SWT Aerial Surveillance Report for August 2019

AERIAL SURVEILLANCE UNIT MONTHLY REPORT

August 2019

AERIAL STATISTICS

HOURS FLOWN

KMS COVERED

AREAS PATROLLED

AUGUST 2019

166

21,289

Tsavo East, Tsavo West, Chyulus, South Kitui National Reserve, Rukinga Ranch.

AUGUST 2019

MONTHLY AERIAL PATROL MAP

MONTHLY AERIAL SUMMARY Like July, August was another busy month, especially in terms of poaching activity. Our ground teams were making nearly daily discoveries of snares, harbours and other human signs and so the Aerial Unit concentrated a lot of effort in the same areas, making several additional discoveries as well as hopefully creating a deterrent to possible poachers.

In the Northern area, several bicycle and/or motorcycle tracks were followed deep into the Park by SWT fixed-wing aircraft. A follow-up helicopter patrol uncovered an active poachers camp. Unfortunately, the area was thickly forested, and the helicopter was unable to land, so two men who were inhabiting the small camp were able to escape.

However, two bicycles, machetes, hunting torches (flashlights) and cooking pots were later confiscated from the camp.

Although not the ultimate outcome, major confiscations like this go a long way to disrupting poachers’ activities.

An additional 3 harbours in the Chyulu Hills National Park and 1 harbour in the Gazi area of Tsavo East were discovered, leading to the discovery of a charcoal kiln and poacher’s tracks in each of the locations. To the East of Tsavo East National Park, 1 possible poachers’ camp was found on Kulalu Ranch, coordinates of which were provided to KWS for follow up. From the air, it was unclear if this camp belonged to charcoal burners or poachers since there is a lot of human activity in this area; however, there were no nearby charcoal kilns, so it was suspected to be the latter.

The steady decrease in livestock incursions, due to persistent pressure by KWS on herders, as well as our own consistent aerial coverage, has been encouraging to see. Tsavo East is relatively livestock free, with only a few small, difficult-to-reach areas being affected. However, there are huge tracts of the Park that at this time of year have historically been literally inundated with cattle and human settlements, which is no longer the case.

There was an increase in livestock presence in Chyulu Hills National Park over previous months, notably of sheep on the grassy slopes near the top of the hills. With the sheepherders have come some of the worst wildfires in the Chyulus in recent years. Although the majority of firefighting was done from the ground in August, the SWT helicopter was used during two days of intense operations comprising a combination of Bambi Bucket water drops and ferry flights to drop rangers into strategic positions to attack the fires on the ground. Since most of the affected areas were grassland, these efforts were focused on places where the cloud forest and/or dry deciduous forest below were threatened.

There was a definite increase in charcoal activity, particularly in Chyulu Hills NP, Gazi and Mukomwe. In the first two areas, a small number of either charcoal kilns or cut trees being prepared for charcoal were sighted and later destroyed by ground teams. In Mukomwe, a large-scale charcoal burning operation that had been stopped over a year prior was discovered on a routine aerial patrol. Three additional patrols were conducted, in conjunction with ground teams, to destroy several camps, dozens of charcoal kilns, and hundreds of sacks of charcoal.

As had been previously reported, we spent many hours searching for an elephant with a snare around her neck and ear on Kulalu/Galana in July. Fortunately, she finally showed up again in August, and with support from SWT helicopter, the KWS/SWT vet was able to treat her and give her a good prognosis for recovery. Another elephant in the Northern area was found, after a SWT ground team followed blood of an elephant with two arrow wounds. Once eyes were on the injured elephant, the same vet was collected from Voi and again with helicopter assistance in darting, was successfully treated.

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Only one elephant carcass was discovered from the air during August, that of an old female elephant. Due to the presence of intact ivory, and the age of the elephant, it is assumed to have died of natural causes. A second carcass, first sighted by Wildlife Works on Rukinga Ranch, was observed during a search for a suspected orphan elephant that had been sighted by a filmmaker nearby; the search for this orphan is ongoing.

Highlights for the month included multiple lion sightings, as well as wild dog, and rhino.

Photographs copyright © 2019 The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust