SWT/KWS Mobile Veterinary Units Quarterly Report July - September 2021

SWT/KWS MOBILE VETERINARY UNITS TSAVO, MARA, MERU, AMBO MT KENYA, RIFT VALLEY July – September 2021 Report

Introduction

185 Cases

77 Poaching Cases

35 Elephant Cases

20 Predator Cases

20 HWC Cases

71% Success

July – September 2021 Report for Tsavo, Mara, Meru, Amboseli, Mt Kenya and Rift Valley Units The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (SWT), in conjunction with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) how operate six Mobile Veterinary Units in the Tsavo, Mara, Amboseli, Mount Kenya, Meru and Rift Valley Regions. The Rift Valley Unit is the newest Unit, commencing in June 2021 and since inception has attended to 113 cases involving 178 animals; the majority of which were snaring cases. Within the quarter, all six of the SWT/KWS Vet Units attended to a total of 185 wildlife cases.

Of the 185 cases, 77 cases were related to poaching and 20 to human-wildlife conflict. There were 35 elephant cases, 19 of which were related to poaching, including 4 snare, 8 spear, 5 arrow, 1 bullet wound and an elephant post-mortem where the findings revealed poaching as the most likely cause of death. In addition, 2 hyenas, 1 leopard, 4 giraffe, 7 buffalo, 40 plains game and 1 ostrich were also snared. A zebra and a giraffe were victims of arrow wounds and another zebra suffered a spear injury.

Nine lion cases were attended to in relation to human-wildlife conflict; 6 due to poisoning, 2 with spear wounds and 1 relocation of a problematic lion that was preying on livestock. A cheetah and elephant were also treated for spear wounds due to HWC. Two elephants and a buffalo were rescued from manmade holes, 1 giraffe was trapped in fencing and another died after becoming stuck in a cattle grid. A zebra was euthanised after it was inured after being chased by dogs and another was treated for a panga wound. A baboon was also trapped in a metal can but sadly could not be located for treatment. Other cases the Units were involved in including natural causes, collarings, rescues, research, relocation and technical cases.

Case Details Elephant Predators Poaching Human Wildlife Conflict Natural Causes Post-mortem Rescue Collared Research/ Survey Relocation Technical Cases Grand Total

19 4

3 10

4 3 1 4

5

35

Rhino Plains Game Giraffe Buffalo Other Grand Total

1

42 2

5 2

7 1

1 1

77 20

23 4

3 3

6 1

5

4

3 1

47 11 1 5 3 7 14 185

1

1 20

2 8 11

75

17

15

5 12

185 Cases Attended to by SWT/KWS Vet Units July - September 2021 90

80

.

70

60 Other Buffalo

50

Giraffe 40

Plains Game Rhinos

30

Predators Elephant

20

10

0 Poaching

Human Wildlife Conflict

Natural Causes

Postmortem

Rescue

Collared

Research/ Survey

Relocation

Technical Cases

97 Poaching and HWC Cases Attended to by SWT/KWS Vet Units July - September 2021 70 60 50 40 Other

30

Buffalo Giraffe

20

Plains Game Predators

10

Elephant

Poaching

Human Wildlife Conflict

Chased by Dogs

Metallic Grid

Poison

Spear

Relocation

Panga

Manhole

Livestock Predation

Human Items

Fencing

Spear

Snared

Poaching Postmortem

Bullet Wound

Arrow

0

Outcomes of Cases Attended to by SWT/KWS Vet Units July - September 2021

Poaching Death 4%

Prognosis Poor 7%

HWC Death 3%

Died 13% Successful Cases 71% Not Located 0% Taken to Orphanage 2%

Outcomes of Cases Attended to by SWT/KWS Vet Units July - September 2021

Tsavo

20

Mara

11

Meru

7

1

111

11

Mt Kenya

3 1

12 21

13

Amboseli

5

1 4 1

17

1

Rift Valley Vet

59

0 Successful Cases

10

20

Prognosis Poor

30 Poaching Death

7

40 HWC Death

50

60 Died

12

10

70

Taken to Orphanage

1

80 Not Located

90

SWT/KWS Mobile Vet Unit Treatment Locations Tsavo – Mara – Meru – Amboseli – Mt Kenya – Rift Valley July – September 2021

SWT/KWS TSAVO MOBILE VETERINARY UNIT OVERVIEW July – September 2021

37 Cases

12 Poaching Cases

15 Elephant Cases

The dry season started in July and there was a substantial drop in the water levels of the permanent rivers which continued throughout the quarter. Most waterholes and seasonal rivers dried up and the wildlife followed the remaining water sources. Scarcity of water meant wildlife came into conflict with humans. The Tsavo Unit attended to 37 Cases, including 9 elephant poaching cases and 3 related to human-wildlife conflict; an elephant had to be relocated after complaints from the local community, one elephant stumbled into a pit latrine and an elephant and her calf fell into an underground watertank requiring rescue. There were also 8 predator cases, including the poisoning of a lion pride, amongst other cases as indicated below.

37 Cases Attended to by SWT/KWS Tsavo Vet Unit July - September 2021 14

12

10 Other

8

Buffalo Plains Game

6

Predators Elephant

4

2

0 Poaching

Human Wildlife Conflict

Natural Causes

Postmortem

Collared

Outcomes of Cases Attended to by SWT/KWS Tsavo Vet Unit July - September 2021

Prognosis Poor 13%

Poaching Death 8%

HWC Death 3%

Died 19%

Successful Cases 54% Taken to Orphanage 3%

SWT/KWS Tsavo Mobile Vet Unit Treatment Locations July – September 2021

July 2021

To see the full report for Tsavo Vet Unit for the month of July 2021 click here August 2021

To see the full report for Tsavo Vet Unit for the month of August 2021 click here September 2021

To see the full report for Tsavo Vet Unit for the month of Sept 2021 click here

SWT/KWS MARA MOBILE VETERINARY UNIT OVERVIEW July – September 2021

17 Cases

12 Poaching Cases

10 Elephant Cases

Throughout the quarter there has been decreased rainfall but there has still been plenty of food and water for all wildlife to utilise. The annual wildebeest migration is active with many of the wildebeests and zebras spread across the ecosystem. Accidental fires swept across the Masai Mara National Reserve earlier in August with a significant amount of vegetation destroyed and briefly displacing some wild animals from their habitat, but concerted efforts by County Government officials and other stakeholders helped stop the spread. The most significant cases involved an elephant with a bullet wound, 2 elephants with arrow wounds and 5 elephants and 1 zebra with spear wounds. A cheetah was also treated for a spear wound due to HWC. 17 Cases Attended to by SWT/KWS Mara Vet Unit July - September 2021 14

12

10

8

Plains Game Predators

6

Elephant

4

2

0 Poaching

Human Wildlife Conflict

Natural Causes

Rescue

Outcomes of Cases Attended to by SWT/KWS Mara Vet Unit July - September 2021 Prognosis Poor 6%

Poaching Death 12%

Successful Cases 64%

Died 12%

Taken to Orphanage 6%

SWT/KWS Mara Mobile Vet Unit Treatment Locations July – September 2021

July 2021

To see the full report for the Mara Vet Unit for the month of July 2021 click here August 2021

To see the full report for Mara Vet Unit for the month of August 2021 click here September 2021

To see the full report for Mara Vet Unit for the month of Sept 2021 click here

SWT/KWS MERU MOBILE VETERINARY UNIT OVERVIEW July – September 2021

16 Cases

2 Poaching Cases

4 Elephant Cases

The dry season has set in rapidly resulting in reduced cultivation in the farms neighbouring the Conservation Area therefore people start intruding into protected areas causing conflict. The once well covered prairies are rapidly becoming barren as wild animal continue to utilize the remaining vegetation. Human-wildlife conflict cases involved a speared elephant and relocation of a problematic lion that was preying on livestock.

A giraffe and elephant were both successfully treated for snare injuries and a post-mortem was conducted on another elephant whilst several other animals were treated for natural causes. The Unit also assisted with the translocation of 6 adult white rhinos to Nairobi National Park for gene biodiversity.

16 Cases Attended to by SWT/KWS Meru Vet Unit July - September 2021 8 7 6 Other

5

Buffalo Giraffe

4

Plains Game Rhinos

3

Predators 2

Elephant

1 0 Poaching

Human Wildlife Conflict

Natural Causes

Postmortem

Relocation

Technical Cases

Outcomes of Cases Attended to by SWT/KWS Meru Vet Unit July - September 2021

Prognosis Poor 6%

HWC Death 6% Successful Cases 82%

Died 6%

SWT/KWS Meru Mobile Vet Unit Treatment Locations July – September 2021

July 2021

To see the full report for Meru Vet Unit for the month of July 2021 click here

August 2021

To see the full report for Meru Vet Unit for the month of August 2021 click here

September 2021

To see the full report for Meru Vet Unit for the month of September 2021 click here

SWT/KWS AMBOSELI MOBILE VETERINARY UNIT OVERVIEW July – September 2021

17 Cases

4 Poaching Cases

5 Elephant Cases

The Amboseli and Chyulu Ecosystem is currently very dry and much of the vegetation was dry. Consequently, wild animals were highly mobile in pursuit of food and water, leading to increased interaction with humans resulting in conflict. There were four poaching cases during the quarter, including an arrowed giraffe, a speared elephant, a snared buffalo and a snared ostrich, the buffalo sadly died trying to free itself, but the other 3 cases were treated successfully. In addition, 2 elephants were collared, a post-mortem was conducted on an elephant, a giraffe was removed from a fenced compound, a survey was done on another fenced compound which had been inhabited by giraffes and tracker dogs were vaccinated within Tsavo.

17 Cases Attended to by SWT/KWS Amboseli Vet Unit July - September 2021 4.5 4 3.5 3 Other

2.5

Buffalo 2

Giraffe Predators

1.5

Elephant 1 0.5 0 Poaching

Human Wildlife Conflict

Natural Causes

Postmortem

Collared

Research/ Survey

Relocation

Technical Cases

Outcomes of Cases Attended to by SWT/KWS Amboseli Vet Unit July - September 2021

Poaching Death 6%

Died 23%

Successful Cases 65% Not Located 6%

SWT/KWS Amboseli Mobile Vet Unit Treatment Locations July – September 2021

July 2021

The Amboseli Unit were on leave for the month of July.

August 2021

To see the full report for Amboseli Vet Unit for the month of August 2021 click here

September 2021

To see the full report for Amboseli Vet Unit for the month of September 2021 click here

SWT/KWS MT KENYA MOBILE VETERINARY UNIT OVERVIEW July – September 2021

18 Cases

7 Rhino Cases

2 Poaching Cases

During July and August, the Mt Kenya Vet Unit attended to wildlife cases that required veterinary intervention in the Laikipia and Mt. Kenya regions. The Vet was on leave for most of August and September and was covered for by the Meru and Sky Vet Units. Some of the wildlife cases attended to include insertion of a microchip tracker on a Black rhino, superovulation and oocyte collection of a White rhino, translocation of 2 White rhinos and the ear notching of 28 black and white rhinos at Meru National Park. The Unit also treated 4 bongos and 3 zebras, collared an elephant, examined a chimpanzee and conducted post-mortems of a lion and a crocodile; the crocodile was a natural death whereas the lion was speared.

18 Cases Attended to by SWT/KWS Mount Kenya Vet Unit July - September 2021 8 7 6 5

Other Plains Game

4

Rhinos Predators

3

Elephant 2 1 0 Poaching

Human Wildlife Conflict

Natural Causes

Collared

Relocation

Technical Cases

Outcomes of Cases Attended to by SWT/KWS Mount Kenya Vet Unit July - September 2021

Successful Cases 94% HWC Death 6%

SWT/KWS Mt Kenya Mobile Vet Unit Treatment Locations July – September 2021

July 2021

To see the full report for Mt Kenya Vet Unit for the month of July 2021 click here

August 2021

To see the full report for Mt Kenya Vet Unit for the month of August 2021 click here

September 2021

The Unit were on leave for the month of September 2021.

SWT/KWS RIFT VALLEY MOBILE VETERINARY UNIT OVERVIEW July - September 2021

80 Cases

45 Poaching Cases

52 Plains Game Cases

During July and August most regions of the Central Rift Conservation Area received sporadic showers and there was plentiful pasture and browse for wildlife, however, despite some rain in September the region began to experience a dry spell, with pasture and browse availability decreasing consequently. The Unit has been extremely busy within in the quarter, attending to 80 cases, the majority of which were snaring victims which is prolific in the region. The Unit also attended to 5 human-wildlife conflict cases involving 2 zebras, 2 giraffe and a buffalo. Four oryxes were relocated out of a crop farm area as there had been deaths from ingesting to much wheat. Two habitat assessments were also carried out amongst other cases.

80 Cases Attended to by SWT/KWS Rift Valley Vet Unit July - September 2021 50 45 40 35 30

Other Buffalo

25

Giraffe 20

Plains Game

15

Predators

10 5 0 Poaching

Human Wildlife Natural Causes Conflict

Postmortem

Research/ Survey

Relocation

Technical Cases

Outcomes of Cases Attended to by SWT/KWS Rift Valley Vet Unit July - September 2021

Prognosis Poor 9%

Poaching Death 1% HWC Death 2%

Died 13% Successful Cases 74% Taken to Orphanage 1%

SWT/KWS Rift Valley Mobile Vet Unit Treatment Locations July - September 2021

July 2021

To see the full report for Rift Valley Vet Unit for the month of July 2021 click here

August 2021

To see the full report for Rift Valley Vet Unit for the month of August 2021 click here

September 2021

To see the full report for Rift Valley Vet Unit for the month of Sept 2021 click here