SWT/KWS Mobile Veterinary Units Quarterly Report April - June 2020

SWT/KWS MOBILE VETERINARY UNITS TSAVO – MARA – MERU - AMBOSELI – MT KENYA April – June 2020 Report

Introduction

106 Cases

26 Poaching Cases

40 Elephant Cases

19 Predator Cases

23 HWC Cases

46% Success

January – March 2020 Report for Tsavo, Mara, Meru, Amboseli and Mt Kenya Units During the April – June 2020, 3-month reporting period, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (SWT) in partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and their five dedicated field veterinary officers, attended to 106 wildlife cases, 40 of which included elephants.

Of the 106 cases attended to, 26 cases were directly related to poaching and 23 due to Human-wildlife conflict. Of the poaching cases, 14 involved elephants; 6 bullet wounds, 2 arrows, 5 spear cases and 1 snaring case. The 3 human-elephant conflict cases involving elephants included an elephant which was accidentally electrocuted, relocation of 3 elephants that strayed into heavily populated settlements and an elephant that was attacked with arrows and spears after crossing into farm lands. Other elephant cases included 8 treatments for natural causes, 11 post-mortems, assumed to be natural deaths, and 4 rescues.

Non-elephant cases attended to included 12 poaching incidents; 1 arrowed zebra, and 11 snaring cases involving 3 giraffe, 1 lion, 3 zebra, 2 wild dog, 1 eland and 1 warthog. There were also 20 human-wildlife conflict cases involving 54 animals. One case saw 30 lions translocated after preying on livestock which caused conflict with local communities, one lion was hit by the SGR train, another killed after attacking rangers, one poisoned and the others speared and/or translocated due to an increase in conflict. A hyena, eland, python and crocodile were also relocated due to conflict, a zebra was hit by a vehicle, a spotted hyena was killed after it attacked and killed a local woman and 4 zebras and 1 giraffe died after a fence was erected, cutting them off from any water sources. The other cases were natural, technical, rescues or post-mortems.

Case Details Row Labels

Elephant Predators

Rhino Plains Game Giraffe Buffalo Other Grand Total

Poaching

14

3

5

3

1

26

Human Wildlife Conflict

3

14

3

1

2

23

Natural Causes

8

2

12

3

3

28

Post-Mortem

11

2

4

2

1

20

Rescue

4

Relocation Technical Case

1

1

1

1 1

6 2 1

Grand Total

40 19 25 106 Cases attended to5by the SWT/KWS Vet9Units April - June 2020

1

7

106

30

25

20 Other Buffalo Giraffe

15

Plains Game Rhino Predators

10

Elephant

5

0 Poaching

Human Wildlife Natural Causes Conflict

Post-Mortem

Rescue

Technical Case

Relocation

49 Poaching and HWC Cases attended to by the SWT/KWS Vet Units April - June 2020 14

12

10

Other Giraffe

8

Plains Game 6

Predators Elephant

4

2

Poaching

Human Wildlife Conflict

Human Attack

Electrocution

Spear

RTA

Relocation

Poison

Livestock Predation

Fencing

Arrow

Animal Attack

Spear

Snared

Bullet Wound

Arrow

0

Outcomes of Cases attended to by the SWT/KWS Vet Units April - June 2020

Prognosis Poor 14%

Poaching Death 2%

Successful Cases 46%

HWC Death 11%

Died 24%

Taken to Orphanage 3%

Outcomes of Cases attended to by the SWT/KWS Vet Units April - June 2020

Mt Kenya

16

Meru

Amboseli

Mara

Tsavo

6

14

4

2

6

1 1

5

4

4

2

1 1

9

Successful Cases

1

3

2

6

Prognosis Poor

8

Poaching Death

HWC Death

9

Died

Taken to Orphanage

1

SWT/KWS Mobile Vet Unit Treatment Locations Tsavo – Mara – Meru – Amboseli – Mt Kenya April – June 2020

SWT/KWS TSAVO MOBILE VETERINARY UNIT OVERVIEW April – June 2020

33 Cases

7 Poaching Cases

14 Elephant Cases

The rains which started early in 2020 continued into April and finally ceased in May. The vegetation began to dry up and the water collected during the rainy season started to disappear. However, there was still plenty of forage for grazers and browsers due to the long rains between October 2019 to April 2020 which resulted in a reduction in wildlife cases. The month of June witnessed a rise in injuries to wildlife attributed to human-wildlife conflict and poaching attempts. During the quarter, this Vet Unit attended to 33 cases, the majority of which involved elephants as well as 11 human-wildlife conflict cases including a lion that was killed after attacking rangers and several predators poisoned after livestock predation, amongst other cases.

33 Cases attended to by the SWT/KWS Tsavo Vet Unit April - June 2020 12

10

8 Buffalo Giraffe 6

Plains Game Rhino Predators

4

Elephant 2

0 Poaching

Human Wildlife Conflict

Natural Causes

Post-Mortem

Rescue

Outcomes of Cases attended to by the SWT/KWS Tsavo Vet Unit April - June 2020

Prognosis Poor 18%

HWC Death 24%

Successful Cases 28%

Died 27%

Taken to Orphanage 3%

SWT/KWS Tsavo Mobile Vet Unit Treatment Locations April – June 2020

April 2020

To see the full report for Tsavo Vet Unit for the month of April 2020 click here May 2020

To see the full report for Tsavo Vet Unit for the month of May 2020 click here June 2020

To see the full report for Tsavo Vet Unit for the month of June 2020 click here

SWT/KWS MARA MOBILE VETERINARY UNIT OVERVIEW April – June 2020

15 Cases

6 Poaching Cases

9 Elephant Cases

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a reduction in visitors to Conservation areas within the Mara.

Tour guides and visitors have been instrumental in spotting animals needing help and have contributed significantly to case interventions. The Mara Conservation Area has also had unusually high precipitation resulting in floods and destruction of roads which has hindered the movement of the Unit and any visitors; all of which has contributed to a reduction in cases. However, the rains have been a blessing to the wildlife as they have an abundance of food and water. During this quarter, the Unit attended to 15 cases, including 6 poaching related cases and 3 human-wildlife conflict cases. Of the cases, 9 involved elephants.

15 Cases attended to by the SWT/KWS Mara Vet Unit April - June 2020 7

6

5

4

Giraffe Plains Game

3

Predators Elephant

2

1

0 Poaching

Human Wildlife Conflict

Natural Causes

Post-Mortem

Rescue

Outcomes of Cases attended to by the SWT/KWS Mara Vet Unit April - June 2020 Prognosis Poor 13%

Poaching Death 7%

HWC Death 7% Successful Cases 40% Died 20%

Taken to Orphanage 13%

SWT/KWS Mara Mobile Vet Unit Treatment Locations April – June 2020

April 2020

To see the full report for Mara Vet Unit for the month of April 2020 click here May 2020

To see the full report for Mara Vet Unit for the month of May 2020 click here June 2020

To see the full report for Mara Vet Unit for the month of June 2020 click here

SWT/KWS MERU MOBILE VETERINARY UNIT OVERVIEW April – June 2020

20 Cases

6 Poaching Cases

4 Elephant Cases

There was heavy rain in April which started to dry out by the end of May/early June. The habitat was rich in vegetation and streams continued to flow with substantial water for the wildlife. However, this reduced in June resulting in challenging environmental conditions. Cases were low early in the quarter but started to increase as animals and humans were sharing the remaining resources. The Unit attended to 20 cases including 6 poaching and 4 human-wildlife conflict cases. The Unit also attended to 7 cases attributed to natural causes, 2 post-mortems and 1 rescue. Of the poaching cases, there was 1 elephant that died from a bullet wound, an elephant with a spear wound and 2 giraffes, 1 warthog and 1 zebra with snares.

20 Cases attended to by the SWT/KWS Meru Vet Unit April - June 2020 8 7 6 Other

5

Giraffe 4

Plains Game Rhino

3

Predators Elephant

2 1 0 Poaching

Human Wildlife Conflict

Natural Causes

Post-Mortem

Rescue

Outcomes of Cases attended to by the SWT/KWS Meru Vet Unit April - June 2020

Prognosis Poor 5% Poaching Death 5% Successful Cases 70%

Died 20%

SWT/KWS Meru Mobile Vet Unit Treatment Locations April – June 2020

April 2020

To see the full report for Meru Vet Unit for the month of April 2020 click here

May 2020

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June 2020

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SWT/KWS AMBOSELI MOBILE VETERINARY UNIT OVERVIEW April – June 2020

10 Cases

2 Poaching Cases

7 Elephant Cases

During this quarter, the Unit were on leave in June and attended to 10 Cases throughout April and May. Sadly, the Unit were called to assess cause of death in 3 elephants which were determined to be natural and non-infectious but the specific cause was not confirmed. There were 2 lions which were fatally speared in the Chyulu area, presumably due to human-wildlife conflict. One elephant was treated for lameness, another for a suspected spear injury and the third treated for a bullet wound. All three were given a favourable prognosis and should recover fully. The Unit also attempted to rescue an elephant stuck in a dam but it died from a non-specific disease and treated a giraffe from an injury attributed to natural causes.

10 Cases attended to by the SWT/KWS Amboseli Vet Unit April - June 2020 4

3

Giraffe 2

Predators Elephant

1

0 Poaching

Human Wildlife Conflict

Natural Causes

Post-Mortem

Rescue

Outcomes of Cases attended to by the SWT/KWS Amboseli Vet Unit April - June 2020

HWC Death 20%

Successful Cases 40%

Died 40%

SWT/KWS Amboseli Mobile Vet Unit Treatment Locations April – June 2020

April 2020

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May 2020

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June 2020

The Amboseli Veterinary Unit were on leave for the month of June

SWT/KWS MT KENYA MOBILE VETERINARY UNIT OVERVIEW April – June 2020

28 Cases

5 Poaching Cases

6 Elephant Cases

During this quarter, the Unit attended to 28 cases within the Laikipia ecosystem and Mount Kenya region.

Some of the wildlife cases attended to included treatment of an elephant calf in Mpala Wildlife Conservancy and de-snaring of another calf in Ol Pejeta Wildlife Conservancy. Other cases included a zebra treated for a tumour, repeat treatment of a white rhino in Solio Ranch, de-snaring of an eland, post-mortem of an electrocuted elephant as well as treatment and post-mortem of several mountain bongo with recurrent health problems in Mt. Kenya Wildlife Conservancy. The Unit also relocated a leopard that was preying on bongo calves and 30 lions were translocated after preying on livestock.

28 Cases attended to by the SWT/KWS Mount Kenya Vet Unit April - June 2020 12 11 10 9 8 Giraffe

7

Plains Game

6

Rhino

5

Predators

4

Elephant

3 2 1 0 Poaching

Human Wildlife Natural Causes Post-Mortem Conflict

Rescue

Relocation

Technical Case

Outcomes of Cases attended to by the SWT/KWS Mount Kenya Vet Unit April - June 2020

Prognosis Poor 21% Successful Cases 57% HWC Death 4%

Died 18%

SWT/KWS Mt Kenya Mobile Vet Unit Treatment Locations April – June 2020

April 2020

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May 2020

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June 2020

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