A HEAVILY PREGNANT ELEPHANT KILLED IN AMBOSELI

It takes 24 months to have a baby elephant, and just one day for a retard poacher to take its life and that of its mother… a heavily pregnant elephant killed in Amboseli yesterday. 

Via Amboseli Trust for Elephants: " A sad day in Amboseli- Yesterday we received report of an elephant spearing just outside the National Park, our team went out to ID the elephant and found that it was a member of the TD Family called Tanwira. She was only a young 14 year old female and heavily pregnant (see picture Tanwira lay at a far and the calf close), carrying her first calf who was only days away from being born. We found the calf and mother a short distance from one another, as hyenas had dragged the calf away from her womb. She died from a spear wound to the heart. The team from Big Life are working hard to capture those who carried out this vicious attack." Source: https://www.facebook.com/AmboseliElephant

WILDLIFE POACHING IN KENYA 2014

This is Kenya; the alarming rate at which we are losing our heritage leaves a lot to be desired. As we speak, 2014 this year of our Lord has seen the loss of about 16rhinos and 10 elephants to poaching.

Friday 14th March 2014, in the evening, gun shots were heard, after their silence later the the following morning the worst was confirmed …Sheria, another male black rhino dead at Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The incident has left me with more questions than answers. Anyone who has followed Ol Pejeta’s anti-poaching mechanisms will tell you that it’s one of the best if not best protected rhino sanctuaries in the world whose security is characterized by SAS-trained armed rangers, sniffer and attack dogs, military vehicles, helicopter and aircraft support. So, I’m not sure if this is a case of poachers getting smart in 2014 or that was an internal-cum-inside job by whoever God knows, but all I guess and assume is that rhinos are no longer safe in sanctuaries. Three suspected poachers were arrested.

New Wildlife Conservation and Management act:  To be frank, the new anti-poaching law doesn’t seem to be doing us any good if the most recent events in poaching circles in Kenya are to go by. Actually the only strength in that law is just a stiffer penalty of a 20 million Kenya Shilling fine ad a life jail term of a convicted offender. The penalties haven’t yet seen the light of day even after some deserving fellas were arrested in the previous recent past.

I don’t know whether its Kenya I’ll cry for as an estimated 120rhinos are expected to be lost this year if tables are not turned on poachers or it’s the people of Mzansi Im gonna weep for. South Africa is now on record having lost more than 100rhinos so far in the the year 2014.

The Silly Reality about Poaching in Kenya

• Like Drama, a fella the other day claimed to know exactly who the lead poaching cartels in Kenya are only referring to them as a ‘Governor’ form Rift Valley,  an ‘MP’ from Central Kenya and two ‘businesspeople.’ Nothing much has been heard of the same as I speak; only Buddha knows.
• Poaching has destroyed Elephant communities in Amboseli, Tsavo and other national parks.
• Poaching has reached a level where by it should be declared a national disaster but no one is willing to. 
• Poachers in Kenya have become so brave that they have mastered the art of striking in broad day light: - a case of Lake Nakuru National park whose story I have no time to tell at the moment.
• There is a new anti-poaching law whose stiff penalties include a life time jail term, and or a 20 Ksh. Million fine for a convicted offender. No culprit has tasted the full wrath of these penalties the one who came close to this was Tang Yong Jian, who pleaded guilty to being in possession of raw ivory valued at $6,000 after being arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport mid January. As of the time I was sober he was serving seven years after being unable to pay a $230,000 fine, I pray and hope he still is.  
• Thanks to poaching, there is a 100% likelihood that your children’s children will never get to see an elephant or rhino unless on picture in the next 15years to come.

5 DAYS MASAI MARA GAME RESERVE & LAKE NAKURU CAMPING SAFARI

Masai Mara Camping safari, Lake Nakuru budget camping, Lake Nakuru camping tour, Kenya wildlife camping safari, Lake Nakuru National park, Maasai Mara wildebeest migration,

A safari to the world famous Bird Sanctuary of Lake Nakuru, then South over the Mau Escarpment to Kenya's greatest concentration of game - the Maasai Mara- Kenya's most popular game park, with the possibility of seeing all the big five and many other species of game. This is where the great wildebeest migration is a spectacle to behold for any would be visitor to Kenya mainly in July –October each year

This safari covers the Great Rift Valley, Africa's famous canyon, continues to Lake Nakuru - home of hundreds of thousand of flamingos, pelicans and numerous other bird life The tour ends at the renown Maasai Mara which has been declared the 7th wonder of the world with its spectacular migrating wildebeests.

3 DAYS AMBOSELI CAMPING SAFARI

Kenyan Camping Budget Safari Adventure, Kenya Camping Safari, Amboseli National Park, Amboseli Safari, Mount Kilimanjaro tours

 

Set against the magnificent backdrop of Africa's highest mountain, the glittering Mount Kilimanjaro, Amboseli National Park gives the best chance to came too close to free ranging elephants of Africa. You will also have opportunities to meet Maasai and visit a Maasai village. The park also offers spectacular views of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Amboseli offers some of the best opportunities to see African animals because its vegetation is sparse due to the long dry months. Amboseli National Park is home to wild animals, which include the African elephant, cape buffalo, impala, lion, cheetah, hyena, giraffe, zebra, and wildebeest among other African animals. There is also a host of Kenyan birds, both large and small, to see.

THE ELEPHANT

Swahili Name:           Ndovu or Tembo

Maasai Name:           Oltome

Scientific Name:        Loxodonta Africana

Height:                      2.5m to 4m

Weight:                     Male – 5 to 6 Tonnes, Female – 2.5 to 3.5 tonnes

Lifespan:                   60 years

Gestation Period:      22 months; have one young

Length of Tusks:       3.5m

Food:                       Herbivore; eats 200kg a day; drinks up to 300 liters of water.

It is a huge mammal characterized by a long muscular snout and two long, curved tusks. The elephant is highly intelligent and strong. It is the largest land animal and among the longest lived, with life spans of 60 years or more. A healthy, full-grown elephant have no natural enemies other than humans.

In Thailand, India and other Southeast Asian countries, elephants are highly revered and honored therefore beautifully decorated and very important in traditional religious ceremonies. According to the National Geographic, over the past 40 million years, more than 600 species of elephants have roamed the earth. Today only three species remain—the savanna elephant and the forest elephant of Africa, and the Asian elephant.

An Elephant at Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary

The elephant remains endangered with highly decreasing numbers from 5 million to 10 million at the turn of 20^th century to 400,000 to 500,000 at the end of the same century. The decline is attributed to widespread hunting-cum-poaching and destruction of their habitat.

In Kenya alone, efforts to conserve this mammal started in 1972 when Cynthia Moss founded the African Wildlife Foundation’s Amboseli Elephant Research Project. Since then, Moss has documented the complex social interactions of more than 1,600 elephants, greatly broadening the scientific understanding of these magnificent creatures. She has published her research in a number of books that highlight the plight of endangered elephants and the need for extensive conservation efforts if these animals are to survive.

Sources: National Geographic || AWF || Mwaluganje ElephantSanctuary