The launch of the Mara Elephant Project long-term monitoring (LTM) team has already proved successful during one of their first weeks out in the field in April. On April 21, while collecting data on a herd of elephants located in Mara North Conservancy (MNC), they noted a female elephant that had an arrowhead lodged in her left ear. A type of injury like this is important to treat because of the risk of infection.
So, MEP called in Kenya Wildlife Service Vet Dr. Limo from the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Mara Mobile Unit to treat the female elephant.
The operation took place the next day and required the use of the MEP leased helicopter to flush this female away from her herd that were located on a rocky hill and inside thick patch of brush. The MNC rangers we also close at hand on the ground to keep her calf safe while she was being treated. It was truly a team effort. The female most likely received her injury while crop raiding in farms that border the conservancy. The mother’s treatment went well, and she and her baby are back with their herd and will continue to be monitored by the MEP LTM team.
As you can see, the MEP LTM team is equipped with professional quality cameras to capture detailed images, like this elephant’s injury.
You’ll also see MEP’s Conservation Manager Wilson Sairowua using his Garmin Quantix watch donated by Garmin Denmark to track the location of the operation and time the treatment.
