SWT Aerial Unit Report - July 2025

JULY 2025

Aerial Unit Monthly Report

Operated in support of the Kenya Wildlife Service, Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's Aerial Unit monitors for illegal activity from the skies and offers rapid response assistance in anti-poaching operations, human-wildlife conict, veterinary treatments, orphan rescues, and all manner of eld emergencies.

This report details Aerial Unit activities for July 2025

MONTH AT A GLANCE:

27,678

Hours own: Areas patrolled:

161

Kilometres own:

22,368

JULY 2025 PATROL MAP:

A total of nine veterinary cases were attended to in July with involvement from the Aerial Unit. Four of these cases involved elephants, three of which were sighted during routine aerial patrols. The same number appeared to have injuries caused by human-elephant conict, including two with spear wounds and another with an arrow wound (a non-poisonous arrow, which was recovered) A fourth elephant was found with a poisoned arrow lodged in its abdomen and is assumed to be the victim of a poaching attempt. Three of the four elephants were darted from a helicopter. As a result of timely intervention, all four elephants are expected to make a full recovery. A number of other animals were also attended to with aerial assistance

A giraffe, sighted by a pilot from Wildlife Works with a snare around its neck, was darted from a SWT helicopter and successfully freed and treated While the giraffe had broken from the tree it was originally tethered to, one of our teams also encountered a snared buffalo, still rmly attached to another tree and immobile The vet was rapidly transferred to the scene by helicopter. He removed the snare and treated the wound. While in the area, a second snared buffalo was discovered. Tragically, this one was deceased and been stripped of its meat by poachers.

Two other vet transfers were facilitated by the Aerial Unit. These included a transfer ight to treat two zebras in Lamu County and another to treat a lion on Galana Ranch. Of the two zebras, one suffered from a terrible rope snare injury and the other from a partially severed tendon the result of a poaching attempt Both were successfully darted and attended to; however, the prognosis is guarded for both The lion on Galana appeared to have multiple serious injuries inicted by a buffalo horn. After a lengthy amount of stitching, he was given a good prognosis by the vet. Fortunately, he belonged to a coalition of three male lions and will not have to hunt alone while he heals.

Several other elephants were also sighted with wounds that were either deemed unnecessary to treat or impossible to treat, including a fractured leg on a young calf. Besides the two snared buffalo mentioned above, there were several other incidences of poaching detected from the air, including various campres within the park and a poacher's harbour that was found after following motorbike tracks across a portion of Kulalu Ranch Upon reaching the harbour, one suspect was apprehended, and several animal skins were recovered as well as four freshly killed birds. On the same ight, an old elephant carcass was found, but the presence of intact ivory suggests it died of natural causes.

Other illegal activities observed in July included charcoal burning, logging, evidence of harvesting honey, and illegal livestock. Charcoal burning occurred mostly on the ranches neighbouring Tsavo West NP; however, a small number of active and recent charcoal kilns were found in Tsavo East

The Aerial Unit supported two orphaned elephant rescues in July, both young calves with serious injuries. Both orphans appeared to have been abandoned by their families one on Lualenyi Ranch and another near Lake Jipe in Tsavo West The team transported both to the Voi stockades for care

With re season upon us, there were also a number of callouts to assist in coordinating reghting efforts of ground teams from the air, including a large re in Tsavo West that originated on the Maktau-Taveta highway possibly from a discarded cigarette Our helicopters also assisted with a small number of human-wildlife conict cases, including two groups of elephants and one group of buffaloes, which were all successfully pushed back into the Park

Highlights for the month included two newborn rhino calves seen during helicopter patrols as well as a lion kill atop the Yatta Plateau with ve lions feasting on an eland

The Aerial Unit, as with all Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's conservation projects, is a donorfunded initiative Thank you to our global supporters, who help us secure Kenya's habitats for the future and make an impact in the eld, each and every day

2025 The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust