Aerial Surveillance Unit Report June 2020

AERIAL SURVEILLANCE UNIT MONTHLY REPORT

JUNE 2020

AERIAL STATISTICS

HOURS FLOWN

KMS COVERED

AREAS PATROLLED

JUNE 2020

127

16,379

Tsavo East, Tsavo West, Chyulus, Kishushe Ranch, Galana Ranch, KARI ranch, Elerai (Amboseli), South Kitui National Reserve

JUNE 2020

MONTHLY AERIAL PATROL MAP

MONTHLY AERIAL SUMMARY In June, Tsavo started to feel like Tsavo again. After many months of rain, transforming Tsavo into a veritable jungle, it was hard to even recognise the area as Tsavo. How quickly that can change when the rain stops. Hot days have followed with warm winds, which has dried the soils, the vegetation making the aerial and ground patrolling easier, given that the thick vegetation is opening up. As waterholes dry up, elephants and other wildlife have started to migrate back to their usual areas, concentrated around permanent water sources and the largest of the temporary waterholes that still hold water. Only Ithumba, which received rain in biblical proportions, was still green (ish) by the end of June.

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Poaching and other illegal activities have increased slightly; however, very little evidence of ivory poaching has been observed. In addition to two old cooking fires/harbours that were sighted on patrols, there were three recent cooking fires discovered that were only a few days old. One of these was accompanied by a single cut tree, which was thought to have been targeted by honey harvesters. While performing a road survey in the Chyulu Hills National Park, a dog was spotted running down a road. Although it is suspected that the dog was accompanying a bushmeat hunter, his owner was never sighted. Nearby evidence of honey harvesting was noted, but it is difficult to tell if the two cases were connected.

Whereas no direct evidence of ivory poaching was observed from the air, the Aerial Unit and helicopter were involved in the veterinary treatment of 2 elephants that appeared to have been targeted by poachers. The first was a bull, originally sighted during a fixed wing patrol with what appeared to be an arrow wound. The bull was darted from the helicopter and then treated for an infected wound on its flank and given a good prognosis for recovery. The second treatment involved another bull elephant near Amboseli at Elerai with an entry wound on its left, lower leg. Again, the elephant was darted from our helicopter and treated by the vet. Unfortunately, due to the location of the injury, he was only given a guarded prognosis, and as it turned out this was a second treatment for him, and he may require an additional follow-up treatment.

Lodge clients also sighted two wild dogs with snares around their necks while on a game drive. A prompt response from the SWT funded Tsavo Veterinary Unit saw both attended to. The prognosis for one is guarded due to the depth of the wound reaching the trachea, but thankfully they were part of a big pack, so the others can hunt for them. The second one’s wounds were luckily was not as serious.

Charcoal burning has been on the rise for the last two months, so patrols were ramped up in known hotspots, particularly in the Chyulus and both Kishushe and KARI ranches. In CHNP, 10 charcoal kilns were found as well as 2 camps of charcoal burners. These were all attended to and destroyed by ground teams. The last two aerial patrols of the month did not uncover any charcoal burning activities, so our efforts have not been in vain. Kishushe continues to be a difficult area to control, with a similar number of kilns found over fewer patrols. On KARI ranch, only 1 charcoal kiln was discovered in June, which marks a significant improvement. On Galana Ranch there seems also to have been a lull in charcoal burning activities from the industrial level production that was observed previously. On one patrol, two lorries were sighted with sacks of charcoal on board, but they appeared to have been abandoned before being fully loaded and there was no active charcoal burning anywhere in the vicinity.

Livestock was not a major feature in the Parks in June; however, large numbers of cattle persist in key areas of Tsavo West, particularly the south. A small number of bomas were reported to KWS for action, but many cattle are being herded into the Park during the day, and these are harder to pin down. In the Northern Sector of Tsavo East, only a small number of cattle were observed coming around 5-6 km into the Park, but the main influx that was seen last month seems to have been successfully repelled by KWS. On another positive note, there was not a single recorded instance of livestock in CHNP in June, continuing several months of a livestock free park.

As with last month, the Aerial Unit, and especially the helicopter, was busy with cases of human wildlife conflict (HWC).

Fixed wing aircraft were called out on three occasions to locate elephants that had been reported in the community.

Unfortunately, two of these searches were unsuccessful, however, the third search did turn up a small herd of 8 elephants in a densely populated area. The helicopter was then mobilised to push the elephants back into the Park.

On another 3 occasions, the helicopter assisted in pushing elephants back into protected areas, however, one of these attempts was unsuccessful as the pair of bull elephants refused to be herded. The final HWC case involved a lion, which found itself dangerously close to a settlement. As a testament to the skill and experience of the SWT funded Tsavo Mobile KWS vet, Dr. Poghon, the lion was darted from our helicopter and then translocated to an area where he would not pose a threat to human life or livestock.

At the request of KWS, we also increased patrolling efforts in South Kitui National Reserve during June, due to a large influx of illegal activities (particularly camels and charcoal burning). A total of 5 patrols were conducted and many dozens of charcoal kilns, charcoal camps, and charcoal sacks were located, as well as several camel bomas and thousands of camels and other livestock. KWS has increased efforts on the ground to deal with these sightings and has had some success.

Perhaps the greatest negative of Tsavo drying off has been a dramatic increase in bush fires. Not only is the area dry, but all of the rain has provided huge amounts of fuel in the form of dead and dying vegetation. Several fires were attended to by SWT and KWS ground crews, and one fire was also attended to by our helicopter and Bambi bucket, quenching massive flames at the head of the fire with water collected from a nearby waterhole, while ground teams attacked the fires flank with flappers and back burning. The team was successful at putting out the fire, and a large part of the Park was spared.

Highlights in June included a number of wild dog sightings, including pups, as well as more sightings of striped hyena and aardwolves and the usual leopard and lion sightings.

Photographs copyright © 2020 The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust