Seeing Lions: An Intern’s Experience at Noloholo’s Environmental Summer Camp

The road we travel is so bumpy – I fear every moment that I will be thrown out into the outskirts of Tarangire National Park. But the students around me show no fear, only happiness and excitement, so I relax as we traverse the Maasai Steppe of Northern Tanzania spotting zebra, giraffe, and antelope. Suddenly, the car stops and all heads turn as we are told that lions are nearby. We see them in the distance, and the students become quiet with awe as they stare through their binoculars. I ask, “Have you ever seen lions before?” They all shake their heads, saying “no” without words. The two lionesses lie close together under the shade of an acacia tree. After a long period of silent observation, the Land Rover starts again and we continue to explore the savannah ecosystem. When we return to the campsite, it is evident that the journey has sparked the interest of the students, and their environmental teachings about these beautifully unique creatures can finally be put into the perspective of one lucky enough to see them in person.

As an intern in the Environmental Education department of the African People and Wildlife Fund, I work closely with the primary school students who venture to Noloholo as part of the environmental summer camps hosted here. The camps give top students in the area practical knowledge of their environment and how to take care of it, and sometimes provide a glimpse at the vulnerable species that become more rare every day. The students are not only intelligent and motivated but are also kind and fun-loving. I believe their sense of adventure and awareness of their environment will allow them to succeed as stewards of the country that is their home: Tanzania.

KWS and IFAW Launch Partnership to Help Curb Elephant Poaching

KWS and IFAW launch partnership to help curb elephant poaching

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) have launched a partnership designed to protect elephants and curb the increasing poaching crisis.

The IFAW’s tenBoma initiative was launched yesterday by Prof. Judi Wakhungu, the Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources.

The thinking behind tenBoma has been derived from ‘Nyumba Kumi’(Kiswahili for ten homes)’, a community policing initiative launched by the Kenyan government. Under this partnership, the tenBoma initiative will expand to include Kenya’s national parks and surrounding areas to form a network to protect wildlife and communities from criminal poaching gangs.

“Kenya is determined to protect our elephants, we will do everything in our power to destroy the poaching networks and we are proud to be involved in this innovative pilot project,” said Prof. Wakhungu.

The project will be conducted in two phases with the first stage ensuring that KWS rangers have the equipment and training they need to collect valuable data.

The second phase will integrate a collaborative geospatial monitoring platform to marry data collection with targeted analysis and dissemination of information to identify poaching associated indicators. Targeted analysis of the information will be conducted to identify patterns in poaching related activities that enables KWS to intercept poachers prior to the elephants’ slaughter.

“This is tremendously important to the Kenya Wildlife Service. Too often our officers are confronted with the carcasses of elephants and are battling to solve the crime after it has happened. This project could ensure that we have the intelligence we need to strike first,’’ said William Kiprono, the Acting Director General of KWS.

According to IFAW, the tenBoma project builds upon lessons learned and experience gained from successfully applying network targeting analysis and information sharing principals to support counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations.

“This partnership makes innovative use of the most powerful weapon we have in this fight—information,” said Azzedine Downes, the President and CEO of IFAW.

“Over a relatively short period of time we will be able to determine if there are patterns that will help to ensure that the KWS have enforcement officers deployed to the right area at the right time, effectively heading off poaching incidents. For too long the focus has been on monitoring species and products and not enough attention has been given to the networks that drive the illicit trade. tenBoma seeks to fill this gap,” said Mr. Downes.

IFAW says tenBoma represents the latest evolution of IFAW’s efforts to smash every link in the illegal wildlife trade chain: from supporting poaching patrols in Africa, and working with INTERPOL and national governments on stings, to training customs officers in transit countries including the Middle East and demand reduction campaigns in China.

New Partnership Established for Conservation in Northern Tanzania

The Tanzania People & Wildlife Fund and the Honeyguide Foundation (HGF) have launched a partnership to strengthen our joint community-based conservation initiatives across northern Tanzania.

The long-term partnership will begin with joint programming for human-wildlife conflict (HWC) prevention and evolve into a comprehensive community-based conservation collaboration.

“Conservation challenges are numerous across northern Tanzania,” said Dr. Laly Lichtenfeld, Executive Director of the Tanzania People & Wildlife Fund. “Progress at a large-scale requires the efforts of multiple partners who commit to real, functioning collaborations.”

Both Honeyguide and TPW have developed highly technical and proven community-based strategies for achieving these ends, including Honeyguide’s Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) Toolkit to protect farms from elephants and other animals, and TPW’s Living Walls to protect livestock from predators, such as lions and leopards.

Our organizations work closely with individuals at the household level on HWC mitigation. In addition, we couple these critical prevention projects with training and education outreach to transform communities’ perceptions on the importance of biodiversity conservation.

Honeyguide and TPW have already begun to collaborate with communities among Enduimet WMA, Burunge WMA, the nascent Natron WMA, and the migratory corridor between the Tarangire-Manyara and Lake Natron ecosystems.

“For years, our organizations have seen the potential of partnering together,” said Damian Bell, Honeyguide’s executive director. “It has happened gradually and organically, and now we’re moving full ahead with joint programming across multiple landscapes.”

Maasai Steppe Warrior for Wildlife Elvis Kisimir Speaks Up for Lions

“In a few years to come, the world will only see the rare lion spoor on the sandy soil. If the wind blows, then even those spoor will go.” One extraordinary Maasai warrior shares his message for the world about the future of big cats. Elvis Kisimir experiences the full extent of familial responsibility while pursuing a career in wildlife in a story about how early exposure ignited a passion that transformed into the protection of lions and rural livelihoods in Tanzania. He tells his own tale of his metamorphosis from a young schoolboy who is scared of lions to the head of Human Wildlife Conflict Prevention for the African People and Wildlife Fund, and a Disney Conservation Hero.

My name is Elvis Kisimir. Born in Loibor Siret, and a Maasai by tribe, I love people, wildlife, and nature.

During my life I have experienced many changes in both the community and the environment that I live in. My father was a primary school teacher, and my mother was a nurse working at the health centre in the village of Emboreet who used to fly with doctors to different areas of the Maasai Steppe. When I was a young kid, sometimes if I cried, my mother would tell me, “Stop crying because the lions are behind the house.” I would stop crying immediately because I thought the lions might break into the house and take me. At that time the lions were very many, and I would hear them roaring almost every day: in the evening, at night, even early in the morning. When I met with friends to play together we always asked each other if everyone had heard the lions roaring in the night.

In 1991, my father stopped working as a primary school teacher. He took some courses on tourism and was employed as a tour guide at one of the companies in Arusha. During that time he worked very hard because he liked his new job, so I would see him a few times a year at most. I started boarding school at Simanjiro Primary School in Emboreet, and some days I would see him, in a big tourist truck or a Land Rover, stop by the school before going on to Tarangire through the Loibor Siret ranger post.

In December of that year, when the school was closed for Christmas, my father bought us a television. Most of the movies he bought were about wildlife  because he wanted to understand more about these animals, as this it related to his new job and he wanted his children to see how various wild animals lived. The two movies that I won’t forget are Masai Mara and Londolozi, and some of those images have stayed in my mind until now. In the Masai Mara film a girl was nearly killed by a lion when she went out to play tennis, but she was rescued by people from the house – this was the flashback that I had when my mother would tell me that the lions were behind the house waiting to break in and take me. I would sit close to my father and ask him many questions, so I came to understand many things concerning wildlife. When I asked about the girl in the Masai Mara film, he told me,“My son, this is not reality. We are living together with wildlife in our environment. You always hear lions roaring at night. They are not bad creatures unless you disturb them. According to our tradition, you can be harmed or even killed by lion if you are cursed by your clan. You are a man, and in a few years time you will become a warrior, son!”

I learned many things from my father — this was the starting point of my dreams. There was a hope in my life that one day I would be like him.

In 1998, my father decided to make Narakauo his main homestead, 15 kilometers from Loibor Siret centre. According to the Maasai tradition, the eldest son has the greatest responsibility in the family. I was the only son to my father, so I had to work hard to make sure the family was fine. I completed my high school education in 2006, after which I took over some of my father’s responsibilities, making it very difficult for me to go for further studies. The next year I got married, and here you can imagine that I needed to work very hard because the responsibilities were mounting in my day-to-day life.

In 2010 I was employed at the African People and Wildlife Fund heading the Human-Wildlife Conflict program for the organization, which has headquarters in Loibor Siret. I saw as the realization of my dreams because I had already created trust in the locals I worked with, which is very important to me. During the time I have been working under Dr. Laly and Charles, I have learned many things concerning wildlife and environment in general, and I want to thank them for all they have showed me by becoming a good local conservationist.

What I have found surprising and amazing in my work experience is when you find different reactions to incidents of human-wildlife conflict. You can find that 20 goats or sheep have been killed by hyenas and the owners don’t take immediate action, but if one juvenile lion has killed a single calf, immediately you find people gather together from different age groups. Everyone wants to listen, and it is a time when each person shows the rest how much he knows about lions. The lesson here I learned is this: The lion is the most important creature in the Maasai tradition.

There was one day in a conversation with Dr. Laly when she said, “If you hear lions roaring, fighting for territory, that means things are balanced: rainfall, grasses, breeding…” This idea made me think back to the time when I was around 12 years old and lions were roaring almost every day in our area, the rainfall was enough for everything that needed it to survive, and many areas were still wild, with not as much human activity as nowadays.

I have discussed this with some of the adults and elders in the communities I work in, and they agree, saying, “At that time lions were everywhere. Every year we would get enough rainfall, and we didn’t have to sell cattle to buy maize because we had a lot of milk to fill ourselves, with the livestock eating well and breeding every year.”

So my message to my fellow Maasai and the world in general:

“In a few years to come, the world will only see the rare lion spoor on the sandy soil. If the wind blows, then even those spoor will go.”

The meaning of this message is that for the small number of lions we have now, for locals and the world in general, if we are not serious about protecting them, we are going to lose all of them. Avoid conflicts with them, and don’t shrink their habitat by developing human activities in their territories. If we do that, hopefully in a few years to come the new generation will both hear and see the king of the Maasai Steppe roaring.

Lastly, if there are no lions, there are no warriors. Your lion is my lion. Let’s preserve lions for the generations and generations to come.

KWS Ranger Killed by Poachers

A Kenya Wildlife Service ranger was killed on Monday after being caught in an ambush by poachers. The ranger was part of a team protecting rhinos at the Ol Jorgi Ranch in Laikipia North  The ranger team was involved in a gun fight with a poaching gang outside the park when they were also attacked by a poaching gang that was already inside the park.

25-year-old Paul Harrison Lelesepei was shot during the gunfight and died while on the way to Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital.

The poaching gangs managed to escape but officials say that there are leads which are currently being followed by investigators.

Senior Ranger Aggrey Maumo described that “One gang was inside the ranch already while another was outside. Our rangers had no information about the other gang that was inside and were caught unawares during the shootout with the other that was outside”

The Ol Jorgi Ranch has been hit a number of times by rhino poachers in recent months with 5 rhinos killed in just 6 months.

Ranger Lelesepei’s murder comes just days after the Kenyan government turned down permission for the KWS to use aerial drones in the fight against poachers.

Namibia set to kill a third of remaining desert bull elephants

There are growing fears that Namibia is about to sell off hunting rights to a third of the remaining adult bull desert elephants in the country. With an estimated population of just over 100 elephants and just 18 of those being adult males the loss of a third of the breeding males would be devastating for the long-term viability of the famous desert elephants of Namibia.

Living in harsh conditions such as the desert has forced this population of elephants to learn new techniques to survive and this has been passed down through the generations. As the population grows smaller and the mature adults are killed the ability for the herd to maintain it’s knowledge in living in these highly stressful conditions diminishes.

While the Namibian government claims that the population is strong at over 500 elephants local conservationists believe the actual numbers are around 100 elephants. Of far more concern is the ratio between males and females. Previous hunting and poaching has reduced the breeding bull elephants to such an extent that there is now 13 females for every male elephant. This ration will grow even larger if 6 more mature bull elephants are killed in the prosed hunt later this year.

Desert living elephants are a rare group of elephants. While they are not genetically distinct from other African plains elephants they have a special herd knowledge that allows them to survive I the harsh conditions of the desert. Apart from the Namibian population the only other group of elephants with this specialist knowledge and skills can be found in Mali.

With so few elephants now with the skills and knowledge to survive in these conditions the loss of any adult elephants takes away essential skills and the ability to pass that knowledge down through the generations. The unnatural ratio of males and females also breaks down the social connections within the herd that allows the herd to survive the hard conditions.

The life of the desert elephant is harsh and the herd knowledge allows the herd to continually migrate from one watering hole to another using memory to deal with differing climate conditions.

Maintaining a viable population of mature adult bull elephants is important as juvenile male elephants leave the family group at about 12 years of age and many will attach themselves to a mature male in order to learn both practical and social skills that they will need as they come into breeding adulthood.

Namibia’s desert elephants live in the arid region of Kunene in north west Namibia. In the earlier 1900′s there were as many as 3,000 elephants in the desert herds.

Prior to the 1980′s one population of Namibian desert elephants would regularly undertake a long-distance migration between Kunene River on the Angolan border, to the Hoarusib River. It was a migration of 100′s kilometres mainly undertaken at night when temperatures were cool. Sadly this population became extinct following the Angolan war and heavy poaching.

The hunt is expected to take place in the Namibian election campaigns in November and the meat from the elephants is expected to be distributed to local rural communities in an attempt by the current government to win their votes.

7 Rangers Killed in Ghana Last Year

Dr Samuel Afari Dartey, Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission of Ghana announced yesterday that since 2011 his service had lost 69 wildlife rangers and forest guards. This is an increase of 7 since the announcement last year at the launch of the new re-vamped forest service. While the number of rangers killed has fallen on previous years the killings means the rangers in Ghana are still facing high risks every time they go out on patrol.

Last years speech by Dartey gave a commitment to boost the equipment and training given to rangers to help them operate more effectively. He also promised that the rangers would also work more closely with the military to help provide more security and better protection.

At yesterday’s event, the Third Forestry Week and Greening Ghana Day celebration, he promised to boost the rapid reaction force still further to help protect and conserve the remaining forests.

He also announced plans that will see Ghana start to replant lost forests with the use of specially bred fast-growing saplings. He pointed out that 100 years ago the forests of Ghana covered over 8 million hectares, today the forest cover is just 1.8 million hectares.

Dartey also highlighted that the government viewed that forests as being an integral part of the sustainable development of the country and that protection of the forests is essential if the benefits of good forest cover are to be seen by the people.

There will also be a movement towards making the forests an integral part of the tourism industry and some of the established forests will be managed for predominantly recreational use rather than resource exploitation. New plantations will be used as a timber supply source to reduce pressure on wild forests.

Referring to the attacks on forest staff and wildlife rangers, Darley said that the number of people assigned to the Forest Commission Rapid Response Force would be increased to hep support investigations in to ranger murders and attacks. He also said the rangers will be supplied with better equipment to help them combat the criminal gangs who are plundering the forests. The commission has also trained specialist wildlife and environmental law staff to work with prosecutors to increase the conviction rates of those caught.

Photo credit: Ghana Forestry Commission remember their murdered colleagues in 2013. Ghana News Service.

Urgent Deal Reached for African Elephants

Key states along the illegal ivory value chain have committed to urgent measures to halt the illegal trade and secure elephant populations across Africa. The agreement was reached at the African Elephant Summit convened by the government of Botswana and IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).

The Summit is the first-ever meeting focusing on the dynamics of the entire ivory value chain. The measures were agreed on by key African Elephant range states including Gabon, Kenya, Uganda, Niger and Zambia, ivory transit states Viet Nam, Philippines and Malaysia and ivory destination states, including China and Thailand.

“Our window of opportunity to tackle the growing illegal ivory trade is closing and if we do not stem the tide, future generations will condemn our unwillingness to act,” says H.E. Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama, President of the Republic of Botswana.

“Now is the time for Africa and Asia to join forces to protect this universally valued and much needed species.”

One of the 14 measures the delegates committed to involves classifying wildlife trafficking as a “serious crime”. This will unlock international law enforcement cooperation provided under the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, including mutual legal assistance, asset seizure and forfeiture, extradition and other tools to hold criminals accountable for wildlife crime.

Other measures agreed include engaging communities living with elephants in their conservation, strengthening national laws to secure maximum wildlife crime sentences, mobilizing financial and technical resources to combat wildlife crime and reducing demand for illegal ivory.

“We are very pleased with the result of the Summit, especially as it involves some of the most important countries along the illegal ivory value chain,” says IUCN Director General Julia Marton-Lefèvre. “We hope that these outcomes will go beyond the Summit’s focus on African Elephants and boost broader efforts to combat illegal wildlife trade in other species which have been threatened by it, such as rhinos and pangolins.”

2011 saw the highest levels of poaching and illegal ivory trade in at least 16 years and 2012 shows no signs of abating. According to preliminary data, even higher levels of illicit trade may be reached in 2013. Eighteen large scale seizures involving over 40 tonnes have been recorded so far this year, which represents the greatest quantity of ivory seized over the last 25 years. Poverty and corruption, as well as increasing demand from Asia are the principle drivers of poaching and the illegal ivory trade.

The African Elephant (Loxodonta africana), the world’s largest terrestrial mammal, is currently listed as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, with a population estimate of around 500,000 animals.

The African Elephant Summit was organized with the financial support of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the German Government, the US Agency for International Development, the African Development Bank and the World Bank.

Kenyan rangers in Pursuit of Poaching Gang

The Kenya Wildlife Service has announced that its ranger service is in pursuit of an armed gang of possible 10 poachers who killed an entire family of elephants at Bisadi area of Tsavo East National Park. More details will be released when the situation of the current operation becomes clearer.

The family of 11 elephants were killed by poachers on Saturday and tusks were removed.

The number of the poaching gang was not immediately established but initial reports indicate that a gang of ten are believed to be behind the latest poaching incident in the vast protected area. At 22,000km² Tsavo is the country largest single contiguous ecosystem and home to an estimated 13,000 elephant according to 2011 census.

The current chase involves a large unit of rangers on foot backed up by both canine units and aircraft.

KWS will be releasing further details later as they get reports back from the field.