kitich forest is Lmargueet and destroying it alone is no excuse. Cutting indigenous forest is damage no matter what tree it is. .Every tree that was growing in those plots, was cut down, what ever kind of tree.. Luca should realise that all the cut trees are lying dead in the forest and should evidence be needed it is all there. Everybody who went there knows this.

3. In my opinion what luca says is his purpose of research does not match the activities of his research?. What does nomads way of life have to do with felling trees with power saws?. How does pollination or seeds dispersal relate to clearing of gaps in the forest?. Where will the birds he mentions in his notes live, if the trees are cut down…

4. To who did luca pay the research fees to and for what purpose and why after the community had chased him away?…. Luca you should be honest. You only came to the open and to get papers signed by the community after you were chased away, why didn’t you speak to the community before you started cutting trees down..

My comment today is… Luca you have replied to Anna, and told her that ‘remember people living in Northern Kenya are very poor’…Sorry but certainly the people living around the Matthews are not poor, compared to many many other areas in Africa, but they will be poor if their water flow, from the Matthews stops due to forest destruction..Also there are very few people living in these mountains permanently, so who are you going to evict… Yes the population increase in the world generally, is posing a threat to all mountains, and this is a very serious worry..

One more thing…If you have nothing to hide… Many people have asked me this same thing…Who were the other people involved, helping you cut the trees, and the way all the trunks have been cut into neat sized logs, and numbered.. What were you going to do with them… Finally please explain.. TO US ALL… IN AS SHORT AS YOU LIKE… WHY YOU CUT THESE GAPS IN THE FOREST… WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NEXT, IN THESE GAPS…BECAUSE SO FAR WE DON’T UNDERSTAND…

4 responses so far

Category: Samburu | Date: Nov 24 2008 | By: milgistrust

An extraordinary sound to wake up to yesterday morning towards the east… A rumbling in the distance.. I asked a Samburu what it could possibly be? He Said .. yes he heard it and confirmed that it was the Vultures on Moile Rock “shaking their wings”.. Moile rock is probably about 100kms away towards the Kaisut Desert!!.. “Its probably going to rain again”…He said… We climbed up to the new radio hill, from which you can see for miles…there wasn’t a cloud in the sky yesterday! And its funny I heard another Samburu guy tell a man who was not from this area… ” don’t take the tarpaulin off the car, as the rains will be back”… the reply..” Ah the rains are finished”, and the Samburu guy said…” No ‘the star’ has not come up in the sky yet… So keep the tarpaulin on”!..I presume that star must be Mars…..or maybe mercury?? Lets see what happens… By the way there are lots of clouds to day!!

Talking of stars.. don’t forget to keep an eye on Jupiter and Venus in the evening sky… They are again getting very close to each other… Just a wonderful sight!!

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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: Milgis lugga, Northern Frontier District, Samburu | Date: Nov 08 2008 | By: milgistrust

When these big luggas come down in flood, the only way to describe it, is its like a Tsunami, ‘a wall of water’ but at least its got a river bed to follow… BUT it is very exciting to watch…In places these luggas are almost a kilometer wide, imagine the amount of water coming down… The roar is deafening, and quite frightening actually!! What does lugga mean…Its a seasonal river… Actually these big ones never dry up as there is always water flowing under the sand, all you need to do is dig a hole… sometimes quite deep, but then you have as much water as you like… which is why they are vital to the survival of this area… The SEIYA Lugga came down in full flood this morning… It was about 7 am, and I heard a sound like wind…, but the trees weren’t moving! I went out to inspect, and realised it was the lugga coming down… It was about 7 kms away!.. The Seiya is quite famous in Northern Kenya… Its described as the most dangerous lugga in Kenya… The Samburu say that its ‘ eaten ‘ many vehicles, people, livestock… elephants and lions… Vehicles.. because the drivers don’t realise how ‘mean’ it is, especially in the rainy season… they try and cross when the water is low, sink up to their axils in the soft sand, and the next flood takes them away… People… because the Samburu can’t swim, and they try and cross it when its too high! Animals have been known to be taken by surprise, or they too have sunk in the sand like the camel on the 29th oct., in the parsaloi lugga…Thats why I chose to live on a 600 feet hill, when I hear that roar, I’m ok now!!… But…many years ago we used to have our camp in the beautiful acacia tortilis, on the banks of the Seiya, at Sware… We asked the oldest man there if the lugga had ever been that high… not in his life time, he said!.. There was no driftwood signs, so it seemed correct… In 1997, during the el nino rains we joined the people who got ‘ eaten ‘ by that famous lugga…

Funnily enough the meaning of Seiya is so gentle… Its a kind of papyrus, and is very important to the Samburu.. They take the bulbous roots, Seiyai, and make a nice necklace out of them, or include just one in their beads.. and its a permenant perfume… When it heats up it smells of an earthy eucalyptus… It is vitally important to their circumcision ceremonies, and when you are going on a journey you shave a little off your necklace and blow them into the air… Then your safari should go well!!

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Category: Livestock, Northern Frontier District, Samburu, Turkana | Date: Nov 06 2008 | By: milgistrust

Its a lovely thought, that here we are out here in the heart of Samburuland, the Americans have just voted in these historic elections, if you turn on the radio, its the topic to talk about…In fact I’m sure every ones talking about it… And yet these guys are quietly getting on with their lives, talking about the rains, and which Lugga is crossable at the moment, and when will the cows come back home!..The lovely thought also, is one things for sure is they will probably suffer least in the credit crunch!!

This is not a conservation story, but its a story that shows how amazingly positive, and proud these Samburu people are.. A couple of days ago a very nice man, called Lesarge, pitched up to the hill to see me, he had an envelope full of papers to show me… This was the man who’s manyatta had been attacked in April, by Turkana raiders….. He was in fine form telling me of how things were going in the area, that has now moved to… Don’t blame him, because then he went on to tell the story of the night of the attack… He had gone shopping at the little centre called Masiketa, that was about 5 kms away from his home… As he was heading home at about 8 pm, his bag of maize meal, sugar, tea leaves in hand, for his family he heard some shooting in the direction of his manyatta… He hurried along but nothing prepared his mind for what he was going to find…The raiders had aimed all their bullets into his house… The Samburu live in very low temporary houses made of thin sticks tied together with bark, and skins and woven mats that go on the roof… His whole family were inside…His wife with her little tiny baby, 12 year old daughter, and his 5 year old son.. plus 3 warriors… His son was dead, his daughter had had her lower jaw shot off, his wife had been shot through the knee, and 1 warrior had been shot through the calf … And all his camels had been taken… Unbelievable.. A night mare to beat all.. He was happy this day because finally he had managed to get his daughter out of the hospital, in Nairobi…So now all that was left is to pay the bill… He wanted to discuss how ‘ we ‘ could do it… What I can’t understand is why hes got a bill at all.??.. I asked him how the girl is…He said ‘ shes OK, and shes happy to be home.. she can talk, but shes still got many problems with her throat, and she can’t eat of course, the hospital really tried, but they could do no more to help her…They were very kind and caring to my daughter.. They even rallied together, with some Samburu people in Nairobi, to help me pay for the massive bill of Ksh 450,000/- , I only owe Ksh 131000/- now… ONLY!!.. and hes lost all his camels… I asked him if any one had followed up on the camels, and he mentioned that the government had taken alot of camels from other Turkanas, but he could not take them because they were not his, and they were taken off Innocent people… He told me he will build his herd up the Samburu way, he will ask his friends to give generously!!… His only worry is his bill… We decided that each of us would try which ever way we could.. He was going to ask his friends for goats… And I was going to ask my friends for ‘ Goats ‘!!!….

2 responses so far

Category: Samburu, Turkana | Date: Oct 15 2008 | By: milgistrust

Comment from Maina.. wildlife direct..

‘I am very alarmed about the Grevy Zebra poaching. What can be done? How can the rest of the world help? It is quite scary given how rare this equine is. We really have to act fast. Tell readers how they can help’.

Maina, How can the rest of the world help…Stop selling guns and ammunition to Africa!…and send some condoms!! Yes it is scary… I feel the only way forward is dialogue… We have to get the Turkana on board, get the message deep into the tribe, get them to understand the urgency of this problem… The Turkana eat every thing, there is hardly a wild animal living in Turkanaland.. With human populations in the Dry Northern Frontier District still growing, guns all over the place, its hard for any animal to survive… and unfortunately these extremely rare and quite the most beautiful equines, happen to live in quite a turbulent place.. The Samburu are revolted at the thought of eating Zebra, the Turkana eat them for breakfast!… With the Samburu/Turkana fighting ‘talking’ is difficult.. Today on the radio I got a message that Lesuuda, one of our Home Guard scouts, who is one of our bravest, who was on his way to the north of the Ol Donyo Mara hills, again no mans land, to investigate a dramatic report, that over the last few months many Zebras, actually the amount was 28??, had been shot, I hope this is not true.. Lesuuda reported this morning that he was going to abort the trip, because there is alot of panic in the area and people are moving their stock…He doesn’t want to get mixed up in the tribal fighting.. We will find out later…The Grevy’s are abit in the same position as the Gorillas in the Congo..

I will get our manager who has alot of experience with ‘talking’/ getting people together, and is quite respected in the area, to really come up with a plan… KWS have been very quiet… We are reporting incidences every day almost and they do nothing… They are short of money, no fuel, and he rangers are not motivated

.. Typical Grevy zebra country..This picture was taken may 07, North of the Ndoto Mountains… Wish it was as cloudy as that now..!!

2 responses so far

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.

2 responses so far

Category: Samburu, Turkana | Date: Sep 26 2008 | By: milgistrust

Our manager came back with this very bad news today… What we can gather is these Greveys usually live in this area which was ‘no mans land’ after the fighting in June, July, where the Samburu [ who do not eat Zebra] have gone back to lately, with their cattle as this an area that has had a bit of rain, but on the day that they went to water their stock they say the Turkana came in and obviously found this group of 5 Grevey Zebras, and shot at them wildly… One was killed and cooked on the spot, 4 died of their wounds on their way to the Suiyan Lugga.. Two have been eaten by hyena, and two were almost untouched… When they turned them over they found bullet wounds..[ The scout that originally found the dead animals is the man who was shot in the hand on that last raid..15th July, his hand has not recovered yet]…

On the 8th of October we will be having a meeting with the leaders of this area, with K.W.S. and the grevey Zebra trust to try and stop this terrible slaughter… This is truly very sad..

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Category: Samburu | Date: Sep 25 2008 | By: milgistrust

With only about 2000 of these magnificent Zebras left in the world… Three more gone, is disastrous??… Our Manager has rushed off to the scene west of the base to see if there are any clues to what may have killed them…Any ideas! of what to look for?… Could the same virus that is killing the goats be the problem… It is getting dryer and dryer but this morning there are quite a few whirl winds, which is a good sign, its very very hot and the convulvulous are out in flower again!!.. So maybe at the new moon we may be lucky… This morning the women from Ilgwe Eldome came to ask me for help, because their goats are all dying… The goats do look terrible…Virus, burning and over grazing combined with the on going drought is not a great mix.. What can one advise?? I told them that we will have a meeting after our safari and discuss these problems… I told them that us women have got to ‘all pull together’ to make things better……

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