Health Program Update - Polio Campaign & Assisting the Disabled

We've got another Health Update from MWCT Health Director, Lena Koh! Following a successful trachoma campaign in October, the Ministry of Health issued a letter of thanks to MWCT for providing support in the form of health staff and transport.

Shortly after, the MOH launched a polio campaign from November 16-20th. The campaign involved going from house to house providing polio vaccine to children under 5 years of age. MWCT was integral in making the campaign a success.

Health Program Director Lena, giving a vaccination

In fact, in providing transport for the health staff to ensure the essential vaccine reaches children in the most remote areas of Kuku Group Ranch, Iltilal Health Center and Langata Dispensary are the only health facilities in the Loitokitok Region to surpass their target; Iltilal Health Center vaccinated 1401 children. Amazing!

Many children greatly benefitted from the outreaches of this campaign!

Further, a few months ago, during an outreach in Nchalai village with the health staff from Olorika, Dr. Waari treated Mosoni Nkalu, a physically and mentally disable child who was sick. It was noted that the child did not have any medical assistive device, such as a wheelchair.

Mosoni Nkalu at boma in Nchalai

An assessment by the physiotherapist in Loitokitok was required in order to obtain a wheelchair, however, the family could not afford to hire a car to take her there. MWCT brought the physiotherapist to Mosoni's boma so that an assessment could be completed and measurements taken.

Physiotherapist from Loitokitok hospital performing an assessment

We anticipate getting a wheelchair for Mosoni early next year!

Running for the Maasai - A Post by Mark Somen

Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust board member, Mark Somen, chose to share his personal thoughts with us regarding the New York Marathon that occurred this past November. Read about it here!

Running for the Maasai:

I remember marvelling at the fact that 3 Maasai's ran the NY Marathon with shukas and all, in 2009 - accompanied by Luca Belpietro and Edward Norton. I ran my first New York Marathon in November with the team from MWCT. I wanted to share some things that really stood out for me. This was my second marathon - the first being the Safaricom (Lewa) Marathon in Kenya.

STAND OUT #1 - the crows of supporters in New York are famous. The crowds at the Lewa Marathon, well, lets say for much of the route the giraffe outnumbered the humans. So I was expecting huge crowds through New York, but nothing prepared me for the volume, intensity and passion that the crowd brought with them.

STAND OUT #2 - As some of you may know, we flew Jacob Lamaron out from the Chyulus to run with us and for the 2 days before the race, we walked Jacob around the streets of Manhattan. Jacob was dressed somewhat traditionally - and Stand Out 2 was the number of people stopping him to take his picture. Really? I though New Yorkers just dealt with all things unique and unusual...

STAND OUT #3 - pre Marathon party. Modo Yoga, Dina T the yoga instructor, DJ Kylie T, Health Warrior and the fabulous Melissa Chmelar from Spoon - all donating time/food/energy and great spirit to make the party happen; as well as numerous other people. When I think of the fact that we are 7000 miles away from the Chyulu Hills in New York City - and there are all these people who care passionately about MWCT - it humbles me. I am Kenyan, I am on the board of MWCT, I love what is happening there, and love Luca, Antonella and the extended family there - so in a way, I should be doing something. But these random other people - why are they making this a priority? The evening at Modo Yoga and the deep sense of community, sharing and togetherness will say with me for a long time. And the pride that I feel being a part of MWCT hopefully will stay with me forever.

STAND OUT #4 - my immense sense of gratitude. Finishing that distance made me feel amazing, but in no way did I feel it was only ME. The hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and visitors that carried me though the distance and my many friends who sponsored me to reach my goal of $5000 for my charity. My Italian Maasai friends Luca and Antonella who got me into this incredible family called Campi ya Kanzi and MWCT, my New York (Japanese) running buddy, my best friend who was there practically every step of the day, and of course my lovely wife Yassi and kids. Yassi and the kids for putting up with my never-ending training, as well as giving me that boost just before the 59th St Bridge - boosting me over the bridge and through the second half of the marathon. I am so grateful to you all!

And so my mind turns to the upcoming year, to the next Yew York Marathon, and the words of Nelson Mandela:

"When people are determined they can overcome anything"

I think about the beautiful Chyulu Hills with all the challenges: filling the camp, having enough water, protecting the wildlife, building more schools and clinics - the list goes on. Running 26.2 miles seems like a task that is relatively easy to overcome, when you put it into perspective...

Lion Collaring Expedition - Aftermath

Our conservation team caps off the lion collaring story with one final post.

The next day, Dr. Poghon left MWCT because of other obligations, but we still had one female collar left. The coming week, we will try to set the date for one of two more collaring nights to collar one more lioness.

The collaring operation was quite intense, but we feel that it went very well, and the team is happy and feeling confident to collar one more female within the next few weeks!

The Simba Scouts have already been out tracking "their" new lions with great enthusiasm. It is with high hopes that the new lion collars with be able to accurately assist in the appropriate conservation measures for the lion population of Kuku Group Ranch; understanding their location, habits, and ranges  will contribute to this.

The new Simba Scouts, Songoi, Orkewa, and Joshua tracking the lions from Orkeri Hill

Lion Collaring Expedition - Day Four & Five

We've got updates on the next two days of the lion collaring!

Day four arrived and the entire team had good hopes of putting the remaining 3 collars on lions. The new calling station was close to Iltilal, very close to the position the lions were spotted a day earlier - would have been a good central location on the Group Ranch to collar a lion!

Despite the terrible smell of a 2-day old carcass, and hours of playing distress calls of buffalo and warthog, lions were not observed in the area. We thought we had heard lions roaring in the direction of Campi ya Kanzi earlier in the evening. We moved to this area, but this time did not only play distressed calls of buffalo and pig, but also sounds of territorial males as dominant male lions are known to quickly respond to a potential "intruder".

We suddenly heard a big noise and saw a huge black animal running in the dark towards our cars. It appeared to be a very angry buffalo coming to the rescue of the "buffalo calf in distress" call. Although this created some excitement, the lions that we were looking for did not show up. We decided to move onto our next location; but as the rains set in, the expedition was aborted once again.

Day five is now upon us! This would be the last day of the collaring as the KWS vet had to leave for another job the next day. Experts told us to plan for 8 days to collar 4 lions, but the idea of not managing to collar more than 1 lion in 5 days frightened the team. We tried everything in our means to find and collar lions, not sleeping before 5 a.m. and awake at 8 a.m., and we gathered all our strength to give it one more push!

Full of hope, and a little bit of despair, we decided on an area between lake Olpakai and Oltiasika. Some of our Simba Scouts managed to find evidence of lion tracks, even as they were largely washed away by the rains. We were sure there must be lions in the area.

After about 3 and a half hours sitting quietly in the care patiently waiting for the lions to show up, we started to whisper about where to go next as the current location seemed not to be so successful. It was decided to play the buffalo calve in distress one more time before we left. The soundtrack is about 7 minutes long, and on the 6th minute we suddenly heard the growl of a lion that has been darted! Instant excitement!

We were extremely relieved that at last a lion showed up! While searching for the lion, the vet told us over the radio that we were to be looking for a female. When we found the sedated lioness, we saw a male lion laying in ambush next to the sedated lioness waiting for us to come out of the car.

We asked the vet to try to also dart this male lion, because even though they were from the same pride, they will have very different behaviour and movement patterns. Males have larger home rangers and will leave females from time to time to go on territorial patrols, while females usually have smaller home rangers and move less. Furthermore, this would increase the safety of the team trying to collar the lioness.

After a wild chase, the KWS vet managed to dart the lion from the car. When this male was darted, we heard a loud roar and asked Dr. Poghon whether there was possible a third lion in the area - but he assured us he darted the lion that made the noise. The sedated lion was taken into the KWS car and later placed next to its sedated companion.

Oldere and Ormaoi

On close inspection, we noticed that the female was quite muscular and appeared to have male "parts". This was one of the famous mane-less males of Tsavo! These two brothers were moving together as a bachelor group. We decided there was no reason to collar both males of such a group as they might stay together for years. The collar was placed on the one with the man, as it is mostly likely dominant over his mane-less brother. The male collar was far too big to fit properly, so we decided to put on a female collar. The two brothers were named Ormaoi (meaning part of a twin in Maa) and Oldere (refers to grey - whitish colour of the lions coat).

After measuring and treating the lions with necessary health boosters, the antidote was given. To our surprise, after just a few minutes, the mane-less male jumped up and ran away in the darkness - - nobody saw that coming!

Then suddenly the silhouette of a big lion with a full mane appeared in the distance. Seconds later the big maned lion attacked the still partly sedated maneless male, while its brother was still asleep in front of out car. We suspected the young brothers to have come into the territory of the big male who was now investigating our calling station. We told the vet to quickly dart the big male before it could seriously injure the partly sedated young mane-less male.

Lorpolosie fast asleep!

Another wild case resulted in the vet also darting the big male! As a car arrived to watch over the other 2 males, another car managed to find the newly darted big male lion; he was considerably bigger than the others and estimated to be 8 years old. He was in the company of a female lion with 3 - 4 7 month old cubs. The lioness quickly ran off with her cubs to take coverage in the nearby lava.

Measuring the canine length of Lorpolosie - 5.5 cm

The decision was made to also collar this big dominant male with the big male collar. After measurements were taken, this big male was moved about 2 kilometres away to ensure that the fighting males would not immediately meet each other after recovery from the sedation. This male was known by the Simba Scouts, and was named Lorpolosie, meaning "boundaries". He has a large territory on Kuku Group Ranch, but also extends onto neighbouring group ranches.

Translocating Lorpolosie 2 km away so the 2 other males would not attack him

We received a report that the maneless male came back to have a look its collared brother, as he recovered after 30 minutes and left together into the bush. Keeping a watch on the 2nd collared male lion, the other MWCT vehicle moved onto the second calling station. Unfortunately by this time it was quite late (4:30 a.m.) and we did not manage to call any lions at this last position of the evening.

Conservation Managers (Lana & Dirk) with Simba Scouts and Simba Scout Coordinator 

Wow - what a couple of days it has been!

Lion Collaring Expedition - Day Three

As you can imagine by this point in the process... slowly the team started to get a little anxious, time was definitely running out. Two days without collaring a lion: the pressure was on with only a few more days left.

We decided to change our strategy so in addition to the sound playbacks, we used bait as well. We obtained two goat carcasses that were killed by lions the previous night in Oltiasika to attract lions, in addition to the call up sounds. More than an hour before dark we arrived at the calling station site close to where we saw the lion the previous night. The stomach of the goat carcass was punctured and the carcass was dragged behind the car in a 100 meter radius around the location of the calling station. After dragging, the carcass was hung high into a tree close by.

Carcass hanging in the tree behind the car of the vet

Even before we started playing the sounds, the first spotted hyena showed and we feared the area would soon be infested with spotted hyenas. Then a pair of jackals started barking in the distance and all the spotted hyenas left the area.

Night fell, and so we started playing the sound of a buffalo calf in distress followed by the pig squeal. After more than 3 hours of calling we started to worry that the lions would not come at all. Then suddenly a large growl of a lion was heard next to the vehicle. Everybody in the team that has collared a lion before knew what that meant... a lion was hit by a dart. A rush of adrenaline and excitement. We got it!

Spotlights were switched on and the cars drove around through the bush in search of the darted lion as it ran off into the long grass and dense bush for safety after being hit by the dart. Fortunately, the KWS team spotted the lion, 150 meters away from the darting site.

The KWS vet drove the car close to the lioness and poked it with the dart gun to ensure it was properly sedated before we got out of the car to start the collaring. Measurements of teeth, paws, nose-tail length, shoulder height was taken. Was had approximately 45 minutes to do the job white MWCT rangers and Simba Scouts were on the lookout for possible other lions in the area that might have come to the rescue.

Collaring team with Namunyak

It was a young lioness of about 3 years old in a healthy condition. She was named Namunyak meaning "lucky one". To further boost her condition Dr. Poghon injected some vitamins and antibiotics, and also treated her for ticks and lion lies. When everybody was finished, the antidote was given. A MWCT car was called to come with new Simba Scouts to monitor the recovery of the lioness to ensure she was not harassed by hyenas or other lions that may wish to take advantage of her vulnerable state.

Taking measurements: nose-tail length of Namunyak

After the collaring of Namunyak, the collaring team proceeded to another location where Simba Scouts had seen 5 lions earlier that day. The team stayed out calling up to 5:00 a.m. but no lions showed up, in which they decided to head back to the camp. At that time we received a message from the Simba Scouts that the newly collared lioness had fully recovered and moved safely into the lava bushland. A good sign, as this habitat is a safe hide-out for lions on Kuku Group Ranch.

Lion Collaring Expedition - Day Two

The Conservation Team shares the next days' events in the lion collaring process!

The lion collaring operation continues onto day two! We decided to still push for the collaring of the lone female lion close to the Campi ya Kanzi airstrip. During the day time, Dr. Poghon collected night vision equipment from the rhino sanctuary in Tsavo West National Park to avoid the use of spotlights that might put off lions and increase our capability to detect lions. We help the first call up close to the airstrip, but now in an area with a few more shrubs to cover the visibility of the two vehicles. We decided to no longer use the sounds of feeding hyenas as it attracts too many spotted hyenas, which may in turn intimidate a lone young lioness to come.

Just before dark, shortly after we started playing the sound of the pig squeal, the lioness suddenly appeared and walked around the cars, but then quickly disappeared again into the bush. Everyone including the vet was caught by surprise as we did not expect the lion to react so quickly. Unfortunately the vet did not manage to dart the lion before it disappeared out of range. The lioness was very cautious and stayed on the periphery for almost two hours sitting and looking at us, but not daring to come close.

In a desperate attempt, the vehicle started and the vet tried to move towards the lioness. Unfortunately the lioness sensed danger and disappeared into the darkness not to return again.

Although a bit disappointed that we did not manage to collar the lioness, our hopes raised as there was a lion in the area attracted by our calling station.

Later that night we spotted three pairs of red eyes along the road on our way to the next call up site, and so decided to do another calling station close to the Campi ya Kanzi lodge. During this calling station, spotted hyenas showed up, and a leopard!

Four hours later we moved to our last location of the night near Longido. After a few hours without seeing any predators and again a lot of rain, we decided to stop.

Surely the next night we would have better luck...

Lion Collaring Expedition - Day One

Continued description of the intricate lion collaring process that occurred just recently. This is what happened on Day 1!

In the morning before the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) vet arrived, MWCT rangers discovered zebra carcass close to the Chyulu Conservation and Research Center (CCRC). It was not killed by predators, but died of natural cause and it looked like perfect lion bait. In the late afternoon, when the KWS vet arrived, he inspected the carcass and rejected it, as it might have died from anthrax - a dangerous but common disease among wildlife in Kenya.

On the first night of the collaring operation, we went to the airstrip of Campi ya Kanzi and played sounds of warthogs, buffalos in distress, and feeding hyenas to attract lions within the vicinity. Except for over 10 spotted hyenas and a pair of black-backed jackals, no lions showed up (although we were pretty certain they were in the area as there had been regular sightings by Simba Scouts and Campi ya Kanzi personnel). There can be many reasons for a lion not responding to a calling station. When lions are full after feeding on a carcass, it is likely that they will not respond to a buffalo calf or a warthog in distress. Furthermore, lions can move large distances during one night (more than 15 km) and resting places can be different every day. After 4 hours of calling, we decided to relocate to a new position.

This map indicated the locations of the calling stations.
The yellow circles indicate calling station positions without lion sightings. The pins indicate the positions where fresh lion tracks were found; blue pins vare verified observations by conservation managers; organs pins are Simba Scout lion observations; green pins are community observations; and red pins indicate location of livestock predation incident by lions

The second position was closer to the seasonal river. Again, drooling spotted hyenas came running towards the sound, expecting a nice meal. After 4 hours of calling, there was still no sign of any lions. We decided to try our last location near Longido to attract some of the lions that have visited the waterhole at Campi ya Kanzi the previous week. During this call up, heavy rains set in and after an hour it was decided to call it a day and go back to camp. The rains prevented the sounds from travelling a big distance and the visibility became constrained.

After this first night, we realized that the task to collar lions on Kuku Group Ranch is by no means an easy one...

Stay tuned to the blog for what happened next!

Lion Collaring Expedition - Preparation

As you may have read previously, MWCT planned to collar 4 new lions on Kuku Group Ranch with iridium satellite GPS collars to learn more about lion behaviour on community land and ensure a better protection of lions. These collars allow us to see lion movement on the group ranch in real time and enable the Simba Scouts to check more often on the lion's well-being and diet.

We have compiled the story of this extensive process that took place at the end of November. We are very happy to share day-by-day, the excitement, frustration, failures, and successes of this process with you on the blog!

At the end of October, the new GPS collars were picked up in South Africa. After the collars arrived at MWCT headquarters the appointment for the lion collaring was made as soon as possible with the KWS vet, who would assist us during the collaring operation. The vet was only available from the 25th - 29th of November.

This meant that our team needed to collar the 4 lions in the middle of the rainy season in only 4 days - not an easy task! Other lion researchers said suggested scheduling 8 days to collar the 4 lions on this community group ranch, as these lions are more elusive and difficult to track compared to lions in protected areas such as national parks. We immediately realized the challenge ahead of us was a great one, and began extensive planning to maximize knowledge on the lion presence on the group ranch prior to collaring.

Simba Scouts were hard at work during the preparation for this collaring

In the weeks prior to this process, vast areas were scanned for lion tracks and Maasai herders in the field were asked about lion prescence. Lions on community land such as this are generally very shy and cunning and hide away in lava flows and dense bush during the day - making tracking extremely difficult!

Searching for lion prints is difficult in the rainy season as they frequently get washed away

Prior to the arrival of the vet, we created a clear plan on where to collar the lions. We aimed for 3 lionesses and 1 male. We set up call-up locations (sound playbacks that attracts predators i.e. sound of a buffalo calf in distress, pig squeal, sound of hyenas on a carcass, and the roaring of a territorial male) in 3 locations on the group ranch. These locations were at least 2 kilometres away from seasonal bomas to prevent these luring lions incidentally towards the cattle bomas.

And then the collaring expedition begins.... Stay tuned to the blog for the next story soon!

Education Program Update - End of Term at Kanzi Academy

Jambo from the Kanzi Academy! We have had some rather busy days lately. Last week we spent much time revising in preparation for this weeks' exams, which are now over! All the children have performed well and now look forward to the last two days of term where we shall be doing a bit of communal cleaning before playing lots of games! Weather permitting, we will make sure we get a last minute swim in too!

Head Teacher with Class 2

Last weekend, we went to Tembo House of Campi ya Kanzi to 'help' decorate the Christmas tree. The children are still talking about it now. They really had so much fun. Some of the children had never seen a Christmas tree or shiny lights and decorations before!

Pre Unit and Class 2 with the beautiful tree in Tembo House!

So... from the Kanzi Academy, and a slightly tired Head Teacher, I would, on behalf of the whole team and I, like to wish you all a great Christmas, and more importantly, a very Happy New Year! Watch this space for more updates on learning in the bush in January!

Kindest wishes - Sarah.

Health Program Update - New Solar Lights and a New Bicycle

Solar lights have been installed at Olorika and Oltiasika dispensaries as a result of Lena's (MWCT Health Program Development Director) fundraising efforts and the Ian Hicks Foundation. We have made a short video capturing the thoughts of the health works on the installation of the lights. The community then slaughtered a goat to celebrate the exciting occasion.

You can find the video by clicking here.

Health workers at Olorika Dispensary with the new solar ights

Daniel at Olorika showing off the new lights!

Letter of appreciation from health workers at Olorika dispensary

We are also happy to announce that a new bicycle has been given to a community health worker from Langata. Shadrack walks for 8 kilometres to Langata dispensary every day to assist the other health workers. 

Shadrack very happy with his new bicycle!

Now, with his new bicycle, he is able to get to the hospital much faster. He repeatedly told the MWCT health staff that he will never be late again! We hope that it will further motivate Shadrack to continue to effectively assist the community through his efforts within our health program. 

Shadrack receiving his bicycle from Wanyama, MWCT's clinical officer in Lanagata