DSWT Aerial Surveillance Unit Report August 2015

AERIAL SURVEILLANCE UNIT MONTHLY REPORT

AUGUST 2015

AERIAL STATISTICS

HOURS FLOWN

KMS COVERED

AREAS PATROLLED

AUGUST 2015

125.2

17,219

Tsavo East and West National Parks, Amboseli National Reserve, Kishushe Ranch, Mbulia Ranch, Oza Ranch, Chyulu Hills

AUGUST 2015

MONTHLY AERIAL ROUTES

August has been hot dry and very windy, and as is historically the case at this time of year being peak of the dry season we have seen elevated illegal activities. It has been an active month for all the Tsavo based Units including the DSWT Aerial Unit, Anti-Poaching teams and Veterinary Units. A wide variety of flights have taken place during the course of the month including regular patrols, transportation of KWS sniffer dogs, the tracking, darting and monitoring of many injured elephants as well as continuous monitoring of illegal activities covering all corners of Tsavo.

AUGUST 2015

MONTHLY FLYING SYNOPSIS

It's been a very demanding month for KWS vets Dr Poghon and Dr Njoroge of the DSWT funded Tsavo and Amboseli Mobile Vet Units who have attended to a total of sixteen separate elephant cases including darting and treatment.

Cases varied from arrow wounds to spear wounds including one baby elephant which was mauled by a lion.

The helicopter has played a crucial role in enabling quick and safe treatments, along with the support of the DSWT’s Super Cubs for some cases. The Trust's Anti-Poaching ground teams have also played a crucial role in each treatment by supporting the Trust funded KWS veterinary units in ground operations such as turning the elephants over to access their wounds when they fall on the wrong side and providing essential water to keep the patients cool while they are treated. You can read about the many elephants treated during August in this special update.

KWS Sniffer dogs have been deployed on two occasions this month with support from the DSWT’s Cessna 185, which quickly transports the dogs to the incident site. The dogs did well on both occasions despite the Tsavo heat, taking the ground teams along the trail that the poachers used to flee after two separate elephant killings. Arrests have successfully occurred resulting from these operations.

This month three elephant carcasses were sighted from the air the DSWT aerial unit. One was found freshly killed for its ivory - its tusks having vanished into Tanzania. Another elephant was found with an arrow wound which was treated but sadly later died. The third carcass was an older one of about three months that the ground teams had already located and followed up on.

As expected during such a dry month the numbers of illegally grazing cattle sighted in both Tsavo East and West have been very high. The Trust's aircraft systematically record and report cattle movements and numbers to assist KWS management who have been making every effort to deal with the encroachment.

Logging and charcoaling sightings have likewise been high this month near park boundaries. Ground teams have made continuous follow up missions to destroy kilns and capture culprits. On one occasion the helicopter, on sighting a charcoaler inside the park, was able to run down the culprit and drop KWS rangers onsite who arrested him on the spot. Hopefully this sends a message to the community that charcoaling is being taken seriously. Bicycle tracks deep into the park were also sighted, leading to selected logging of large trees for timber. Again ground teams made a follow up with night ambushes and arrested a number of culprits.

Several shooting blinds and poacher hide-outs have been sighted from the air this month, yet with plotted GPS coordinates ground teams have been able to follow up the activity, pursing tracks and leads, leading to the arrest of a number of offenders.

Some interesting sightings were made from the air including a few rhino sightings, a snow white dik dik, a couple of leopards and a number of lions. Fifteen wild dog were sighted on the Yatta Plateau, and a few days later sighted again near Ithumba.