BUGOMA FOREST THREATENED BY SUGAR PLANTATION

THE RISING RIFT VALLEY LAKES

GROUND HORNBILL ITS CURVED EYELASHES THE ENVY OF A MANNEQUIN

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Visit our website: www.eawildlife.org 4 | JANUARY - MARCH 2021 BIODIVERSITY 28 Jeffrey Wu discovers a vantage spot in the Maasai Mara from where to observe and photograph nocturnal wildlife activities.

34 The Ground Hornbill: Rupert Watson explains the salient characteristics of this fascinating bird.

39 Kari Mutu reports on an effort to rewild grasslands to restore the habitat of an endangered FRONTLINE antelope species. 05 Director’s Letter 06 News Update 43 Rupi Mangat revisits Kenya’s fascinating Amboseli National Park and reports that there was an elephant OPINION baby boom there in 2020. 12 Kaddu Sebunya urges greater effort to nurture nature in 2021. PADDOCK DIARIES 45 Brian Finch tells the story of ‘Blinky’, the one- 16 Denis Macharia Muthike argues that eyed migratory Great Spotted Eagle returning to the conservancies are key to boosting the welfare of Nairobi National Park. Kenya’s indigenous people. PORTFOLIO CONSERVATION 50 Delta Willis profiles broadcaster and natural 18 Rupi Mangat explains the phenomenon of swelling historian David Attenborough. lakes in Kenya’s Rift Valley. ON SAFARI 21 Kang-Chun Cheng looks into how marine 53 Adventure travel writer Chris Whittaker resources can be better managed to boost the “accidentally” escapes lockdown in Britain to spend livelihood of coastal communities. time on safari in Tanzania during the pandemic.

25 Gerald Tenywa reports on a controversial decision BOOK REVIEW to clear a swathe of a natural forest to make way for a 56 Kari Mutu reviews Impressions of Amboseli by sugar plantation in western Uganda. Sophie Walbeoffe and Cynthia Mosss.

JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | 5 BOARD MEMBERS Davinder Sikand William Pike Otekat John Emily Cissy Walker Matt Walpole JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | VOLUME 46 | NUMBER 1 Michael Wamithi Elizabeth Migongo-Bake

EAWLS MISSION The East African Wild Life Society is a trailblazing conservation organisation dedicated to helping protect the environment and promoting prudent use of natural resources in the region. The Society carries out its mandate mainly The Impala is the symbol of the East African through advocacy, implementing conservation Wild Life Society. SWARA is the Swahili word programmes, supporting field research, advancing for Antelope environmental education, promoting sustainable development and inspiring people through The East African Wild Life Society vibrant events on wildlife and environmental conservation. @eawildlife

EAWLS WORLDWIDE REPRESENTATIVES USA WHY SUPPORT US Mr & Mrs Harry Ewell East Africa is rich in plant and animal Financial Representatives biodiversity. A partnership with the East 200 Lyell Avenue Spencerport African Wild Life Society is a great way NY 14559-1839 COVER PHOTO: LION for individuals and organisations to help BY JEFFREY WU conserve the region’s iconic species. Grant Winther Your contribution will help restore and 867 Taurnic Pl. NW Bainbridge Island, safeguard habitats, including forests and WA 98110 wetland ecosystems; protect wildlife EDITOR and marine life while promoting John Nyaga UNITED KINGDOM (UK) sustainable use of natural resources [email protected] Nigel Winser for the benefit of current and future The Old Forge, Brook End, Chadlington, generations. Nature sustains livelihoods EDITORIAL BOARD Oxfordshire. OX7 3NF (01608 676 042) and forms the foundation on which our Nigel Hunter UK mobile - 07495 469941 economies thrive. Your membership William Pike [email protected] offers you tangible benefits and Lucy Waruingi allows you to participate in impactful Delta Willis NETHERLANDS programmes while benefiting from the visibility that the partnership affords. Irene Amoke Stichting EAWLS Ridderhoflaan 37 2396 C J Koudekerk A/D RIJN DESIGN & LAYOUT George Okello SWITZERLAND Copyright©2020 Bernhard Sorgen SWARA is a quarterly magazine owned and CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS Erlenweg 30 8302 Kloten pub­lished by the East African Wild Life So­ci­e­ty, Rose Chemweno a non-prof­it or­gan­isa­tion formed in 1961. Views FINLAND, SWEDEN & NORWAY expressed in this magazine are not necessarily the ADVERTISING & SALES Roseanna Avento views of the publishers. No part of this publica- Gideon Bett [email protected] tion may be reproduced by any means whatsoever +358405355405 without the written consent of the editor. Opin­ PATRONS ions ex­pressed by con­trib­u­tors are not nec­es­sar­i­ly The President of Ken­ya AFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY the official view of the Society. SWARA ac­cepts The President of Tan­za­nia The African Journal of Ecology is Published by the in­for­ma­tion given by con­trib­u­tors as correct. The President of Ugan­da Wiley – Blackwell in association with East African Wild Life Society. Purchase a copy of this Journal CHAIRPERSON at Wiley Online Library: wileyonlinelibrary.com/ Elizabeth Gitari journal/aje

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6 | JANUARY6 | JANUARY - MARCH - MARCH 2021 2021 Uganda’s Bugoma Forest Must Not Be Destroyed for Private Gain

ome 5,770 hectares of Assessment (ESIA) report. It is Bugoma Forest Reserve unfortunate that a state regulatory in western Uganda have body mandated to protect the reportedly been leased to environment would endorse the HoimaS Sugar Ltd who will clear the destruction of a public forest to woodland to make way for a sugar make way for a sugar plantation that plantation. The process of converting benefits a private entity. forestland into farmland is being The Rai Group has a large footprint carried out in blatant disregard of in the manufacture of wood products laws on environmental protection. in East Africa, including Kenya, Some sources say that a Kenyan and has also been implicated in the company, the Rai Group, is a destruction of the Mau Forest in shareholder in Hoima Sugar and is Kenya through logging, according providing the necessary management to press reports. Mau Forest is a key expertise. water tower. It is a catchment for According to Uganda’s National crucial rivers such as the Ewaso Nyiro Forest Authority (NFA), remote and the Mara rivers, whose volumes sensing surveys show that 190ha of have been in decline, largely due to the forest have already been degraded deforestation. despite an injunction issued by the Allowing Hoima Sugar Limited to Uganda Cabinet stopping any clearing convert Bugoma Forest Reserve to of woodland until the boundaries a sugar plantation means a double have been demarcated. gain for the shareholders of Hoima Bugoma Forest Reserve is a Sugar. Besides growing sugar, they but the High Court reinstated the tropical natural forest that is rich in will benefit from the sale of the document on legal technicalities. biodiversity, including endangered mature timber in the cleared area. Handing back tracts of land to chimpanzees. It is also a water At an estimated value of $65,000 tribal kingdoms in Uganda does not catchment for Lake Albert and a per hectare, Hoima Sugar will make allow them to lay claim to natural migratory corridor for wildlife. It was a windfall gain of US $37.5 million resources which still belong to the gazetted as a forest reserve in 1932 from clearing the Bugoma Forest for central government, but this is what and placed under the management sugar cultivation. is happening in Bugoma Forest. of NFA. The forest covers a total of A scrutiny of the ESIA report The NFA is seeking a fresh hearing 41,144ha. shows that the proposed activities at the Court of Appeal and the East The spectre of encroachment was will cause great damage to the forest African Court of Justice and intends unleashed in August 2016 when ecosystem. It does not make sense to submit new evidence. In the the Ministry of Lands, Housing to destroy a natural forest and then meantime, the contested forest area and Urban Development issued seek to plant trees in the “buffer is being cleared with workers and a title deed for 5,770ha (about 22 zones” as suggested in the ESIA equipment guarded by armed police, square miles) of Bugoma Forest report. Governments cannot purport soldiers and private security guards, to Bunyoro-Kitara tribal kingdom to support ecosystem restoration according to environmental activists without following the legal process of and reverse biodiversity loss while who have visited the area. degazettement. destroying the environment for An advocacy campaign On August 14, 2020, Uganda’s private profit. “#SaveBugomaForest” has National Environment Management The NFA has severally sued been initiated by local civil society Authority (NEMA) issued a certificate the Bunyoro Kingdom for aiding organisations that have the support of of approval to the Hoima Sugar and abetting the encroachment several European Union envoys. Limited project. The permit was of Bugoma Forest but lost both granted without the legally required cases. The Commissioner of land Nancy Ogonje involvement of the public in the registration even cancelled the title Executive Director, Environment and Social Impact deed issued to the Kingdom in 2016 East African Wild Life Society

JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | 7 NEWS ROUND-UP

UN Study Warns over Coral Bleaching A new United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report says worldwide mass coral bleaching events, like the one that began in 2014, could become the norm in the coming decades. The report’s updated climate models demonstrate that coral bleaching is happening faster than anticipated and that the future health of the world’s reefs is inextricably tied to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Time is of the essence for marine species, human Kenyan among UNEP’s livelihoods and the still unknown treasures in our vastly unexplored 2020 Young Champions oceans, the report said. of the Earth Nzambi Matee, a 29-year-old Kenyan materials engineer and head of Gjenge Makers, a company that produces sustainable low-cost construction materials made of recycled plastic waste and sand, was among seven scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and activists from across the world named by UN Environment Programme (UNEP) as 2020 Young Champions of the Earth.

Former Forest Poachers Kenyan among winners of Turn to Fruit Farming Tusk Conservation Awards Residents of the foothills of Mount Eburu John Kamanga, the Executive in the Kenyan Rift Valley have taken to fruit Director of the South Rift farming to conserve Eburu Forest through a Association of Land Owners sustainable income-generating project that (SORALO) in Kenya, was one eschews logging and poaching to protect of the winners of this year’s endangered species and their habitats.The Tusk Conservation Awards that project of is the work of Eburu Fruit Farmers recognise the efforts of leading Association, a community-based organisation. conservationists in Africa. The Some of the current fruit farmers are former awards were launched by UK’s poachers who have now found a new source Prince William in 2013 to celebrate of income and are no longer engaged in the work of the most committed destructive, extractive activities. conservationists in Africa.

Fund Created for Conservancies Hit by Pandemic A $5 million fund has been created to help wildlife conservancies that border Kenya’s renowned Mara National Reserve to tide over the financial crisis brought on by the collapse of tourism because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Established by the nonprofit Conservation International in partnership with the Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association (MMWCA), the Maasai Mara Rescue Fund is offering short- to medium-term loans to the conservancies to help them cover lease payments they owe to local communities who own the land. The conservancies operate on land owned by the indigenous Maasai people, who lease it to them for tourism operations, which in turn fund conservation efforts that drive wildlife tourism.

8 | JANUARY - MARCH 2021 NEWS ROUND-UP

Amboseli versus Avocados EAWLS is In August 2020, Kenya’s National Management Plan, expanding Environment Management the existing Amboseli Ecosystem excited to Authority (NEMA) granted a Management Plan that covers welcome the company called KiliAvo a licence the park and beyond. Balala said for mixed agricultural activities, that no land meant for wildlife following new including growing avocado and livestock will be converted members within Kimana wildlife corridor to other uses with effect from in Amboseli National Park. The January 2021. corridor is vital for elephants and KENYA other migrating wildlife species However, the new park NATASHA NASHIPAE that move between Amboseli and management plan and Balala’s RICHARD KIRUNDI the Tsavo ecosystem to the east. statement are not legally binding KALEB MWENDWA ADAMBA and cannot be used as a basis ALEXANDRA BELL Kenyans voiced their concerns to nullify the farming licence KAILASH HARIHARAN IYER to NEMA and the matter is now granted by NEMA. Avocado NICOLE CHERUIYOT being litigated at the National is a coveted fruit. It contains Environmental Tribunal (NET). nutritious vitamins essential UGANDA Sadly, the developer continues for good human health. The BUSONGA ELIEZAH TITUS to work on the project. Clearing bone of contention is that an MOSES ESABU the area for agricultural activities avocado plantation in Amboseli DOREEN ALUPO goes against the permitted land is misplaced. In a world where RONALD ZZIWA use according to the Amboseli natural habitats are dwindling, Land Owners Conservancies avocados and agriculture are a USA Association Management Plan major threat to wildlife. JUDITH LANE In December 2020, Najib Balala, -Rupi Mangat BRANDI A TOLSMA the Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife, launched See related articles on pg AUSTRALIA the Amboseli National Park 42 & 56 PETER ATKINSON

We Need to Do More to Save Our Planet he unsustainable Education (IGCSE) at Lukenya actions of the world’s School in Kenya. human population are My strong belief that I can make massively changing the a difference is what pushes me Tenvironment for the worse. If we to participate in environmental don’t act to save our planet, we protection and wildlife conservation. will continue to experience the At school, I was part of the terrible consequences of climate Environmental Task Force that change and loss of biodiversity. developed and implemented plans Nicole Cherop The younger generations will to conserve our dry-land school bear the brunt of the adverse compound. Now I want to do even waste disposal and management, consequences of climate change. more for the environment -- to environment-friendly living, and Wildlife is also in crisis with an create a greater impact. I want to the consequences of mistreating increasing number of species do this very seriously, but also to Earth’s fragile ecosystems. We facing extinction. It is truly make conservation a fun activity. humans need to change for our heartbreaking to watch everything Everybody can participate! survival, and the survival of other deteriorate while too few people Change begins at home. Where species. We, therefore, need to act are doing something about a else to start than in Kenya with local before it is too late. crisis that affects us all. This expertise? Citizenship education on is why I have taken interest in this issue should be a major priority. Nicole is the winner of her conservation. We should spread awareness of school’s 2020 Principal’s I am 17-years-old and I recently climate change and solutions to the Award. She donated her completed my International problem. We should all learn about prize money to the East General Certificate of Secondary ways to coexist with wildlife, proper African Wild Life Society.

JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | 9 Become a Member The East African Wild Life Society (EAWLS) is the oldest conservation organisation in East Africa working towards enhancing the conservation and wise use of the environment and natural resources for the benefits of current and future generations. By supporting EAWLS, you will be supporting our conservation and advocacy teams’ mission to safeguard, protect and conserve the habitat and wildlife. As a member of EAWLS you will be part of an organisation that uses its experience, influence, reputation and respected voice to ensure that there is sound governance of our natural heritage for the good of all. Categories of Membership & Annual Rates EAWLS Membership is available for both corporates and individuals and we have special rates for families and students. As a member of EAWLS you are entitled to free copies of the Swara Magazine and discounted rates on events and merchandise. The different categories of membership have different annual rates.

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12 | JANUARY - MARCH 2021 JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | 13 JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | 13 OPINION

In 2021, Nature Needs Our Urgent Help

in ecological rather than economic It is not a matter of choice between terms. In some of these discourses, either of them. The question is what ecological and economic are concessions we need to make to s we usher in the perceived as conflicting goals. ensure both thrive. This needs to new year, it is only Three interconnected issues be driven through a definition of prudent that we take in Africa – wildlife conservation, the African we all want now and for Astock of 2020 to forge biodiversity preservation, and climate future Africans. an intentional path towards our change – will be critically important Covid-19 has shown the world that objectives. to preserving global health in the overnight transformational change is The year 2020 will go down in the coming decade. Yet we are losing possible. A different world, a different history books as the year that saw the ground currently on all three. economy is suddenly dawning. There whole world come to a standstill – for We know that Africa’s natural is an unprecedented opportunity to months on end. resources constitute a significant move away from unmitigated growth And while we are not yet in the share of the world’s natural resource at all cost and the old fossil fuel clear, the predominant message wealth, potentially more valuable economy and deliver a lasting balance remains that nature is in the ICU and than mineral wealth. The overarching between people, prosperity and our its organs are shutting down. Serious message is that far from being planetary boundaries. and urgent intervention is overdue. conflicting, Africa’s ecological and What does this mean to the citizens The reality is that Africa is the economic imperatives are convergent. of this world? The world is so flat that epicentre and it is only African leadership that can save the continent from further disarray. Most of the time, Africa’s natural resource policy and discourse is framed primarily

14 | JANUARY - MARCH 2021 NEWS ROUND-UP

To help preserve biodiversity this year, we need to define the Africa we want and the roles of governments, citizens, and Africa’s development partners. we, Africans, cannot do this on our own. This calls for a global reflection. We need to work together. For Africa, this is our opportunity, we are at the beginning of our development trajectory, through using the mistakes from the Western and Asian worlds as a benchmark to change our relationship with nature Kaddu Sebunya, CEO, African Wildlife Foundation on safari in Uganda. and define the role biodiversity will play in our aspirations. To help preserve biodiversity this and conservation not because they Africa’s wildlife and wildlands to year, we need to define the Africa we are more important, but because it is building African-led capacity – want and the roles of governments, necessary. supporting African leadership in citizens, and Africa’s development For conservation to succeed the management of the continent’s partners. What should governments this year, and for our efforts to be natural resources. do? What should financial impactful, nature must be given the This year, AWF will be celebrating institutions do? What changes in front seat – a higher priority. its 60th anniversary. In our human behaviour are we calling for? We know that stopping the illegal experience over the past six decades, Is it consumption or production? Is wildlife trade stems the spread of the most consistent lesson is that there a need to educate ourselves zoonotic diseases and that protecting conservation cannot succeed in differently? How will we live in our our forests leads to secure water Africa without the participation of urban centres? catchment areas, which in turn the people who live near wildlife and Are these the questions that will improves agriculture, food security benefit from it. That is why building push us in the right direction? and livelihoods. community resilience is an integral We are hoping that as African At African Wildlife Foundation part of the solution. governments review their budgets to (AWF), our goal is to move past We believe that impact investments fill the gaps exposed by Covid-19, they the traditional reliance on external have a tremendous opportunity will pay greater attention to nature description of conservation for and growing applications in the

JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | 15 new normal we face. In Africa today, economic opportunity or the lack thereof is the primary driver of unsustainable income-earning activities such as poaching, illegal wildlife trade and other ecosystem- damaging activities. We have long recognised the role the private sector has to play in supporting scalable, sustainable conservation solutions in Africa. As China takes on the leadership of the implementation of the next global biodiversity framework, it is encouraging to hear the great in-country strides they are making towards establishing a voluntary commitments mechanism. At the 2020 United Nations General Assembly, President Xi Jinping, acknowledged that biodiversity is the foundation, as well as the goal and a beyond their verbal commitments In this new year, let us remember tool of sustainable development. As by enforcing wildlife crime policies that prosperity for the people and Africa’s largest development partner, and implement accountable actions our planet will be possible only if we China has committed to undertake that will compel the change the world make bold decisions today so that projects that align with the concept needs. future generations can survive and of ecological civilization while This is the moment for all of us to thrive in a better world. shouldering its responsibility for rise to the challenge of collaborative global environmental governance. It leadership and work together to is now Africa’s responsibility to hold find pathways to emerge from this KADDU K. SEBUNYA is China accountable and responsible emergency with a global economic the CEO of African Wildlife for how the Asian country partners reset. People and nature must be at Foundation. with Africa. the centre of this deep transformation In 2021, we challenge the world and for redistribution, regeneration and African leaders to take further steps restoration.

16 | JANUARY - MARCH 2021 ACACIA ADVENTURE HERITAGE HOTELS OFFBEAT SAFARIS LTD HOLIDAYS LTD HIGHLIGHT TRAVEL LTD OLONANA AFRICAN CONSERVATION CENTRE HILLCREST INTERNATIONAL OL PEJETA CONSERVANCY AFRICAN QUEST SAFARIS SCHOOLS ORIGINS SAFARIS AFRICAN SAFARI COMPANY HOOPOE ADVENTURE TOURS TZ AFRICAN WILD LIFE FOUNDATION IDEAL TOURS AND TRAVEL PEAK EAST AFRICA LTD AFRICA HOUSE SAFARIS INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR POLLMAN’S TOURS & AIR TRAVEL AND RELATED ANIMAL WELFARE SAFARIS LTD ANNE KENT TAYLOR JAMES FINLAY (KENYA) LTD RED LANDS ROSES LTD ASHNIL HOTELS JUJA PREPARATORY SCHOOL ROBIN HURT SAFARIS (K) LTD ASILIA KENYA LTD RONDO RETREAT CENTRE ATUA ENKOP AFRICA LTD KAREN GABLES AUTOGRAPH SAFARIS KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE SAFE RIDE TOURS AND SAFARIS KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE LTD SAFARIS UNLIMITED BARNES D G INSTITUTE SARUNI SAFARI CAMP BASECAMP EXPLORER KER & DOWNEY SAFARIS LTD SATAO CAMP BORANA RANCH KIBO SLOPES SAFARIS LTD SATAO ELERAI LIMITED BUSH AND BEYOND KIBO AFRICA LTD SEIYA LTD KICHECHE MARA CAMP SOMAK TRAVEL LTD CAMP KENYA LTD KILIMA CAMP SOPA LODGES KENYA CENTRE FOR WILDLIFE MGT. SOUTHERN CROSS SAFARIS LTD STUDIES LAFARGE ECO SYSTEMS SOSIAN LODGE CHEMICALS & SOLVENTS (EA) LTD LET’S GO TOURS (SWITZERLAND) SIRAI MANAGEMENT LTD COTTARS CAMP LET’S GO TRAVEL SIRIKOI LTD CONSERVATION EQUITY LIMITED LLOYD MASIKA LTD SOUTHERN SUN MAYFAIR LOISABA CONSERVANCY NAIROBI DISCOVER KENYA SAFARIS STRATHMORE LAW SCHOOL MALIBA PHARMACY LIMITED SUNRISE OF AFRICA SCHOOL ELEWANA MAHALI MZURI MANAGEMENT LTD SWEDISH SCHOOL EL KARAMA TOURISM & MARA-MERU CHEETAH PROJECT WILDLIFE LIMITED MARA CONSERVATION FUND TAWI LODGE MASAI MARA WILDLIFE TAMARIND MANAGEMENT FINCH HATTONS LUXURY CONSERVANCIES ASSOCIATION UNITED MILLERS LTD TENTED CAMP MICATO SAFARIS UNGA GROUP LTD FOUR SEASONS SAFARI LODGE MINET KENYA INSURANCE SERENGETI (TZ) BROKERS LTD VINTAGE AFRICA LTD FRIENDS OF MAU WATERSHED MPALA RESEARCH CENTRE (FOMAWA) MWEKA COLLEGE OF AFRICA WETLANDS INTERNATIONAL WILD LIFE MANAGEMENT (TZ) WILDERNESS LODGES GAMEWATCHERS SAFARIS MUTHAIGA COUNTRY CLUB WILDLIFE SAFARI KENYA GREAT PLAINS WILLIAMSON TEA (K) LTD CONSERVATION LTD NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT WILDERBEEST TRAVELS LTD MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY (NEMA) HARRY P EWELL NAIBOR CAMPS

JANUARY - MARCH 20212021 || 1717 OPINION

Conservancies help indigenous people in Kenya Conservancies are an effective conservation model to ensure sustainable management of rangeland resources and the protection of wildlife habitats and community livelihood.

The funding allocation was also climate. The devastating drought significant because it recognized the of 2011 killed both livestock and important role of conservancies in wildlife in large numbers and more ndigenous communities and wildlife conservation, the protection than 3 million people were at the risk wildlife outside of protected of biodiversity and assets that of starvation before humanitarian areas in Kenya are staring at support the livelihoods of millions agencies stepped in to mitigate the a bleak future if concerted of indigenous people in arid and suffering and losses. I semi-arid lands in Kenya. Some 48 Besides droughts, political efforts are not made to protect them from greedy investors and disruptive per cent of the conservancies are in interference and weak land politics. community-owned land. The average tenure systems have had their In May of 2020, President Uhuru annual income from tourism exceeds negative impact on the survival of Kenyatta announced a $50 million $1 billion. Seventy per cent of that conservancies that are established stimulus package to support the contribution comes from wildlife on communal and public land. Local recovery of the tourism sector from conservation outside of national parks and international investors created the negative impact of the COVID-19 and reserves. a scramble for land for commercial pandemic. Part of this funding, $10 But these important biodiversity purposes. million, was allocated to the 160 areas are under increasing threats In areas such as the Maasai Mara wildlife conservancies in the country from human activities and a changing and Laikipia, subdivision and selling where more than 65 per cent of the wildlife live. This was crucial because unlike national parks and In May of 2020, President Uhuru Kenyatta reserves, conservancies rarely receive announced a $50 million stimulus package to government funding. They mainly rely on a percentage of tourism support the recovery of the tourism sector from profits. the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

18 | JANUARY - MARCH 2021 OPINION

LEFT PAGE occupied private ranches in search of more communal and public lands into Ol Pejeta is the largest black rhino pasture. Conflicts erupted between conservancies will fend off aggressive sanctuary in East Africa and home ranch owners and herders that and greedy investors whose interest to two of the world’s last remaining resulted in deaths of people, wildlife in individual profit is at variance northern white rhino. and livestock. While the search for with the survival of indigenous TOP pasture was the driving force behind communities and wildlife. Soysambu Conservancy is home to these conflicts, local politics by The government action to more than 450 bird species (28% of the influential politicians with interests in provide funds to support existing world's population of Lesser Flamingo) ownership of some of the land came conservancies should be seen and 10,000 mammals of over 50 species into play. as an important attempt to including 90+ Rothschild's Giraffe (10% of the world's population of this To mitigate these conflicts and acknowledge and validate the critical endangered species). secure access rights of indigenous importance of conservancies and communities to pasture and water a call to local administrations to resources, conservancies provide the promote sustainable growth that of community-owned land resulted most effective model to guarantee supports conservation through the in enclosures that have blocked sustainable management of rangeland establishment of more community- cattle and wildlife corridors. This resources and protection of wildlife run conservancies. has prevented free movement of habitats and community livelihood. pastoralists and their livestock across Hundreds of water points have grazing lands. As a result, and due been established and grazing DENIS MUTHIKE is an to increased livestock and human management plans developed to help Environmental Studies population, and recurring droughts, coordinate grazing and recovery of PhD Student at University conflicts have arisen. For example, pasture. Other programmes include of Colorado, Boulder. following the 2016 drought, more investment in education, health and than 10,000 pastoralists and 135,000 alternative livelihood for the local cattle moved into Laikipia and communities. The consolidation of

JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | 19 The Rise and Rise of Rift Valley Lakes The rise and fall of the water bodies may have been of little concern a century ago, but the current inundation threatens the rising human population in the Rift Valley

ambach. These lake people have discovered TOP the new route to Lake 94 to fish because Lake Baringo despite Baringo being at its highest level in shoreline on mainland with flooded lodges. t is surreal. We are sailing on the recorded history, fish in it are scarce. Instead, freshwater Lake Baringo in Kenya’s Rift the tiny Lake 94, which until now could only Valley when suddenly on its western be reached by road via Lake Bogoria, the shores we are at the wide mouth of alkaline neighbour, is thriving with tilapia, the I freshwater fish. River Molo. In normal years, this would be a narrow stream. Taken by surprise, we sail “It’s the re-evolution of the lakes,” said upstream into the unknown. Bonnie Dunbar, who had already lost one Checking our bearings, Google maps house to the Lake Baringo in 2013. She built indicates dry land, which means the map has another house on Ol Kokwe Island when the not been updated. On either side of the river’s lake was at least 50 feet below. Now she is flooded plains, it is lush green with grasses looking at the lake, which started rising again and reeds juxtaposed with dead trees, their in March, almost at her doorstep. trunks bare. A kilometre later, we reach a floating island The rising lakes blocking our path. Turning to Google again, The lakes of Africa’s Great Rift Valley yoyo Centimetres Lake Baringo is it shows us on the edge of Lake 94, the ox- between periods of complete dryness and rising per day bow formed after the torrential rainfall of flooding. Lake Victoria, the world’s largest according to 1994. Hanging from the dead trunks are the tropical lake, dried up twice 15,000 and experts. kadich of the local Njemps, the unique fishing 17,000 years ago. Now it is at its highest in rafts made from the buoyant plant called 120 years. Lake Baringo and all the other

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lakes are at their peak, too, yet Baringo also dried up in 1650 and 1720. Whereas the rise and fall of the water bodies may have been of little concern a century ago, today’s massive human population poses grave risk for people like the Njemp community on Ol Kokwe Island. “The island is getting smaller and smaller,” laments elderly Natana Leahriach. In 2019, the lake was 174 km2. As of September 2020, it is has expanded to 284 km2 and is rising by 2.5 centimetres per day according to experts. The likelihood of the freshwater Baringo and its neighbour, the alkaline Bogoria, merging, now seems a reality. The two lakes used to be at least 30 kilometres apart. Natana is concerned that he could be forced to move to higher ground on the island, now separated into three islets with the islanders having to sail between them. The bridge spanning the islets after the lake rose in 2014 In 2019, the lake was 174 km2. As of is completely submerged as is the former hospital and many lakeshore buildings. September 2020, it is has expanded to 284 2 Natana is also concerned about the lack of fish km and is rising by 2.5 centimetres per day because there has been no aid in terms of food according to experts. relief from the government. No advice on how to come with the challenging situation has been forthcoming either. downpours devastating parts of East Africa TOP LEFT and the Horn of Africa. Woman fishing from The Indian Ocean Dipole Olivier Hamerlynk explains the phenomena her verandah on flooded lake. The phenomenon of rising lakes is partly due of the dipole. An affiliate of the National to heavy rainfall in East Africa and the Horn Museums of Kenya, he has co-authored TOP RIGHT of Africa because of the Indian Ocean Dipole, several scientific papers on major floodplains Lake Baringo which occurred in 1961, 1994 and 1997. and water bodies in Africa. “Basically, the Ol Kokwe island According to a research paper by John dipole occurs when the Indian Ocean heats flooded school Marsham of the University of Leeds, UK, and up. This causes the easterly winds to push entrance. colleagues, the 2019 heavy rainfall was caused away the ocean moisture from land. This pulls BELOW RIGHT by warm waters in the western Indian Ocean in the rain clouds from Lake Victoria and House flooded in also called a positive ‘Indian Ocean Dipole’ the Congo Basin to the western parts of East Ol Kokwe island in or the ‘Indian Niño’ because of its similarity Africa and the Rift and that is why there is Lake Baringo. to its Pacific equivalent. This led to the Lake more rain over there.” Victoria basin experiencing 150 to 200 per According to Andrew Turner, a lecturer cent of its annual rainfall, pushing it to the in monsoon systems at the UK’s University near record-breaking level, including heavy of Reading, extreme weather events are

JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | 21 Water Level in Lakes Begin to Drop Visiting the Rift Valley in late December 2020, the author noticed that water level in the lakes had begun to drop. Bonnie Dunbar of Island Camp Baringo said Lake Baringo started going down around 1st December when the seasonal rivers started to dry up and the Perkerra and Molo [rivers) slowed down.”Perkerra is no longer the raging river the author saw in mid-2020. It is now a trickle before it reaches the lake. Apparently, the Indian dipole theory holds

predicted to become more common in cultivation within these “protected” riparian TOP the future as greenhouse gas emissions zones. Bridge connecting increase. If the emissions continue to rise, the “More rainfall runs off as stormwater, and the two isles of Ol Kokwa Island. The frequency of extreme positive dipole events these floods are increasing in severity and bridge is completely would increase this century from one every are conveying sediment down the rivers. The submerged. 17.3 years to one every 6.3 years. lakes are the terminus, and hence they fill This translates to much more flooding and with sediment, pushing water levels upwards, heavy rainfall with damaging impacts on and overwhelming larger areas. For example, crops, the infrastructure and flooding in East all the farms one sees under water in Naivasha Africa. are within the designated riparian zone and should not be there.” No river forests to hold the rage The rivers flowing into Baringo are in spate. Into the future Save for the perennial Perkerra, which Projecting rainfall patterns, droughts and originates from the Mau Forest, the rivers are natural phenomena is increasingly on the usually dry riverbeds under the burning sun. upswing with the use of modern technology “When the rivers are full, the lakes rise,” such as the satellite-derived data freely said Dunbar. That simple remark does not available online. explain the devastating effect of deforestation It is up to governments to support across East Africa. Studying water quality good science and research and to use in the Naivasha Basin, Nic Pacini, puts it recommendations by the experts to plan into context. “This means that deforested concerning present-day climate variability catchments do not retain water as before and and future climate change. In the absence of that much of it flushes directly downstream.” this, the people and economies of many parts Nairobi-based engineer Sean Avery concurs. of East Africa will be in great peril. “The critical factor governing changing runoff patterns is the rising human population RUPI MANGAT writes about travel which puts pressure on land use especially in and environmental issues and is the water catchment areas, degrading them the editor of the Wildlife Clubs of through deforestation and illegal destruction Kenya magazine, Komba. of riparian zones and the common-place

22 | JANUARY - MARCH 2021 Towards Sustainable Marine Management on the Kenyan Coast While overfishing and human activity indubitably contribute to the environmental degradation that impacts local fishing industries, climate change cannot be ignored.

Many artisanal fishers - those who employ BELOW low-technology and low-capital traditional Malindi fishermen methods - still use motorized dhows drawing in the lines from a morning (traditional boats). Their work alternates alindi on Kenya’s Indian catch. The fishing Ocean coast is the largest between exciting, monotonous, and even communities in urban centre in Kilifi County. downright dangerous. Malindi are mainly The beaches are crowded Most fishermen receive pittance wages composed of small- M for risking their lives day after day. Tropical scale fishermen. with fishermen both at dawn and in the late The majority of afternoon. They bring in their hauls of fish, coasts around the world have been hit by the impacts of climate change, the COVID-19 the fishermen use crabs, and prawns right to the shore, where such fishing gear as fishmongers and local women wait to pick pandemic and stagnant tourism. Small-scale traditional wire traps, through the day’s catch. fishers have fared the worst. While there is hand lines, castnets Octopus divers can be found in the waters, more uncertainty than ever about the long- and/or beach seines. swimming great lengths for their prey. term sustainability of small-scale artisanal

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fishers, a combination of research and community initiatives have identified ways to assuage both environmental degradation from human activity and climate change. Kenya's coastal and marine ecosystem employs an estimated two million people. Kilifi remains one of the least developed areas of the country with more than half of the population living in poverty. This vulnerability can be traced back to a low adaptive capacity and high dependence on the ocean for sustenance. The dwindling numbers of fish and weakening stock reliability in nearshore waters push already struggling coastal populations deeper into poverty. Repercussions range from further food insecurity to higher potential for conflict, particularly amongst the younger generations, due to bleak prospects. Peter, a fisherman originally from the afro- alpine central region of Nanyuki said that he makes 500 shillings ($4.50) on a good day. There are days when he will earn only 50 shillings or even nothing at all. His wages are wholly dependent on the catch. The COVID-19 pandemic and the apparent effects of climate change have taken their toll on the fishing industry and the local communities that depend on it. Although researchers have studied various changes in coastal ecosystems, from the impact of marine coastal inundation to sea level rise and increased carbon dioxide absorption in oceans, further analysis is required on how such changes affect fisheries and aquaculture production systems. It is critical to examine could lose nearly half of their traditional or TOP the impact at regional levels to find ways to commercially valuable species such as tuna Entangling a gnawed- bolster the resilience of small-scale fishers who or sea bass, while higher latitude regions off fish from the nets. Any fish that crosses still rely on traditional methods. could gain 30-70 per cent of their previous the path of a drift net While overfishing and human activity catch potential. Should this happen, fishing in the ocean may be indubitably contribute to the environmental communities such as the ones in Malindi tangled or caught in degradation that impacts local fishing would collapse. the net. Since nets industries, climate change cannot be ignored. Increases in ocean acidity and temperature are placed and may What is known is nothing new – climate have also substantially reduced phytoplankton not be retrieved for change and increased carbon dioxide that fish feed on in the Indian Ocean. days, air-breathing absorption in seawater have led to higher mammals that Phytoplankton levels have plunged in regions become tangled in water temperatures, changes in ocean traditionally home to large fish shoals on the the nets drown if they currents, sea-level rise, and acidification. Kenyan coast by nearly 30 per cent. This may are unable to free An early model developed in 2010 by “cascade through the food chain, potentially themselves. a United Kingdom-based research team turning this biologically productive region in a paper published in Global Change into an ecological desert” according to Roxy Biology projected changes in global catch Koll, a scientist at the Centre for Climate potential for 1,066 species of exploited Change Research at the Indian Institute of marine fish and invertebrates from 2005 to Tropical Meteorology. For those who rely on 2055 under climate change scenarios. The the ocean for their livelihoods, this scenario is researchers predicted a latitudinal shift in troubling. currently targeted species that may alter the Future impacts on the distribution of location of fishery resources. Many highly fisheries production will ultimately affect impacted regions in the tropics are already world trade patterns. Adaptation at all stages socioeconomically vulnerable to such changes. of the seafood value chain, from producers Tropical countries such as Kenya and Somalia and marketers to exporters and processors

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TOP LEFT Further data are required to mitigate adverse impacts to the Preparing to go back local marine supply chain and repair the torn social fabric to shore. and economic conditions of those affected on the ground. TOP RIGHT A catfish lies amongst the drawn-in nets must make the necessary adjustments to A flagging system, for example, developed and seaweed at the accommodate for changing supplies and with local fishers, fish farmer communities, bottom of the boat. conditions on the ground. These changes and stakeholders such as the Kenya Local researchers found that fish caught are required to continue meeting the world’s Meteorological Department in flood-prone using beach seine voracious demand for seafood. areas is one viable solution. Green flags nets, still being used While there are substantial efforts to help would signal normal weather, yellow flags illegally further the government sustainably manage marine in anticipation of flooding to facilitate north along Kenya's resources at local, county, and national evacuation, and red flags indicate the need for coastline at Lamu, levels, additional research is required to fully emergency departure. were juvenile fish with approximately 6.5 assess the linkages and determine how best International cooperation to address the percent of the catch to distribute funding or focus on increasing need to preserve marine resources and halt being discarded due fishery resilience. Further data are required to the pace of future degradation is vital. to being inedible. mitigate adverse impacts to the local marine The Kenya Coastal Development Project supply chain and repair the torn social fabric (KCDP) is one such effort. The multi-sectoral and economic conditions of those affected on development project is funded by the World the ground. Bank and Global Environment Facility Gladys Mwaka, a researcher at the Kenya and helps national and local governments Marine and Fisheries Research Institute’s strategize on ways to sustainably manage (KMFRI) Aqua and Mariculture Department, their natural resources. The project consists said that climate change has led to the loss of of regulatory interventions and coordination homes, businesses, and farmland, destroyed across neighbouring counties (from Lamu fishing infrastructure and caused the to Kwale) to work towards a common goal immersion of landing sites and high turbidity while pooling resources. The aim is to in fishing grounds. Mwaka and her team increase local communities’ resilience against have determined a few possible solutions to climate change impacts by contributing help secure precarious livelihoods. Methods to food security and offering employment include relocating fishers from areas affected opportunities. by flooding and introducing an early warning Since its implementation in 2011, KCDP has system to mitigate flooding. exposed communities to key research, opened

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access to new aquaculture techniques, and laid the foundation for ameliorated fisheries and coastal development. Community-driven projects designed to accommodate and uplift the most underserved and marginalized communities, ranging from waste collector groups and fishermen cooperatives to female farmer collectives and student innovators, focus on addressing specific issues. Such targeted methods help build towards the overarching goal of sustainable marine management in both direct and indirect ways. Solutions include advocating for income diversification through seaweed farming (a proven method for social and economic development) and a shift in focus towards protecting against soil degradation and pollution. As the social fabric of these communities is impacted by the environment, investing in community projects for increased social cohesion and inclusion is one of the best ways forward as coastal communities face the repercussions of environmental degradation. The A Rocha Kenya Marine Team, in partnership with Kenyan Wildlife Service, has been studying the effects of environmental degradation and resource management issues for decades. Eric Thuranira, one of their marine research assistants, explained how A Rocha has mainly focused on the Watamu Marine Park and Reserve to help KWS better manage the park through scientific research. Their recent research and mapping has shown that the park is a nursery ground for elasmobranchs - a subclass that includes sharks, rays and skates - species that are at the top of the food chain and key indicators of TOP marine health of the fisheries market, better access to value chains, and modernized infrastructure Picking through the Species such as the Halavi guitarfish day's catch. play a significant role in structuring and are only some of the extant hurdles that maintaining healthy marine ecosystems by must be overcome to prepare artisanal and altering the spatial habitats and controlling small-scale fishers for the difficulties that lie population sizes of their prey. A Rocha ahead. A deeper understanding of climate recognizes the urgency of understanding change impacts on global catch potential is the ecology and breeding grounds of such a fundamental step towards filling the gap species. The data they gather is critical for of predicting future marine food supply and conservation efforts and is used in such as local livelihoods dependent on such resources. updates as the IUCN (International Union It is easy to take seafood for granted when for Conservation of Nature) and CITES prawns or sea bass are presented to diners, (Convention on International Trade in beautifully plated at a restaurant. Consumers Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) detached from the harvesting process can species status reports. The information is easily forget the blood, sweat, and sheer effort also used to guide KWS in working with it takes to harvest these catches from the sea the communities to extend protection from and bring it ashore. fishing to the newly identified reef slope area in the park and to reduce poaching through KANG-CHUN CHENG is a Nairobi- community education. based freelance environment However, the journey to boost Kenya's photojournalist with an interest marine economy has only just begun. in community-based natural Improved governance, increased regulation resources management.

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Sugar Farming Threatens Uganda’s Bugoma Forest The forest is a biodiversity hotspot hosting an astonishing diversity of floral and fauna species and is also a source of firewood, water and medicinal plants for the community.

and adjacent to Budongo Forest and Semuliki TOP National Park. Bugoma reserve is “Bugoma is fading away very fast,” said being deforested to pave the way for avid Bainematsiko, the chairman Bainematsiko. “We woke up to bulldozers sugarcane plantation. of Kololo village council in pushing down trees and whatever they Kyangwali sub-county in western encountered two months ago. They have also DUganda has always known constructed a road in the forest connecting Bugoma Forest as a virgin forest reserve this side of the forest to Nsozi, which about 10 not far from his home. Not any more. The kilometres away.” woodland is now being cut down to make way He said that soldiers had been deployed for a sugar plantation. apparently to ensure that Hoima Sugar Size in hectares Unlike in previous decades when illegal Limited, the company that had been allowed the Bugoma Forest Reserve loggers stole wood from Bugoma Forest, to convert part of the forest to a sugar farm, covers. This the decision to clear part of the forest in proceeds with its project undisturbed. Tropical favour of commercial agriculture threatens “Soldiers were brought to protect Hoima rainforest to destroy the entire natural forest along Sugar which is destroying the forest,” said is located in Western Uganda with biodiversity found in the ecosystem. Bainematsiko. in the South- The forest covers a total of 41,144 hectares Namatovu Rovisa, a local county council western side of and is the largest remaining block of natural official, said that the local community was Hoima District. tropical forest along the Albertine Rift Valley worried that the clearing of the forest would

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But environmental activists have argued that TOP Members of Climate Bugoma Forest does not appear on the list of Action Network restituted properties (properties handed back by the Uganda walking past a sugarcane government to the King of Bunyoro). plantation outside Bugoma Forest Reserve. lead to less rainfall and declining harvest Sugar Ltd have insisted that the forest land in the area. The forest is also a source of in question belongs to the kingdom. But INSERT firewood, water and medicinal plants for environmental activists have argued that Guides at Ngesse the community, she added. “We have been Bugoma Forest does not appear on the list of River Lodge checking earning money from selling mushrooms restituted properties (properties handed back out River Ngesse in [from the forest], which helps us to feed our by the government to the King of Bunyoro). Bugoma forest. children,” she said. The Uganda Land Commission issued a title The Ugandan cabinet had in November deed in favour of the King of Bunyoro-Kitara, ordered all activities that would interfere with Solomon Gafabusa Iguru, who leased the the integrity of Bugoma Forest stopped until forestland to Hoima Sugar Limited. a survey was carried out to establish the exact “What I know is that the land does not boundaries of the forest. belong to Bunyoro kingdom,” said civil society But in a confounding turn of events, the activist Jackson Wabyona. “It is not part of the Year Bugoma commissioner in charge of surveying and restituted properties. Where did the king get Forest Reserve mapping in the Ministry of Lands, William this land from? Was it public land? Who knew was established as a Forest Ogaro, later announced that the survey was that this land was available and under forestry Reserve and has being suspended because the security of and swiftly processed a land title and then been managed his staff could not be guaranteed. He said leased it to Hoima Sugar four days later?” by the National surveying would resume after the presidential In a letter dated 30th August 2016, Ogaro, Forestry Authority since elections slated for 14th January 2021. the commissioner in charge of surveys and 2003. The Bunyoro tribal kingdom of western mapping, informed the registrar of land titles Uganda, the national government and Hoima in the ministry that the title deed for the

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Bugoma Forest Reserve had been issued in “Looking at the entire proposal which TOP error. had been made for sugarcane plantation on Chombo Oketcho “Plot 216 fully falls within the northwestern the land, we found that there were areas of (left), a lecturer at Gulu University and portion of Bugoma,” wrote Ogaro. “At the wetland, natural places, such as a forest, in a Member of Climate time of processing the deed plans, this the entire Bugoma and it is important that we Action Network encroachment was not realised because maintain the ecology,” said Christine Akello, (Uganda), Joshua Bugoma is not charted on the cadastral the deputy executive director of NEMA. Mutale who is a sheets.” Hoima Sugar’s communications officer, member of the Water Hoima Sugar Ltd filed a lawsuit after Sheila Nduhukire, said her company is an and Environment the lands ministry cancelled the lease for environmental-friendly firm. “The 22 square Media Network and Munira Gulam (right), the forest land. But the senior government miles that we got from Bunyoro Kingdom is a member of Climate officials named as respondents in the lawsuit not on a forest. We are a green company and Action Network failed to appear in court to defend their there is simply no way we would want to cut during a visit to decisions and, as a result, the court reinstated down a forest.” Bugoma forest. Hoima Sugar Limited’s lease. Conservationists have contended that the Details of the decision by the National cost of the sugar project to the environment Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and biodiversity will be enormous. Bugoma to grant a licence to Hoima Sugar Limited Forest is home to about 500 chimpanzees, enabling the company to proceed with sugar making it a chimpanzee sanctuary. Among farming show that the permit was issued for other primates, Bugoma hosts a population of the cultivation of sugarcane on a grassland Ugandan mangabeys, endemic to the forest. covering 9.24 square miles in the Kyangwali Some 221 bird species have been recorded in area of Kikuube District. the forest. The forest also plays an important NEMA also allowed the sugar firm to role in preserving wildlife migratory corridors. establish an urban centre on 1.26 square miles and an eco-tourism centre on 1.97 square miles. The company was requested to GERALD TENYWA is an award- restore 3.13 square miles of degraded areas winning Ugandan multimedia of Bugoma Forest. The sugar company was environment journalist and a graduate in environment also ordered to set aside 0.156 hectares for a journalism from Makerere cultural site and conserve 6.17 square miles of University. natural forest.

JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | 29 BIODIVERSITY

THE SHOMPOLE SECRET

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hen most people think about going on safari in WKenya, it is the world-famous Maasai Mara and the great wildebeest migration that first come to mind. Kenya has much more to offer, and the Shompole/ Olkiramatian Conservancies, located in the central-southern region of the country, is a great example of under- rated biodiversity. In September 2020, I visited the eco-award winning Lentorre Lodge situated on the foothills of the Nguruman Escarpment in day or night, wildlife only see their but the rare Striped hyena is also Olkiramatian Conservancy. My mirror image. nocturnal. Striped hyenas prefer mission to photograph resident I was at Lentorre Lodge for 17 arid, bushy areas. Heavily coated, wildlife at night from a photographic days. Over the first four days, I was it appeared after midnight when hide. This newly built hide is located extremely pleased and surprised to temperatures were at their lowest. directly beside the waterhole at photograph some rarely seen species Although the civet is often referred Lentorre Lodge. Water flows down and the same four species that came to as a civet cat, it is not a cat (feline), from the Mau Forest above the repeatedly within a 3 to 5-day period. but more related to the mongoose. Nguruman Escarpment. This water The caracal is an elusive feline As the name indicates, the civet eventually streams into the southern commonly found in arid regions with produces a musk, which is highly Ewaso Ng’iro River and feeds into temperatures below 22℃. Since they valued as a fragrance and stabilizing Lake Natron that straddles the are nocturnal, they are difficult to agent for perfume. Both male and Kenya-Tanzania border. observe in daylight. This one came While most of the Olkiramatian to the waterhole between 1:00 a.m. Conservancy is heavily wooded, it is and 3:00 a.m., the coolest time of the LEFT PAGE difficult to spot wildlife during the night. Caracal day. The waterhole attracts wildlife, Most tourists will have an and the dark interior of the hide opportunity to photograph a Spotted TOP makes the glass a reflecting mirror, hyena during their Kenyan safari, Striped hyena and a Civet below

JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | 31 females produce the strong-smelling secretion, produced by the civet's perineal glands. (It is harvested by either killing the animal and removing the glands, or by scraping the secretions from the glands of a live animal.) The civet is almost exclusively active at night, residing in sub-tropical regions, primarily in Asia, southern and eastern Africa. The genet is a slender cat-like animal with a long body, a long ringed tail, large ears, a pointed muzzle, and partly retractile claws. Since it is omnivorous, it is also not from the feline family. Similar to the civet, genets have musk and perineal glands. They prefer wooded habitats of coastal forests or shrublands at high altitude with sufficient rainfall. Being able to photograph these rarely seen animals at the same waterhole over four days is exceptionally unique. Some suggest this might be one of the very few places in the world where this is

TOP Genet

MIDDLE LEFT Impala

BOTTOM Baboons

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possible. Researchers believe that the reason is due to three different micro- climate systems, coupled with the sudden drop in altitude provided by the unique landscape. As Lake Magadi is located in the floor of the Great Rift Valley, the micro-climate is typical for desert- basin weather -- dry, hot, with a high rate of evaporation. When the hot air from evaporation rises and meets the cold air descending from the Loita Hills, the interaction of the two constant weather fronts create a narrow (30-40km) rainforest biome that nurtures the Mau Forest, with high humidity and consistent rainfall, eventually ending up in the southern Ewaso Ng’iro River. As the Shompole/Olkiramatian Conservancies are located at the edge of this rainforest desert weather, the dynamic alteration of these air movements is the reason that so many different species of wildlife from different weather zones can coexist in these dense bushlands.

TOP RIGHT Bat-eared fox

MIDDLE RIGHT Jackal

BOTTOM Leopard

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Daily temperature fluctuation is often more than 15℃. Between midday and 3:00 p.m., the temperature will peak at 38 ℃, with most cats in the shade resting. The daytime patrons of the waterhole are herbivores and omnivores like impalas, zebras, warthogs, squirrels and baboons. In the morning, right before sunrise, lions will come for the last sip of water before marching into deep woods for their day-long slumber. The birds follow. Then by 7:00 a.m. we observed verities of mammals came for a drink of water at the same time. By noon, resident baboons will occupy the surrounding area until about 3:30 p.m. Forty baboons belong to this troop. When they come in full force, only zebras can squeeze in for water. Almost all nocturnals come out after 7:00 p.m. when the temperature is below 28℃. The most frequent animal is a white-tailed mongoose,

TOP RIGHT Giraffes

MIDDLE RIGHT Herons

BOTTOM Lion

34 | JANUARY - MARCH 2021 Launched in September of 2020 after years of development to get it just right, the Lentorre Hide is a sunken air-conditioned space with sound-proofing, professional lighting and the best glass for photography. The Hide itself has two beds, TOP RIGHT a fully stocked bar, and one Elephant can pre-order food from the lodge. Sunk into the ground BELOW at the waterhole edge, you White-tailed mongoose lavish forest extending from Loita are at eye level with the Hills, Mau Forest, to Shompole/ wildlife, oblivious to your Olkiramatian Conservancies and presence. it not yet commercially developed. hunting insects attracted by the LED However, the real threat to this Bookings for night watches must be made in advance and lights. untouched wilderness is excessive Bat-eared fox, jackal, Spotted hyena groups can request exclusive farming and deforestation. We can stay. The maximum number are regulars as well. Leopards and only hope that we can maintain the of photographers that can lions are also very impressive. In the status quo for as long as we can to comfortably fit in at a time is same week, we recorded three lions, save this for future generations to six. During the day, guests and three leopards, both two males cherish. can wander down from and a female respectively. the camp at any time with Large herbivores come at fixed binoculars and cameras. schedules. Giraffes come between JEFFREY WU is a professional wildlife Lodge website link: 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.; elephants and nature photographer, accredited Lentorre Lodge | Safaris come around midnight; buffalos by Professional Photographers of In Africa | Gamewatchers come at either 8:30 p.m. or 4:00 Canada (PPOC). He is also an author Safaris (porini.com) a.m. The unique geographic and and photography educator based in climate features of this area form a Toronto, Canada.

JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | 35 Ground Hornbill As their name suggests, they spend their days largely on the ground, yet fly up onto the safety of a branch to roost at night, and nest in natural tree holes.

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hen are hornbills not hornbills? Perhaps when they are Ground Hornbills, Wwhich are so different from any other hornbills that most classifications now give them their own family, Bucorvidae. Hornbills, in general, are renowned for their peculiar breeding habits, which involve the female sealing herself inside the nest cavity with droppings and mud, leaving only a narrow slit through which the male passes morsels of food. Taking advantage of her immobility, she sheds her wing and tail feathers, all the while keeping the nest scrupulously clean by lifting out moulted plumage, uneaten food remains and other detritus. By the time she finally breaks back out into the wider world, exchanging her keyhole view for access to forest or savannah, she may have been in the nest for up to 10 weeks. Ground Hornbills, however, neither seal up their nests nor clean them out. Moreover, they are almost exclusively carnivorous, feeding more like Secretarybirds, stalking grasslands on long, strong legs with stubby toes. They are huge too, perhaps more than 50 times heavier than the smallest hornbills - those little-known inhabitants of equatorial African forests, Red-billed and Black Dwarf Hornbills.

LEFT PAGE The male Southern Ground Hornbill’s eye and throat wattles are all red. Both sexes have yellow eyes and black feathers.

TOP The wattles and eye skin of the female Northern Ground Hornbill are all blue.

BELOW The male Northern Ground Hornbill has blue eye skin and a blue throat patch on an otherwise red wattle.

JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | 37 TOP One other physical feature possessed by Ground Hornbills, Female Southern Ground Hornbills and probably by no other bird in the world, let alone any have the eye skin other hornbill, are long curling eyelashes! and throat wattles all red, other than for a blue throat patch. Every reason perhaps, to give them their own all black, except for the astonishing white Southern Ground family. primary wing feathers that show only when Hornbills mate and nest between All sources seem agreed on there being two they take to the air. September and species of Ground Hornbill – the Northern, One other physical feature possessed December. During the Bucorvus abyssinicus, and the Southern, by Ground Hornbills, and probably by no nesting period, the Bucorvus leadbeateri. Today, the two are more other bird in the world, let alone any other female spends much or less confined to separate ranges, although in hornbill, are long curling eyelashes! In his of her time in a tree, parts of Uganda and southern Kenya there is a book A Birdwatcher in Kenya, Vernon van cliff or bank cavity chance of seeing either of them. Someren pays the birds a truly double-edged nest, usually lined with leaves. The Northern strides across a belt of semi- compliment, remarking how ‘their beautiful, arid land, from Senegal right through to long, curved eyelashes would be the envy of a Ethiopia and East Africa, with the Southern mannequin but not their weird and waddling occupying much of the African savannahs walk’. further south that are neither too dry and As their name suggests, they spend their treeless, nor too forested. The two species are days largely on the ground, yet fly up onto distinguished by the Northern’s having a pale the safety of a branch to roost at night, and patch at the base of its upper mandible, and nest in natural tree holes, occasionally even by the bare skin around the throat and eyes excavating a hole in an earthen bank, or of both male and female being blue rather making use of some other ready-made cavity than red. Otherwise, the plumage of both is like an artificial beehive.

38 | JANUARY - MARCH 2021 Breeding pairs of Southern Ground how “On discovering a snake, three or four TOP Hornbills, but seemingly not Northern, are of the birds advance sideways towards it Southern Ground often attended by several young acolytes. Not with their wings stretched out and with their Hornbills may live in small groups of only do these help defend the nest territory, quills, flap at and irritate the snake till he between 2 and 10 but the males also have the endearing habit seizes them by the wing-feathers, when they often related birds. of bringing beakfuls of nesting material to the immediately all close round and give him Within each of these female, in each wrapped a morsel of food. violent pecks with their long and sharp bills, small groups, a If there are two eggs, these hatch in the quickly withdrawing again, when the snake dominant (alpha) pair order in which they were laid, the younger leaves his hold. This they repeat till the snake of male and female chick almost always dying of starvation. The is dead.” birds are usually chosen based on size survivor is fed by the whole group and, on Very occasionally, however, things don’t and age of the birds. leaving the nest, often remains for many years go the birds’ way, as described in a report in There is also one with those who reared it. Given there are so Birds of Africa of the biter getting bitten: a dominant breeding many helpers doing the feeding, it seems snake brought back to a nest as food proved male and female something of a waste that their efforts are still to have enough life left in it to kill the within each group. focused on only a single chick. chick it was intended to nourish! The food of a Ground Hornbill consists, in Few birds – except perhaps the Hamerkop the words of the seven-volume Birds of Africa, – are of such cultural significance amongst of almost “any animals it can overcome”, to local people as the Southern Ground Hornbill. which could be added occasional seeds and Often it plays a spiritual role as a bringer even carrion. Grasshoppers and beetles are of rain. In Layard’s Birds of South Africa, prime targets, but larger creatures, such as Henry Bowker relates how “the bird is held snakes, lizards and even hares, offer more sacred ... and is only killed in times of severe worthwhile returns. Tortoises are particularly drought when one is killed by order of the easy prey and the birds may be seen around ‘rain-doctor’ and its body thrown into a pool The lifespan in years of a the edges of burnt ground where smaller in a river.” He then follows with a surprising Ground Hornbill animals are trying to escape the heat. description of catching one. “It is very weak in captivity. Sometimes these birds hunt as a pack. on the wing, and when required by the Thomas Ayres describes in the Ibis of 1861 “doctor” the bird is caught by the men of a

JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | 39 number of kraals turning out at the same grassy vlei now built over by the Law School; TOP time, and a particular bird is followed from today one would be unlikely to find one within A male Southern one hill to the other by those on the lookout. 100 kilometres of the capital’s boundaries. Ground Hornbill in flight. The birds may After three or four flights it can be run down Some innovative conservation initiatives indulge in aerial by a good runner.” have been implemented in southern Africa, pursuits in defence Both Ground Hornbills are renowned for such as providing artificial nest sites where of territory while their deep four-note boom, the early hour of lack of natural ones is a limiting factor, or Northern Ground their utterance and their contortions inflating removing from nests the second-born chicks, Hornbills appear less their crimson throat pouches before emitting which would otherwise starve to death, and inclined to fly, unless their wake-up calls. raising them in captivity before release. The threatened when they may take refuge in a With Ground Hornbills usually only raising birds’ reproductive strategy is against them, tree. a single chick, which may take up to 5 years and they will certainly need a helping human to reach maturity and then itself not breed for hand to sustain them outside of protected several years thereafter, their reproductive areas. rate is inevitably very low. To sustain the population, even at current levels, entails the This article is adapted from Rupert Watson's birds surviving to a great age. This, all other book, Peacocks & Picathartes - Reflections things being equal, they fortunately seem to on Africa's Birdlife, reviewed in the October- do. Records show captive birds living for over December 2020 issue of Swara and available 50 years. However, these days all other things from the author. seldom are equal, and the human impact [email protected] on their habitat – the loss of breeding trees, overgrazing, land reclamation, electrocution and indirect poisoning – is having a deleterious impact. RUPERT WATSON is an advocate, Today, the range of both Ground Hornbills mediator, naturalist and writer and is contracting rapidly. I can remember seeing a frequent contributor to Swara a party of four Southern birds within the city magazine. limits of Nairobi, about 35 years ago, on a

40 | JANUARY - MARCH 2021 2021 Rewilding Grasslands to Restore an Endangered Antelope Replanting grasslands is a novel approach because ecological restoration has mostly been tried in forest ecosystems, not in African rangelands.

hen Kenyan wildlife biologist Abdullahi Ali won the 2020 Whitley WAward, it was a boost to his pioneering conservation project to save the hirola (Beatragus hunter), a critically endangered antelope species, from extinction. occasional poaching and rinderpest in the Ali was just one of six winners out of 100 1980s also contributed. global applicants for the award. Born and Hirola are listed as critically endangered raised in Garissa, as a teen a visit to the on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Maasai Mara National Reserve inspired Today, they occur only on a narrow strip his vision to work with wildlife. He studied of land in Garissa County along the Kenya- wildlife biology at the University of Nairobi Somali border, a fraction of their original and has a PhD in Ecology from the University rangeland. Five individuals live in the of Wyoming, USA. Ishaqbini Hirola Sanctuary of Garissa while The 2020 award “was incredibly exciting a small population was translocated to but also humbling as we still have a lot to do Tsavo East National Park in 1963 and 1996. to ensure the full recovery of the species,” However, hirolas outside their natural habitat said Ali, founder of the Hirola Conservation are thought to be declining in Tsavo. Program (HCP). Every year, the UK-based Hirolas feed almost entirely on grass and Whitley Fund for Nature supports grassroots the dwindling of grasslands coincide with conservation leaders around the world the elephant poaching crisis in the 1970s and championing effective conservation solutions 80s. “Because of the porousness of the Somali with limited resources. border and the closeness to the Arabian The light-brown hirola antelopes with Peninsula, all the elephants in that area, distinctively long faces and lyre-shaped horns approximated to be 5,000, were eliminated,” live in the semi-desert regions of Kenya and explained Ali. Somalia. The name hirola is derived from Elephants maintain savannah grasslands the Somali name ‘arwala’ and they are the by bringing down trees and opening up the only living members of the genus Beatragus. vegetation. Says Ali, “once you eliminate In the 1970s hirola numbers plummeted these large herbivores, nothing else will from around 15,000 to less than 500 in do that.” Subsequently, much of the hirola the wild, a decline of over 95 per cent. The habitat gradually changed from grasslands crash was linked to habitat loss but livestock to woodlands. Ali adds that hirola are now overgrazing, drought, predation by carnivores, a refugee species, “living in sub-optimal

JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | 41 BIODIVERSITY

TOP Ali’s mission is to grow Grass restoration site of areas where hirola numbers by restoring the hirola persist degraded habitats to currently as well as increase food availability future reintroduction of sites through bush and boost “the survival rates clearing and grass for calves to sub-adults to reseeding. adults giving birth.” BELOW LEFT Abdullahi Ali, winner of the 2020 Whitley have brought in different cultural practices, Award. including hunting with snares. Since 2016, HCP has been clearing excess habitats and unable to access the full potential trees and planting new grass in experimental of food they need for food, shelter or other fenced plots, sites chosen for their favourable resources.” soils and other biotic conditions. The annual This also affects the biological cycle of the replanting exercises are done in partnership species with females calving at the wrong with local communities as part of capacity time, while the closed habitats increase the building and applying home-grown solutions risk of predation. Other grazing animals such compatible with local cultures. Says Ali, “It’s as the Coastal topi, Desert warthogs, buffaloes also enhancing livestock productivity, and and Beisa oryx have also declined over time. they get employment from this.” Ali’s mission is to grow hirola numbers by Garissa is occupied by nomadic pastoral restoring degraded habitats to increase food Somali communities. Proximity to the availability and boost “the survival rates for Somalia border makes the area susceptible to calves to sub-adults to adults giving birth.” banditry, while historic mistrust of outsiders What started as a PhD project has grown into means conservation efforts are more likely an organisation of 10 technical people and to succeed if fronted by an ethnic person. Estimated current more than 30 community rangers working HCP’s community outreach extends to field population of in anti-poaching and hirola protection. excursions for schoolchildren or making hirola with less than 250 mature Somalis generally do not hunt for bushmeat impromptu village visits to show conservation individuals. but newcomers from other parts of Kenya works for everybody, including the elderly.

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“We are inspiring a multi-generational group this as a long-term project of at least 10 years. TOP to see the impact that we need in the long- They would also like to understand more of Abdullahi Ali (centre) term,” said Ali. antelopes’ physiological conditions and how and HCP wildlife rangers. The Hirola Research literature dating to the 1970s this highly degraded environment has affected Conservation and indigenous community knowledge has them. Program aims to informed the choice of grass species for Now with financial support from the save hirola in Kenya rewilding. As the local soil seed bank had been Whitley Fund Award, HCP can work through scientific decimated from overgrazing, native grass towards expanding rangeland rehabilitation, research, habitat seeds were obtained from Baringo County in strengthening conservation awareness in the restoration, and western Kenya. “Livestock eat the grass and local communities, enhance anti-poaching strengthening community-based young shoots so they don’t mature and drop work and re-establish the Arawale National conservation and the seeds in the soil,” said Ali. Reserve of Garissa, once a hirola home range. education efforts. The This semi-arid region has highly variable Restrictions on movement and social team at the HCP know weather and the rains failed in between 2016 gatherings in 2020 due to the Covid-19 that there is power and 2017, so grass seeds did not sprout. But pandemic curtailed much of HCP’s fieldwork in community when HCP did not give up and good rains since and community interactions. But Ali is it comes to saving wildlife, and as a 2018 have resulted in the successful growth of determined to continue with the replanting result, their focus is new grass. Ali says that camera trap footage work because of the strong support he is not just on the hirola – shows hirolas seem very interested in the new getting from pastoralists who have suffered it is on the people that grass plots. He hopes to gradually improve from years of environmental degradation. live alongside them. the soil’s seed bank so that natural pollination and seeds dropping happens without human To learn more about HCP, visit: https:// intervention. www.hirolaconservation.org/ Replanting grasslands is a novel approach For more on the hirola see ‘Saving the Most because ecological restoration has mostly Endangered Antelope in the World’ (Swara been tried in forest ecosystems, not in African April-June 2020). rangelands. Ali says his approach is “based on evidence over the last three decades of how the system was, how the species was doing KARI MUTU is an independent writer for various newspapers and and what we can do to reverse it.” Last year magazines. HCP extended replanting into wider areas of the Garissa landscape and they plan to restore 1,000 hectares of wilderness. Ali envisions

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The Elephants of Amboseli Moss’s research revealed that male elephants leave the family at the age of 10 or 11.

octogenarian about elephant behaviour. BELOW The larger Amboseli ecosystem of 3,500 Amboseli is home square kilometres is home to 1,700 elephants to about 1,200 (2011 figure, down from on Maasai land. Moss has great respect for eneath the snows of Kilimanjaro, 1,600 in 2008 due to ancient Maasai pastoralists of the pastoralists. “The elephants are here severe drought and Amboseli called the large area because of the Maasai. They are important to poaching) elephants. empusal, meaning ‘salty dust’. At the elephants now and in the future, and have The elephant B been in the past. They believe that elephants population in the core of this amazing ecosystem is the tiny 392km2 Amboseli National Park - a textured are the only animals with a soul.” Amboseli includes 58 families and close world of savannah plains, salt pans and Moss’s research has revealed little known to 300 independent swamps that attract Africa’s big game. things about African elephants. Like ‘musth’ adult males. Families when the testosterone level in males surge and are led by matriarchs Like the elephants they become highly aggressive. It had been who are generally “At any one time there are no more than documented in India and the term ‘musth’ the oldest and 700 elephants in the park,” says Cynthia applied to it. In Hindi, ‘musth’ has different largest adult female Moss, who has been studying elephants in connotations. It can mean boisterous, happy, members. Amboseli since 1972. Founder of Amboseli frivolous or mischievous. Trust for Elephants she continues to research ATE’s research also showed males from the and mentor a younger generation.. “It keeps age of 10 or 11 leave the family. “This is the getting more interesting,” quips the youthful time we lose contact with them,” says Moss.

44 | JANUARY - MARCH 2021 Tim, one of Moss’s favourites, died of natural causes, as she TOP Big Tim, a beloved described in her Swara tribute. “He was a true gentleman,” elephant who was one she recalls. Tim was one of Kenya’s largest ‘tuskers’, each of Africa's last giant "tuskers. Tim was weighing well over 50kg. named by researchers who called each elephant in the “We don’t know what they are doing until “The information will tell us what kind of family herd they were they are 30 years old and return to mate. It’s trouble they might get into, such as crop- monitoring by the a lost gap.” raiding. That period from when they leave same letter to help Hence, eight young males have been fitted their families until they start competing identify them; Tim with GPS collars, the latest one on 12th for females is very important for learning was a member of the August during World Elephant Day. “He is not only where to go for the best food and 'T' herd. Tim’s great-nephew and named Lenku after watering places but also how to be an adult the governor of Kajiado (County).” male elephant. The movement patterns from Tim, one of Moss’s favourites, died of the satellite collars will help us map areas natural causes, as she described in her that need to be protected for these cross- Swara tribute. “He was a true gentleman,” border elephants.” It will also help map areas she recalls. Tim was one of Kenya’s largest for the stay-at-home types that don’t cross ‘tuskers’, each weighing well over 50kg. His the international border but traverse the remains will be preserved at the Maasai 3,500-kilometre ecosystem. Heritage Museum in Amboseli. With the One concern is the sub-division of the tusks? Olgulului group ranch surrounding the park. The Maasai want to own plots of land Mapping routes privately. As happened around Maasai Mara The collared elephants are revealing their National Reserve, and the southern corrodor Age of Tim, whereabouts. “They are going much further of Nairobi National Park, it means more Africa's famous than we knew, three of them to the other side fences and farms coming up. bull elephant of Kilimanjaro,” says the eminent elephant However, Moss feels that because this when it died of natural causes researcher. “One of those is now halfway to group has come up with an ecosystem plan in 2020. Arusha (Tanzania).” that maps out areas for conservation, humans

JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | 45 and grazing, it will allow for the safe passage Thousands of flamingos scooped out all the TOP of wildlife, unlike Kimana Group Ranch on algae in the flooded salt pans and left ‘fat and Amboseli National the eastern side, sub-divided without a land- happy’ according to Moss. They may return if Park is celebrating what they term an use plan. the algae blooms again. Herds of wildebeest elephant "baby boom" The Kimana sub-division saw one of the and zebra browse on the grass plains as the park has seen main wildlife corridors for elephants between with dainty Thomson and Grant gazelles a record-breaking Kimana and Amboseli blocked by quarries, gambolling about while Maasai giraffes and number of elephant flower and avocado farms, fences, and lodges. gerenuks (swala twiga or the giraffe-necked calf births in 2020 - “We have to aim for successful co-existence antelope) browse on acacias and taller shrubs. the most in its history. between people and wildlife,” states Moss. Watching lazily at the bounty, a lioness and “In the long-term, I believe solutions will be her cubs bide their time. There’s no hurry to found so wildlife can remain.” hunt in times of plenty.

Elephant baby boom RUPI MANGAT writes about travel Amboseli, usually dry save for its lush and environmental issues and is swamps, has been flooded since 2018 and one the editor of the Wildlife Clubs of of the reasons for the elephant baby boom Kenya magazine, Komba. in 2020. “In 2012, there were 201 births recorded. In 2020, we’ve recorded 170,” says Moss. Compare this to only 19 births in 2019. The births include two sets of twins, something that is very rare. Both sets are HOW TO GET TO AMBOSELI thriving. The first time elephant twins were Book for an exciting talk on elephants and latest news at the recorded in Amboseli was 1980. Amboseli Elephant Trust https://www.elephanttrust.org/ research In times of drought, females may stop camp. Your money goes towards elephant conservation. breeding and some lose their babies. In the drought of 2009 and 2010, according to Moss, Drive in via Emali though Iremito or Kimana gates. The road via 425 elephants died. Namanga gate is murram and rough. There is new road via Kajiado, less traffic but 40km longer. Driving from Nairobi (250km) takes Season of plenty five hours, depending on traffic.Visit http://www.kws.go.ke/ for For now, Amboseli’s lush swamps fed by the current advisory and park fees. As we went to press Ol Tukai was melting snows of Kilimanjaro thrive with the only lodge open in the park and has special resident rates. elephants, buffaloes, hippos and a myriad of www.oltukailodge.com. waders.

46 | JANUARY - MARCH 2021 PADDOCK DIARIES

‘Blinky’ – the Nairobi National Park’s Great Spotted Eagle Returns

but also Eurasian cuckoos have shown a most BELOW surprising movement during their migrations, In 2014 this even flying across the entire Indian Ocean young eagle was photographed on from eastern Asia and making landfall on the here are various ways of finding Nagalomon Dam in out details of bird’s life-spans, Kenyan coast. Nairobi National Park. their movements and regular One discovery: In the July-September 2015 Little did we realise migrations, the range and details issue of Swara, I challenged an ornithological that it was going to be T holy grail by stating that I did not think that a regular visitor for on their breeding and non-breeding territories or whether they are regular stay-at-homes. Northern Wheatear was the passerine with the next six years. The methods used include catching and the longest regular migration in the world, placing a durable very light aluminium ring and that it should probably go to the race on the leg. The information on the ring yakutensis of Willow Warbler found almost can be read when the bird is caught once as far east in Asia as the continent gets Well, again. There are also different sequences of some researchers attached micro-geolocators coloured plastic rings on the legs that allow to several of these tiny birds, and guess what field recognition without having to recapture the results were! the bird. Some birds are ringed in the nest Sometimes a while others are caught at regular migration bird will stations. Ngulia in Tsavo West in Kenya is have a one of the world’s most studied migration stations that has been for the past 40 years. Even though 2020 was a COVID-19 pandemic year, a group of resident Kenyans manned the station again in November. Another system is fitting a lightweight transmitter on the bird, and this has led to some amazing almost unbelievable discoveries that have rocked the scientific world. There are so many instances that it is almost like we are no distinctive longer surprised at what birds feature can achieve. Most of these discoveries have come from birds of prey and

waders,

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this case, only one working eye. For a raptor TOP LEFT that relies on capturing speedy prey items, As “Blinky” ages, this is a disaster and should have spelt doom all the traces of the immature spotted from starvation. plumage disappear, A raptor hunts using its eyesight to locate best appreciated in its food, fight off territorial disputes and flight, showing the avoid larger attackers. Most birds have little that is left. the eyes on the sides of the head. The eyes protrude from the sockets and are shallow BELOW domes, not sunken as in the eyes of humans. Here is “Blinky” in 2020 still healthy, Each eye sees outwards and the bird’s brain and now fully adult interprets the visual message as two separate perched near Hyena images with no or very little overlap in Dam in NNP. the area observed, even though the birds can probably see down the beak enabling them to know where the tip is in relation enabling its recognition to that individual and to the environment. If this were not so, identifiable in a wild setting. This what has swallows and flycatchers would not be able to happened in Nairobi National Park. unerringly snatch flies out of the air. But each It is eight years ago that Blinky first came to eye only produces a two-dimensional view be noticed as a beautifully marked spotty first- and everything is flat. year bird. Over the next few years, he returned However, these birds have an optical area faithfully to his favourite area centred around of twice as many degrees as we have, which is the Hyena Dam and its run-off basin. Each ideal when time he returned he was overall darker and you have had markedly fewer spots. He wasn’t Blinky to be then, he was the Great Spotted Eagle, and how did we know he was a he? As time drew closer to his annual departure he would fly into the sky and do a tumbling display flight over his non-breeding territory, which included a lot of calling. He was advertising a willingness to defend his “patch”. In 2017 he came back in the second half of October as he had always done, but on this return, he looked different. On the right side of his face all the feathering had fallen away leaving a whitish skin, but worse than this was that the eye was also damaged and nearly closed. There was no doubt that our Great Spotted Eagle was completely blind in one eye and during his last trip back to (presumed) eastern Europe something bad had happened to him. There was no sign that the injury was recent and quite likely had happened many months earlier. No sign of blood, scabbing or a wound. This is when he became “Blinky”. This is a sympathetic nickname for someone with poor eyesight, thick-lensed glasses or as in

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TOP Because of Blinky’s health condition with regards to In the month before departure “Blinky” plumage and bulk, there is no reason to doubt that he is gets exuberant and probably living a near-normal life and also raising families engages in lengthy in the northern hemisphere. tumbling flight displays which is not expected for a aware of the numerous other animals that is remembering, and your memory will see migratory bird. hope that you will be their next meal. Raptors that the objects are changing their positions BELOW and other predatory species have eyes placed in relation to each other and the closest ones Left column total further forward, and in Owls front-facing displacing the most. This is creating a pseudo- species recorded much like us. These birds have a large three-dimensional image from a series of for the country, overlap area between the two eyes and see the two-dimensional ones. Right column total world in three-dimensions, much like us. To Birds that obtain their food by observing checklists submitted demonstrate this, hold your head perfectly it above the water but obtaining it from for the country. still and close one eye. Your view of the world underwater also move their head from now is flat, you cannot tell which objects side to side or up and down and they can are closer or the farthest away. Imagine if compensate for the angled light refraction you were now flying through these objects with deadly accuracy because where you see a some close and some far. How do you know thing underwater is not where it is in relation what you are going to hit first and how to to your position. If you take something What Are avoid a collision? But if with one eye closed completely straight, such as a ruler or pole, Raptors? you move your head side-to-side, you will and stick it into a bath filled with water, the Raptors are be sending a series of images that the brain object will angle away from the entry point birds of prey. The word raptor has a Latin origin meaning “to grasp or seize”. This is attributed to the claws on their feet also known as talons. Their sharp talons and strong feet capture and secure their prey. The hooked upper beak allows them to break into their prey and tear off small, bite- sized pieces.

JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | 49 PADDOCK DIARIES

at the surface of the water. The deeper the Whilst likely living in a large forest where TOP LEFT object is in the water, the farther it looks away he does not see humans at regular intervals, Eastern Willow from the true position. The bird’s movement his migration is fraught with danger every Warblers of the race yakutensis passing of the head works out the depth of the prey time he sets out to return to Kenya or leaves through the garden item in the water, then it calculates the angle to go back to his nesting site. His migration on their migration of refraction and compensates for this in its takes him through the many countries where to southern Africa. dive or lunge. So whilst Blinky is not having where these birds are hunted. The birds are They may well have to take into consideration an angle change not safe until they are on the friendlier side of started their journeys to compensate for refraction as he is only the Sahara where dangers are either extremely near the North-West feeding on dry land, he has somehow adapted rare or non-existent. This is why having found Pacific coast. to calculate angle and distance with his head the haven of Nairobi National Park, he has TOP RIGHT movements and creating a three-dimensional returned for the past seven years. This young Eurasian image from a large set of two-dimensional This faithful annual return from October Cuckoo, previously images. I cannot see how else he can survive to March every year stresses the importance thought to have and catch food, living in a flat world. So of National Parks and Reserves to safeguard arrived through the already he can be seen to be a remarkable not only our local African species but also the Middle East, could have come a much bird. migratory birds that spend half their lives longer route starting Adult pairs of Great Spotted Eagles with us. in the north-western amongst many other raptor species show As Covid continues its relentless march Pacific like the Willow pair fidelity in that the same pairs raise disrupting the entire world, it is good to Warbler, but making a families together in consecutive years. Yet, check on how natural history knowledge has non-stop flight across when it comes time to leave their home and progressed during this debilitating period. the entire Indian migrate south they go off to winter in different In the July-September 2020 issue of Ocean to arrive in my garden! Remember it locations that can be thousands of kilometres Swara, there was a report on the May eBird was raised by another apart. Because of Blinky’s health condition bird challenge. With regional lockdown, we species and never with regards to plumage and bulk, there is no came top in the world outside of the Americas knew its parents, yet reason to doubt that he is probably living a for the highest number of species recorded in the instinct to migrate near-normal life and also raising families in a single country in a day. As we (Kenya) are a took it on an epic the northern hemisphere. Each year he meets small country and some of the other countries expedition. up with his “mate” at the nest site. are “continent” rather than country-sized –

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LEFT The most astounding migrant of all, the Bar- tailed Godwit, whose annual non-stop flight from Alaska to New Zealand was revealed by a radio tag.

People who went birding

Checklists submitted the United States, which also includes Hawaii Why is this important to Kenya you may in the mid-Pacific, Canada, Australia, Brazil, well ask? Well, as I write this there is already Russia and China, we thought we had done a bird tour in the country about to embark on extremely well with 14th place in the global their Birdwatching trip of a lifetime (thanks to Species recorded worldwide rankings in May 2018. In 2019 we moved our eBird count?). The world has again sat up further up the table and in May 2020 we and noticed we are still here, and we offer the came top in the Old World (the entire world best experience and unlike the New World, we apart from the Americas [the New World]), have plains of endless mammal spectacles as a placing us 11th globally with a very impressive side dish to the birding bonanza! That is why Photos submitted 613 species recorded on the day. Central and it is important. to the Macaulay South America have a much greater diversity Library of species than the rest of the world. Colombia recorded 300 more species on that one day BRIAN FINCH is the author of the than Kenya has ever recorded since records sounds component of the recent were kept. Birds of East Africa application Audio recordings In the October 2020 eBird Challenge, we available on the iTunes Library. submitted to the were better organised. Birders were over Macaulay Library much of the country and we came top in the entire Old World once again, this time clocking in with a staggering 815 species. This put us in the middle of the Americas block, it Some links for very interesting follow-ups: was now unblocked! We came 6th in the entire Radio transmitters on Eurasian Cuckoos from Asia; https://birdingbeijing.com/tag/mongolian-cuckoo-project/ world with only Colombia (1,295) descending in placement through Peru, Ecuador, Brazil Bar-tailed Godwit New Zealand-Alaska; (1,109), and it was neck and neck with Bolivia https://www.audubon.org/news/the-bar-tailed-godwits-annual- (804). We left the USA in the dust although migration-utterly-astounding they came 11th in the global ranking with Eastern Willow Warbler migration; 128 less than Kenya. Even the 50 plus exotic https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-018-0138-0 (man-introduced species that do not occur The eBird Global Bird Count-Global eBird phenomenon naturally as part of the fauna) species that https://ebird.org/news/october-big-day-2020-a-global-birding- they counted in this figure was not enough to phenomenon save them.

JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | 51 52 | JANUARY - MARCH 2021 PORTFOLIO DAVID ATTENBOROUGH A profile by Delta Willis

hile it is hard to imagine David Attenborough Wworking at a desk, early in his career at the BBC he demonstrated the same daring inquisitiveness that made him famous as our intrepid guide to the earth’s natural history. Working at BBC Two in the 1960’s, he commissioned Jacob Bronowski’s The Ascent of Man and a 13 part series on the history of Western art called Civilization. Then he traveled to show us the wonders of our natural world. From the first black and white footage of birds of paradise displaying in the wild to stunning High Definition underwater images of fish swirling for their life, his filmography has informed generations. The most recent project, A Life on Our Planet, retraces his adventures and how ecosystems have changed during his He grew up on a university campus with a rejection slip; early on a BBC lifetime. At 94, he is the same age as where he displayed an aptitude for executive dismissed him “because the Queen; they arrived only weeks entrepreneurship. “I first learned is teeth were too big.” It was his apart in 1926. the possibility of earning a living enthusiasm that was big, and propels from animals when I was very him even today after double knee young,” Attenborough recalled replacements and a pacemaker exploring the grounds of University fitted in 2013. Afterwards, he told College, Leicester. “I met the woman The Guardian, “If I was earning my responsible for zoology and she money by hewing coal I would be very wanted a large supply of newts for the glad indeed to stop. But I'm not. I'm department. I mentioned to my father swanning round the world looking that I could solve this lady’s problems at the most fabulously interesting for three pence a newt. But the place things.” I caught them was a pond five yards Fossils always intrigued him; a from the laboratory and they never piece of amber became the focus knew.” of The Amber Time Machine half Two brothers also excelled: a century after he received it as a Director Richard Attenborough is gift. Fossils frozen by amber and best known for A Bridge Too Far and imprinted on rocks around the Jurassic Park. John Attenborough world expanded his appreciation was an executive at Alfa Romeo, the of evolution. “Evidence all over the Italian carmaker. planet clearly shows evolution to be An obstacle to his first TV the best way to explain the diversity appearance should hearten anyone of life.”

JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | 53 PORTFOLIO

In 2009, the BBC broadcast an Attenborough one-hour special, Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life. “People write to me that evolution is only a theory. Well, it is not a theory;” he explained. “Evolution is as solid a historical fact as you could conceive. [There is] Evidence from every quarter. What is a theory is whether natural selection is the mechanism and the only mechanism. That is a theory. But the historical reality that dinosaurs led to birds and mammals produced whales, that’s not theory.” He suggests Genesis was interpreted to support humankind’s war on nature. “By saying that the world was there for people to dominate has taught generations that they can ‘dominate’ the environment, and this has resulted in the devastation of vast areas of the environment.” Attenborough joined leading scientists to demand “creationism to be banned from the school science curriculum and for evolution to be taught more widely in schools.” With Chris Parsons, a producer at the BBC’s Natural History Unit, Attenborough became a full time on-camera broadcaster with The number of people exacerbates Tanganyika. By 2013, Attenborough Life on Earth. every environmental problem we had already collected 32 honorary Of our burgeoning human have, including Climate Change. degrees from British universities, population, he is blunt, saying “I believe that almost every ill that more than any other person. Over 20 humans are a “plague on the Earth.” afflicts the world today can be put years ago he was described as a Living He advocates a vegetarian diet or to down to increasing population size,” Legend at the Jackson Hole Wildlife reduce meat consumption in order to Attenborough said. Film Festival, receiving their Lifetime save wildlife, pointing out “the planet Focusing on the earth’s oceans, his Achievement Award. can’t support billions of meat-eaters.” Blue Planet II series first broadcast Attenborough is now a force in 2017 had the highest UK viewing promoting the Earthshot competition. figure for that year, 14.1 million. For Named to evoke JFK’s Moonshot, his 89th birthday, Attenborough was Earthshot is a visionary initiative to interviewed by President Obama make five awards of £1million each about his career and solutions year for 10 years to the best solutions to Climate Change, with Obama to protect life on our planet. More reflecting on his visit to Kenya’s than a few suitable ideas have been Maasai Mara, and solutions to featured in this magazine, such as encroachment of not only the reserve, the repair of coral reefs. https:// but the ecosystem. earthshotprize.org Opened in 2018, The David Attenborough Building in Cambridge DELTA WILLIS is an is a hub for conservation. Home to author and photographer the Cambridge University’s Museum who promoted Alan & of Zoology, the building provides Joan Root films. offices for organisations, including Flora & Fauna International and Birdlife International. His name was A Life on Our Planet is on also given to the British research Netflix. President Obama vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough, interviews David Attenborough and to at least 20 species, including https://bit.ly/3kNYjDp a fish from the deep waters of Lake

54 | JANUARY - MARCH 2021 ON SAFARI Safari & Kilimanjaro Travelling in Tanzania during the Pandemic

As we all know, 2020 was a difficult year for BELOW travel. After spending months wearing a mask Benny Mgonja, PHOTOS BY CHRIS WHITTAKER whenever I went outside, washing my hands Kilimanjaro guide, leads the way to Kibo religiously and avoiding all social interactions, Camp the day before accidentally found myself in Tanzania I was feeling slightly apprehensive about the summit push. for the entire duration of my home boarding a plane and heading to Tanzania. country’s (Britain) second round of The East African country had stopped publicly Inational lockdowns. All non-essential reporting their COVID-19 cases in May, which businesses were forced to close and people made it difficult to get a clear picture of what were asked to remain in their homes except was happening on the ground. However, my for food shopping. friends in Moshi assured me that the country I say ‘accidentally’ because it was never was open, it was safe and I had nothing to my intention to skip Lockdown 2.0. I guess worry about. I was more concerned about the it’s what American painter and TV host Bob London section of my trip than I was about Kilimanjaro is not only Africa’s Ross would call a ‘happy accident’. I had Tanzania. tallest peak, booked my flights to Kilimanjaro Airport My flight was quite enjoyable because but also the three weeks prior. Prime Minister Boris the departure lounge bar was selling pints world’s tallest Johnson announced the lockdown with just of Guinness for £2 to clear stock before free standing five days notice. My flight was in three days. lockdown. I made the most of it before settling mountain. The My return flight had a similar stroke of luck, into an empty row of seats on the flight. summit, named Uhuru Point, is touching down in Heathrow on 4th December I felt that all reasonable precautions were 5,895 metres 2020, again, just two days after the national in place. Masks were mandatory during above sea level. lockdown was set to ease. the whole process, except when eating,

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BELOW LEFT This turned out to be a recurring theme during our safaris. Ice fields and glaciers on the final push to A lot of commonly elusive animals seemed to be spending the summit. time closer to the roads. This could be due to the heavily BOTTOM LEFT decreased levels of tourism over the year. A self-portrait - watching the Milky and miniature hand-sanitizer bottles were to the roads. This could be due to the heavily Way rise above the crater, the night handed out on the plane. Upon arriving at decreased levels of tourism over the year. before summit Kilimanjaro, I met my driver who reached out What would usually be high traffic areas with attempt. to me for a handshake. I realized this was the safari trucks constantly driving up and down first time I’d shaken someone’s hand in about were now mostly empty for hours at a time. It BOTTOM RIGHT six months. now seemed far more likely for the animals to An inquisitive jackal The luck continued into my first full day in be resting near or even on the roads. bravely approaches us for a closer look. Tanzania when arriving at Tarangire National We pulled over by the roadside at the Park. It was around 3:30 p.m. when I signed Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area to into the arrivals book and my name was the enjoy some hippos in the distance. They stood 16th on the list. This is a 2,850km2 area and I by the water’s edge feeding on the grass. was just the 16th visitor of the day. Within the The calm lake gave off a perfectly mirrored hour, I was sat watching a pack of lions tear reflection. I photographed them for about 10 into a freshly slain zebra. This is an incredibly minutes until directly in front of us, about rare sight. To not only be present as the eight metres away, a large male lion sat up, circle of life rotates but for it to happen close yawned, stretched and went back to sleep. enough to the road that I was able to see and “Oh, there’s a lion there.” It started to become photograph it. a running joke how easy it was to see them. This turned out to be a recurring theme This lack of tourism was even more during our safaris. A lot of commonly elusive apparent during my hike of Mt. Kilimanjaro. animals seemed to be spending time closer I took on the five-day Marangu Route. The

56 | JANUARY - MARCH 2021 TRIBUTE

first night I had the entire campsite to myself and my team. The second night we stayed at Horombo. This is a transit camp as hikers stay on both the way up and down. There were maybe four other tourists in total. The following night at Kibo Camp was back to just me again. This was far from the stories I had heard of rowdy campers and cramped sites. A perfect silence fell across the mountain all through the day and all through the night. I wonder how many people have been able to experience Kilimanjaro in such a personal and connected way. The lack of traffic on the mountain had similar effects as the safari. The often hard- to-see jackal made itself known on a few occasions. During the summit push, we walked 1,000m in elevation over 6km to reach Uhuru Peak and saw only one tourist for the entire day. In a normal year, the ant trail of hikers can usually be seen sprawled across the footpaths in all directions, with people queueing to take a photo at the summit sign. It felt like we had the entirety of Kibo to enjoy all to ourselves. My guide Benny and I were the highest people in all of Africa. The second highest group was not even close. Throughout the trip, every restaurant I visited felt as if it were set up just for us. Empty picnic areas where you would usually have to fight to get a seat. Hotels with no tourists and campsites with no tents. It was a strange time to be visiting. A unique time. A time that may never be replicated. I was gifted with wildlife encounters that far exceeded my boldest of dreams. To be up close and personal with the big cats, without feeling way qualified to speculate, but for whatever TOP RIGHT like they were in any way disturbed by our the reason, COVID-19 cases have stayed Daniel Godwin Ngowi patiently presence. To have my limits pushed climbing remarkably low. There are hand washing enjoys waiting for stations at every bar, restaurant and National up one of the world’s Seven Summits, to an elephant to cross be rewarded with mountain vistas without Park gate. People are aware of the symptoms the road at the another soul in view. Sights that may not and know to stay home when feeling ill. Public Ngorongoro Crater have been seen for decades. But on top of all areas are well ventilated and mostly outside Conservation Area. of that, I was greeted by kind, hopeful and and in the sun. Tanzania is open, it is safe optimistic smiling faces from the many people and it seems on all accounts to be ready to BELOW welcome tourists back whenever they have A lioness pauses of Tanzania that made my trip so special. They from taking a drink were relieved to welcome me to Tanzania. I found a way to control things in their home from what's left of promised to pass on this message to the world nations. the Tarangire river, for them. I hope for the sake of the many people that moments before the Tanzania is a country without the rely on tourism to survive here, that the rest zebra kill. infrastructure to support furlough schemes. of the world will find ways to stay on top of Paying people to sit at home is not an option. the coronavirus so everybody can get back to An unmeasurable percentage of its citizens do travelling to these remarkable destinations. not own bank accounts and live day-to-day with the cash they earn. After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people CHRIS WHITTAKER is an in Tanzania were faced with a choice; close adventure travel writer, photographer and international down and starve to death, or open up, take expedition leader. Follow Chris' all the precautions possible and hope for the adventures on social media: @ best. I’m not sure how exactly and I am in no global_shenanigans

JANUARY - MARCH 2021 | 57 BOOK REVIEW

After trailing a pregnant elephant matriarch and its family for 17 uninteresting nights, Moss witnesses a thrilling birth at dusk twilight. Impressions describes the Maasai people, intrinsic to this part of Kenya, grazing their livestock across the rangelands and living with wildlife “in a kind of harmony.” But, like the pressure on wildlife from human population growth, Moss has seen the pastoral Maasai lifestyle changing with the times. They have become less mobile, their once open landscapes now a patchwork of fenced plots and fruit farms. The future of the park and the ability of wide-ranging wildlife and people to coexist will be determined by the Maasai. The book is a collaboration with British painter Sophie Walbeoffe. “I felt that Sophie captured the beauty of Amboseli like no other artist I had seen,” writes Moss about her decision to partner with Walbeoffe. Kenyan-based Walbeoffe, 51, studied fine art at the Wimbledon School of Art in London before coming to Kenya in 1988 as an expedition artist with Operation Raleigh. She has lived in Kenya ever since, except for a short stint in Jerusalem between 2013-2014. For three years she visited Cynthia Moss’s research station to paint the wildlife and landscapes of Amboseli. Renowned for watercolour paintings, her style of artwork is most influenced by English artist Cecil Collins. He taught her to slow down, meditate before painting and then absorb the surroundings with all of one’s senses. “Now painting has become a form of meditation for me,” she writes. Her versatile style incorporates different pens lephant biologist Cynthia Moss is an expert on and brushstrokes, even using her hands and feet to make the elephants of Amboseli National Park, with dots and circles. One of her best paintbrushes is a floor nine books to her name. Now she has written mop! EImpressions of Amboseli, a touching tribute to A few pages are dedicated to explaining her colour the wilderness that has been her home for half a century. palette, the use of watercolours versus oils or ink, useful A former reporter for Newsweek, Moss came on safari painting accessories, recommendations for working in the to Kenya in 1967, travelling through southern Kenyan African bush, and how to adapt your car as a studio. and northern Tanzania with a friend, when she “fell in Walbeoffe’s watercolours are often sketched and love with Africa.” A chance meeting in Tanzania’s Lake captured in the field instead of her later referring to Manyara National Park with a young elephant scientist photographs. She perseveres through mid-day heat or Iain Douglas-Hamilton led to a volunteer assistantship cold to put down what she sees and feels in the wilderness. for three weeks in 1968. Fifty-two years later, Moss is still Consequently, there is an immediacy and aliveness to her studying elephants. paintings that depict elephants browsing in palm-fringed In the early 1970s, she and study partner Harvey Croze swamps, wildebeest hurtling, antelopes leaping, thousands founded the Amboseli Elephant Trust (ATE). They chose of greater and lesser flamingos in a shallow lake, and the Amboseli because of the relatively undisturbed population ever-present backdrop of Mt Kilimanjaro. of elephants. Heavy ivory poaching in the 1960s had Africa’s tallest mountain feeds the year-round springs, decimated that elephant population down to 700 from at swamps and rivers, which underpin Amboseli’s rich least 1,200. But after the 1977 ban on sport hunting, the biodiversity, so beautifully illustrated by Walbeoffe. At elephant population began to grow. the same time, emotions are stirred by palpable scenes Now, with 50 years of first-hand experience, Moss of treeless plains, light and dust in the atmosphere, big presents a succinct history of the park, the daily and moody skies and Kilimanjaro in the hazy distance. seasonal rhythms of its wild residents in what has become Impressions of Amboseli is a delightful memento of a the longest elephant research project in the world. unique habitat accompanied by evocative illustrations of Naturally, the goings-on among elephants anchors the the park. stories in Impressions. Moss gives titbits of day-to-day events in the 392 km2 Reviewed by Kari Mutu park, incidents not normally seen by the short-term visitor. Following good rains, hundreds of elephants The book is available at the ATE Nairobi office #21 aggregate in huge herds, re-establishing extended at the Langata Link complex. All proceeds go to the family bonds and attracting big musth males in a “time Amboseli research project. of romance”. Tim, the magnificent bull elephant and a notorious crop raider who died in 2020 is remembered.

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