SWT Aerial Surveillance Unit Report July 2021

AERIAL SURVEILLANCE UNIT MONTHLY REPORT

JULY

AERIAL STATISTICS

JULY 2021

176 HOURS FLOWN

23,127 KMS COVERED

AREAS PATROLLED

Tsavo East, Tsavo West, Chyulu Hills, Mbirikani Group Ranch, Kishushe Ranch, Kulalu Ranch, Galana Ranch, Shimba Hills, Lunga Lunga

JULY 2021

MONTHLY AERIAL PATROL MAP

MONTHLY AERIAL SUMMARY Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) showed no signs of reducing in July. Helicopters responded to a total of 5 incidences of HEC, in most cases successfully pushing elephants several kilometres out of contact with humans and back into protected areas. One incident involved a problem bull elephant and a young bull that were causing issues deep inside community land. The elephants, having been reported by community members to KWS were first located by fixed wing while the SWT/KWS Tsavo Mobile Veterinary Unit got into position with a crane truck to transport the bull.

Once located, a SWT helicopter was deployed to dart the problem bull so that it could be lifted onto the waiting truck.

The operation was successful, however, the young companion bull remained in the community. The following day, both fixed wing aircraft and helicopter returned to try and locate him. He was eventually found in the company of a larger group of bulls some 7 kilometres away and successfully pushed with a helicopter back into the park.

Three veterinary cases were attended to in July with help from the Aerial Unit. In all three cases, their remote location required the SWT/KWS veterinary officer to be transferred rapidly, together with his support crew in the Trust’s Cessna 206. Two of these cases were in Ithumba, one involving ex-orphan Ishanga who returned with what appeared to be two arrow injuries. Fortunately, one of these was only a shallow, superficial wound, however, the other penetrated approximately 5 inches into her shoulder and required thorough irrigation and disinfecting. It is also not thought that the arrow was poisonous, and she is expected to recover quickly. The second case in Ithumba was a young bull with a severely infected injury from a poisonous arrow. Three kg of dead tissue were extracted from the wound which spewed 10 litres of putrid pus when lanced. Unmistakable, blackened tissue gave away the source of the injury, however, the elephant had somehow managed to expel the poison arrow. Despite the severity of the infection, the vet gave this young elephant an excellent prognosis.

The final vet case was for a speared elephant in Chyulus that was most likely the victim of HEC. The two wounds, one on the leg and one on the flank were not serious and the vet gave no reason that it shouldn’t heal well after having been administered with antibiotics.

Something that happens very rarely is the discovery of orphaned elephants from the air, but on a transfer flight from our field HQ to Ithumba last month, our helicopter pilot spotted a lone calf wandering aimlessly in the Tiva River. After searching the area extensively for a family group and confirming that the calf was alone, he reported the situation to KWS. He returned to base to collect a team of experienced keepers to attempt a rescue of the young calf. They were able to successfully rescue the elephant, which was visibly dehydrated and emaciated, and airlifted it back to Kaluku for specialised care.

There was a significant increase in livestock incursions, particularly in Tsavo East, where two major influxes occurred to the north of the Galana River and also on the Tiva River near Bisadi Falls. Livestock was recorded on 20 flights, with the majority being in the two above named locations, in which multiple follow up flights were conducted to root out illegal livestock while KWS and SWT teams conducted operations to make arrests and remove them from the park.

Arrests were actually made with assistance from helicopter on one occasion since there happened to be a ground team in the area at the time of a routine patrol and the helicopter was able to follow the herders and guide in a ground team to arrest three herders. Whilst livestock persists in Tsavo East, KWS’s operations have been largely successful and succeeded in repelling thousands of sheep and cattle despite immense pressure, this being a dry year and leading up to an election year in which politics play an increasing role in the pervasion of illegal activities.

While there were isolated fires in the month of June, there was an increase in quantity and severity of fires in July. A total of four fires were attended to by aircrafts this month, some of these being follow-up flights to check for flareups the day after teams fought fires at night. One of the more intense fires occurred on a day with extreme winds. Teams were struggling to control the flames burning in long grass on the border of Tsavo West NP, since the strong winds kept reigniting stretches of fire that had already been extinguished. A fixed wing aircraft was therefore instrumental in flying overhead and directing ground teams (KWS and SWT) and alerting the KWS commander whenever flareups occurred. This way, small teams could be quickly deployed to put out small flames before they turned into raging fires.

Charcoal activity was minimal, with the exception of Galana and Kishushe ranches where large kilns and dozens of charcoal sacks were observed ready for collection.

With regard to poaching, there were several old poachers’ harbours discovered, and on two separate helicopter patrols, fresh foot prints were discovered and followed by ground teams, one resulting in the discovery of a fresh poachers’ harbour. Two carcasses were found in July, the first was a fresh carcass found during an aerial patrol in Shimba Hills – a poaching victim. The second was a recent carcass with tusks intact and an unknown cause of death. A piece of ivory was also found and recovered during an aerial patrol along the Galana River, however, no bones were in the vicinity, and it appeared rather to have broken off during a fight than belonged to a carcass.

Although it wouldn’t normally be classified as a carcass, a mother elephant was observed having just given birth to a stillborn calf, although in retrospect it was unclear whether the calf had died before or after birth.

July was the month for Wild Dog sightings with 8 separate sightings of wild dog, including 2 on the same flight. The largest pack had 20 individuals. The increase in wild dog in Tsavo in the last several years has been astounding and indicates the dramatic return of prey species in Tsavo, especially in the Northern Area.

Other highlights included sightings of huge herds of buffalo, 1000 strong, in two different locations in Tsavo West. A large flock of 32 ostriches also caught one of our pilots eye, as well as concentrations of over 1000 zebras among other plains game along the Tanzania border.

Photographs copyright © 2021 The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust