Conservation Program Update - Summary of Efforts

We have just recently compiled our quarterly report for the MWCT Conservation Program efforts. MWCT Community Wildlife Rangers have been hard at work patrolling Kuku Group Ranch, and have provided a summary of incidents for July, August, and September.

Through the employment of nearly 100 community Rangers and Simba Scouts, we aim to continually prevent illegal wildlife activity, reduce human/wildlife conflict, and monitor the impacts on the biodiversity here on Kuku Group Ranch.

During the third quarter of 2013, we are happy to announce that no elephants were killed on the Group Ranch. Zero tusks were retrieved by poachers during this time, and no elephants were injured by spears - all very positive news!

This map indicates different ranger sectors during security patrols on Kuku Group Ranch.

As you can see, the sectors in the Chyulu Hills (top right corner) have done an

excellent job patrolling to curb poaching!

One lion was killed by a Maasai warrior in Olorika this quater. The lions were predating on a cow, so the warriors proceeded to hunt it. A MWCT team of Simba Scouts, Rangers, and community elders ventured out in attempts to stop the hunt from occurring, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful.

Fortunately, no hyena or leopards were killed, and one lion hunt was prevented from occurring, and 10 arrests took place by MWCT Rangers for the purposes of: illegal bushmeat poaching, illegal charcoal burning and bushlogging, and illegal giraffe poaching.

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Numerous forms of community outreaches took place by Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust staff this quarter. They are as follows:

A community outreach was organized after an attempted lion hunt in Kuku village this quarter. The Group Ranch officials, chiefs, the Kenya Wildlife Service community warden, the district police, and MWCT spoke out to community members against lion hunts.  They warned the community that lion hunts will not be tolerated and that it is a criminal offence to kill wildlife.

It is this vast ecosystem that we are working so hard to protect

On August 31, community members from all over Kuku Group Ranch gathered at the Chyulu Conservation and Research Centre to celebrate the winning of the UNDP Equator Prize for grass roots initiatives. Representatives from UNDP, KWS, and the group ranch officials gave speeches on the importance of conservation, community engagement, and congratulated MWCT on its successes.

The preparation for Wildlife Pays payouts in every zone has finished. At the end of this quarter, a MWCT team of conservation, health, and education staff will plan to visit the whole of Kuku Group Ranch and talk to the community about the goals of MWCT and to raise further support for our efforts within the community - a crucially important aspect in the mobilization of knowledge to community members to further increase buy-in to the Trust programs.

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Moreover, the Wildlife Pays program was busy this quarter. There was a total of 334 wildlife predation incidents reported. The majority of these incidents were due to hyena predation, followed by jackal, and cheetah.

The cheetah - a major stakeholder in livestock predation

A total of 460 heads of livestock predated were reported (cows, goats, sheep, and donkeys). The majority of these livestock were killed by hyena, then by lion, cheetah, and jackal.

The second highest predator to livestock on Kuku Group Ranch

The total value of the payout towards these incidents was 1 728 200 Ksh. Hyena were responsible for 50.9% of the compensation paid, 21.4% to jackal predation, and 9% for lion predation.