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AERIAL SURVEILLANCE UNIT MONTHLY REPORT

DECEMBER 2020

AERIAL STATISTICS

DECEMBER 2020

162 HOURS FLOWN

21,557 KMS COVERED

AREAS PATROLLED

Tsavo East, West, KARI, Chyulu Hills NP, Lumo Conservancy, Galana Ranch, Kulalu Ranch, South Kitui National Reserve

DECEMBER 2020

MONTHLY AERIAL PATROL MAP

MONTHLY AERIAL SUMMARY Helicopter time was dominated by responses to Human Wildlife Conflict (HWC) during December, specifically Elephant conflict with necessitated 12 callouts. The majority of these cases were along the northwest fenceline in Tsavo East where elephants are now more often traveling around the fence to the north and getting “stuck” on the wrong side. While most attempts to push elephants back through the fence are successful, there were a few groups of elephants that refused to cross over the threshold of where the recently dropped fence previously stood. Another hotspot was the Mtito River, which forms a soft boundary between Tsavo East and what was initially the Ngai Ndethya National Reserve, and which is now mostly settled. Elephants cross the seasonal river mostly at night, and when in the “community,” raid crops and generally cause anxiety to the residents who fear being trampled on their way to/from work and/or school. Tragically, an elderly man lost his life in December on his way to work one morning when he came across a bull elephant. When the Trust’s helicopter was called, there were 8 elephants identified in the area, all of which were pushed back into the Park. The helicopter also attended to HWC cases in the Sagala area, which is almost always a troubled area this time of year. On these occasions 3 herds of 32, 11 herds of 145 and 3 herds of 74, were pushed away from farms and into protected area to the south. While these are large numbers of elephant to be dealing with, it is a reduction from previous years when up to 300 elephants were often found crowded around these same farms. HWC was dealt almost exclusively by helicopter, however, fixed wing aircraft were used on 2 occasions to scout herd locations. The fixed wing aircraft were often otherwise occupied patrolling the perimeters of the Parks looking for livestock incursions.

Towards the beginning of the month, the remaining livestock and their enclosures in the Chyulu Hills National Park were located and later removed by ground teams, and for the majority of the month the Chyulu Hills remained livestock free. KARI Ranch, was mostly livestock free following the multi-day police operation that took place in November. There were also a small number of herds of cattle that were detected along the Kilinyeti River, which forms the northern boundary of KARI Ranch; however, no permanent enclosures were found during the month, which is down from 17 enclosures before the operation. In the north of Tsavo East, one small incursion of cattle was identified on the Tiva River, but these were quickly expelled by KWS, and a follow up patrol failed to turn anything up. To the south, along Huri Plains, a sizeable incursion of cattle (5500) and shoats (5200) were found deep in the Park, but these also were successfully pushed back out. South of the Galana River, several more herds were found being herded into the Park to graze along the Kulalu Ranch boundary. Livestock in Tsavo West was prevalent, especially in the southern sector, with nearly 6000 cattle counted in each of two areas and 11 cattle enclosures marked on one patrol in Kanjaro. Smaller numbers were detected in other commonly visited areas. Only 2 charcoal kilns were located in December including 1 in KARI Ranch, and another in Tsavo East near Mtito Andei. Both were destroyed by ground teams. Patrols to the Mukomwe area on the northeast corner of Tsavo East at first found no new activity; however, toward the end of the month, fresh vehicle tracks were observed, along with a charcoal kiln in construction. Coordinates were provided to KWS to deal with before the cartel could become entrenched in the area once more

No veterinary cases were attended to by the Aerial Unit in December; however, aircrafts were deployed on 5 occasions to search for injured animals that had been sighted either on the ground or in previous aerial patrols. Two unsuccessful searches were conducted for a bull elephant that was spotted in the Northern Area with a suspected arrow wound. Another bull elephant was searched for and found near the Tsavo River, but his wound, also thought to be inflicted by an arrow, was determined by the vet to be non-threatening and no treatment was needed. A final search was conducted for a lion thought to have been struck by a vehicle on the Mombasa highway. It had been seen by a ground team disappear into thick bush but could not be located again from the air. December was another month with very little poaching activity. One shooting blind was spotted on a helicopter patrol and a KWS investigation which reported buried ivory near the scene was also assisted by the helicopter, with nothing found. Suspect interrogations later concluded that the ivory had been dug up and moved. Two elephant carcasses were spotted from the air with ivory still intact. One was very old and the other was recent, but neither is thought to be poaching related. A third, old carcass was located near Ithumba, and although it is difficult to know, the carcass had been covered deliberately with branches and its ivory was missing, it was most likely poached. Due to the age of the carcass, it was impossible to conclude means of death.

The helicopter was also used on two occasions to assist with a maintenance job on communications equipment atop Ithumba Hill. Highlights for the month included the usual sightings of lion, rhino as well as a leopard with what appeared to be a fresh kill of an Egyptian Goose. Also sighted was a huge herd of buffalo numbering around 1,500 on Lumo Conservancy.