AERIAL SURVEILLANCE UNIT MONTHLY REPORT
SEPTEMBER
AERIAL STATISTICS
SEPTEMBER 2021
190 HOURS FLOWN
27,291 KMS COVERED
AREAS PATROLLED
Tsavo East, Tsavo West, Chyulu Hills, KARI ranch, Galana and Kulalu Ranches, Amboseli
SEPTEMBER 2021
MONTHLY AERIAL PATROL MAP
MONTHLY AERIAL SUMMARY The effects of the drought really began to appear in September, with a significant increase in pressure from illegal livestock. This was notable in Northern Tsavo East, along the Tiva River and towards the end of the Yatta Plateau, where livestock had generally been brought under control and removed from the Park, however, in September, there was a huge influx of cattle, sheep and goats in both areas. On some flights our pilots observed large plumes of dust stretching out for several km caused by livestock being led to water on the Galana River. Outside of the Park where this livestock usually grazes on government owned land which is managed by the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC), the grass has long since been eaten. In fact, even the ADC’s small breeding herd has begun to suffer losses as observed by one of our pilots on a flight over Galana Ranch. While KWS remains committed to removing these cattle from the Park, it will certainly be a difficult fight and one that is not likely to come to any kind of conclusion until after the onset of the rains. The situation in Tsavo West is no different, with thousands of head of livestock being observed during patrols in several areas of Central and Southern Tsavo West.
A predictable increase in bushfires was also observed, with pilots responding on several occasions to assist with aerial coverage of fires in the Chyulu Hills National Park as well as the adjacent section of Tsavo West. These fires are all thought to have been set intentionally for a number of different reasons, and almost always require a huge response from multiple partners to contain. SWT provided aerial support on 5 occasions. This support generally involves identifying the areas of the fires that pose the greatest threat of spreading and feeding this information to KWS/partner ground teams who coordinate a response. It may also include identifying natural and manmade boundaries such as a road from which backburning can be used to stop fires. This was done successfully on at least one occasion. Other aerial assistance provided in September included the mapping of resolved fires to assess their damage. There was a slight uptick also in the amount sightings of logging activity both in Tsavo East and Chyulu Hills NP. Bicycle tracks, visible from the air along elephant paths in the north of Tsavo East are often indicative of logging activity and trigger a response from ground teams. Logging in the Chyulus was done by wood carvers who often camp out in the Park to produce wooden spoons and curios, which are sold to tourists and other travellers along the Mombasa Highway. Charcoal burning was only observed twice in Tsavo East, both in the northeast corner of the Park and near the Athi River. However, extensive charcoal operations were observed throughout the month on Galana and Kulalu Ranches, including a sighting of a truck transporting charcoal through Kulalu Ranch towards the Mombasa Highway for onward sale.
Despite an uptick in some illegal activities in the Parks, there were only two sightings of poaching activity. During a helicopter patrol, a team was dropped at a waterhole atop the Yatta where footprints of 2 suspected poachers were observed. The tracks were followed out of the Park and backtracked to a previously unknown (to our pilot) spring on the edge of the Yatta Plateau. The second evidence of poaching activity was a suspected poached elephant carcass. There was a definite increase in carcass sightings, and while many of these were older carcasses which have avoided detection for over a year, some of them were more recent and point to natural causes, most likely drought related. Of 7 carcasses discovered, ivory was recovered from 6 of them, but one recent carcass was discovered with tusks having been cut out. This carcass was discovered in close proximity to the boundary in Tsavo East. 4 carcasses were old/very old, and 2 others were recent but with intact ivory. In total, 12 tusks were recovered and handed over to KWS for safe keeping.
Expectedly, there was a general decrease in the amount of Human-Elephant Conflict cases responded to, as elephants returned back to familiar water sources in the Parks. Four incidents in total were responded to, three of which involved a helicopter pushing various small numbers of elephants back into the Park from community land. The 4th incident involved a herd of bull elephants that had been seen in a viral video walking through the middle of a busy town on Mombasa Highway. The herd was found in a large patch of bush nearby, which was deemed safe enough so that no further action was taken. Somewhat surprisingly, only two veterinary cases were assisted by the Aerial Unit in September. The first was after receiving word of a snared buffalo in Amboseli, a fixed wing aircraft flew to Voi to collect the KWS/SWT Mobile Vet and bring him back to our Field HQ, where he could then be flown directly to the buffalo in a helicopter. While the buffalo was successfully darted, unfortunately, it passed away during treatment due to the severity of its condition. The other case involved a snared leopard in the Tana Delta area of the Kenya coast. The Aerial Unit picked up the vet from Voi, flew to Kipini and darted the leopard for treatment. Unfortunately the leopard was suffering from a missing paw from a previous snare. Both injuries were on the right side and the leopard had zero chance at survival and was put down.
Other activities conducted by the Aerial Unit involved the pickup and transfer of 2 warthog babies that were separated from their mother when they fell into a water trough, as well as an abandoned lesser kudu calf, which was discovered by members of the community in Galana Ranch. An SWT helicopter also assisted in the search for a rhino calf, which went missing in Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary. Unfortunately the calf could not be located. Highlights included multiple sightings of leopard as well as a large pride of 12 lions and a pack of 20 wild dog.
Photographs copyright © 2021 The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust