Masai Mara Project Updates and Achievements from Q4 2018 - African Impact

Number of hours spent on project activities 2% 5% 8%

Big Cat Monitoring Game counts 44%

16%

Conservancy work Conservation Education KGS Guide school Data Entry

25%

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Volunteers managed to monitor 3 prides of lions, as well as cheetahs and leopard. There were a total of 76 lion sightings, 21 cheetah sightings and 6 leopard sightings through the quarter (which is amazing as they are such elusive creatures!).

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Lion prides monitored were Sampu Enkare pride, Enesikiria pride and Ilkisiusiu pride. Dongo, Caesar 2, Ron 2 and Blue eyes control the 4 prides in the conservancy.

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Volunteers continued supporting the Mara Predator Conservation Program with their second intensive monitoring activity. This will enable them to estimate spatial trends in population density of cats and find the relative abundance of important variables like prey, livestock and tourism in the conservancy.

□ Lion □ Cheetah□ Leopard sightings October to December in Naboisho conservancy

“I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the conservancy, and the sheer numbers of wildlife we saw. As a big cat lover I was hoping to see 'some lions' but wasn't prepared for the sheer number of sightings of lions and cheetah, including a cheetah hunt and kill.”

Charlotte Holly Gray

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Volunteers conducted grass monitoring surveys to measure the density of grass in different transect. This is very helpful in looking at grass densities in different parts of the conservancy. Current averages show that the grassland is in a normal range.

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Volunteers took part in uprooting the invasive plants in the conservancy. The plant species are harmful to the animals and also inhibits the growth of other plants.

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The majority of elephant sightings consisted of elephant family groups. Volunteers also focused on elephant herd composition, size, ratio of juvenile males/females and would focus on mapping key traversing locations.

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Wildlife counts were done in 8 selected habitats (4 woodland and 4 grassland). This is done to provide wildlife data that could be used to observe general wildlife distribution and trends over time.

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Volunteers spent time preparing and delivering lessons to primary schools. A total of 7 lesson were done. This encourages a passion for wildlife conservation and environmental care consciousness among the students through the use of interactive learning methods and fun activities. This also helps the environmental club students embrace conservation and appreciate nature.

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After their placement on various camps and research projects, 30 students from Koiyaki Guiding School graduated. 10 of them were females, a good progress on the girl child education in the Maasai community.

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During graduation ceremony, volunteers donated two cameras and a flash disk to the school.