SWT Aerial Surveillance Unit Report June 2019

AERIAL SURVEILLANCE UNIT MONTHLY REPORT

JUNE 2019

AERIAL STATISTICS

HOURS FLOWN

KMS COVERED

AREAS PATROLLED

JUNE 2019

100.7

13,989

Tsavo East, Tsavo West, Chyulus, KARI Ranch, Mbulia Ranch, Kishushe Ranch, Amu Ranch

JUNE 2019

MONTHLY AERIAL PATROL MAP

MONTHLY AERIAL SUMMARY June was a quiet month in terms of almost all illegal activities. In fact, only one instance of fresh poaching activity was discovered, which was a fresh elephant carcass on the Tiva River with ivory pulled out. Although no direct evidence of a cause of death could be found at the carcass, which was more than a week old at the time of discovery, the fact that the tusks had been removed did strongly suggest poaching.

The fact that no other fresh poaching activity was discovered was very encouraging. Not only was there a significant lack of poaching activity but also not a single incident of charcoal burning was reported in June. For this time of year, that is highly unusual and a testament to the effect of persistent efforts from the air and ground over the last several years.

There was a slight increase in livestock activity in the Park with a number of bomas and herds of cattle found along the Eastern boundary of Tsavo East and the Western boundary of Tsavo West, but again a significant reduction as compared to previous years. In Tsavo West, especially in the Ziwani area, which had been severely degraded by livestock, a marked improvement in ground cover (mostly grass) was obvious from the air. It cannot be underestimated how much of a positive impact this will have on wildlife if this trend continues in an area that used to be known as little Serengeti.

Several cattle bomas were also discovered in the Chyulu Hills National Park for the first time since the completion of an electric fence by SWT that now spans the entire eastern boundary of CHNP. These were quickly addressed by SWT ground teams; follow-up patrols confirmed that the Park was once again livestock free with the exception of one boma to the far North, which has since been dealt with by KWS. Other than this, the only other illegal activities sighted were one cut tree and a small number of old campfires.

One additional elephant carcass was sighted on patrol, but it was several months old and all the available evidence pointed to it having died of natural causes. The aircraft was able to land in a clearing nearby and retrieve the tusks to be stored in the KWS armoury.

In addition to regular patrols, the air wing was also called upon to search for an elephant whose tracks had been sighted by one of the ground team and appeared to be dragging a snare. Unfortunately, no sign of the elephant could be found despite two days of searching.

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Human elephant conflict was again a major theme in June, with several flights undertaken by fixed wing aircraft to locate elephants outside the fence, whilst 3 callouts for the helicopter were also made to push elephants back into the Park. There were also three vet cases with aerial involvement. The first for an old arrow wound that was first sighted by a fixed wing and later darted with assistance from the helicopter. Although the wound appeared to be very swollen and oozing pus, the infection was found to be minimal and no treatment was necessary. Two other elephants were treated on the other side of the Chyulu Hills, one near Ol Donyo Wuas with 5 spear wounds and another on Selengei Conservancy with a spear lodged in its head. A fixed wing aircraft collected the Voi Vet on both occasions since the Amboseli Vet, who would normally have dealt with these cases, was on leave. Both of these cases were darted from the helicopter.

A fixed wing was called out on another occasion to search for a lone elephant calf that had been separated from its herd in the community when angry farmers had attempted to chase the elephants back to the Park. Unfortunately, the calf had left the area and could not be located. Elephants are able to communicate over very large distances, so it is highly likely that the calf was able to re-join the herd.

Outside of the Tsavo ecosystem, the air wing provided an important service on Amu ranch in Lamu County by conducting a flight with the local magistrate to demonstrate both the importance of the area as a reserve and natural resource and also to share the many challenges being faced by our team on the ground there. The magistrate communicated his commitment to help assist where possible in delivering meaningful sentences to help discourage illegal activities inside the conservancy, and also offered some advice on concrete steps that can be taken to garner support elsewhere. All in all, it was a very productive exercise alongside ongoing tree planting programs in the area working with communities to help protect and sustain their natural heritage.

Some highlights during the month included 2 separate cheetah sightings and a handful of rhino sightings. However, due to late rains in April, rhino sightings were very rare since they had dispersed over a larger than normal area.

Photographs copyright © 2019 The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust