Mara Elephant Project received support from the Basecamp Explorer Foundation – Kenya (BCEF-K) to enhance the skillsets of wildlife rangers throughout the Mara. The free training courses will cover a variety of disciplines and benefit a total of 125 rangers from 24 conservancies to transfer these new skills to their broader team, elevating the overall impact of wildlife rangers across the Mara. The first group of 29 completed their training in June which featured Drone training, Search and Rescue (SAR), Water Borne Assisted Recovery Hands-On Guidance (WARTHOG), EarthRanger, Patrols and Ambushes, Communications, and Human Resources among others.
BCEF-K CEO Nick Trent stopped by to see the (SAR and WARTHOG training firsthand. While it seems far-fetched that a rescue operation would take place in water in the Mara, In May, MEP relied on our SAR training to respond to the Mara floods and rangers often operate near lakes and rivers. The training covered waterborne recovery and safety and the SAR equipment was put to use at the Mara River Lodge.
Since 2011, the Wildlife Research and Training Institute (WRTI), Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), and MEP have collared over 80 individual elephants to track their movements in real-time. In June, the MEP helicopter was used in three recollaring operations. Originally collared in 2013, the large bull Polaris was re-collared this month with assistance from KWS Vet Dr. Njoroge. Additionally, Siham, Dicki, and Dr. Omondi were also recollared to continue their 24/7 tracking. Female elephants Dicki, in the Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary, and Siham, in the Kenya Triangle Ranch, and bull elephant Dr. Omondi, in Taita Conservancy, move between Kenya and Tanzania, traversing areas linking Tsavo Park and the Taita ranches. Their collars allow ground teams to respond and better inform land use planning. A special thank you to Rob Walker for donating the flying hours for these collar operations. They are all sporting the latest Savannah Tracking collar models, and their real-time movements will be used to keep them safe for another three years.
On June 12, The MEP mobile ranger team received a report from Naboisho Conservancy rangers that a bull elephant was limping. After monitoring him, they called in KWS Vet Dr. Njoroge from the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (SWT) Mobile Vet Unit for treatment. MEP provided both ground and aerial support while Dr. Njoroge treated him for an infected arrow wound on his hip. MEP rangers will continue monitoring him as he recovers.
MEP drone pilots were responding to various cases of human-elephant conflict and monitoring elephants in June. Four bull elephants moved from the Mara to the Mau Forest, crossing farms and settlements. The “Foxtrot” and HQ ranger teams joined forces to monitor them along the route. Unfortunately, two of the bulls returned close to the forest and were caught in Mulot Town for the entire day. We deployed drones and the helicopter to keep the community away and waited until nightfall to move the elephants to safety.
The HQ team has been working tirelessly, responding to nighttime HEC incidents around Pardamat Conservation Area (PCA). Additionally, the HQ team monitored collared elephant Ivy using a thermal drone, we were able to locate the herd in Ol Chorro Conservancy and establish that she was in good health. The “Golf” team in Transmara continues to monitor Fitz and his herd using their drone. The team also monitored collared elephant Fred along the Mara River after receiving a low-speed alert from his collar and found him to be in good health.
The “Lima” team in Mosiro has been actively monitoring a herd of over 70 elephants in the Rift Valley. The team also visited Shompole to monitor all collared elephants in the area. The mobile team, based in Ol-Kinyei Conservancy and spending a week in the Mau Forest, has been monitoring the big bulls including collared elephants Kiambi and Polaris in Ol Kinyei Conservancy. Overall, drones continue to be a vital tool in mitigating conflict and monitoring elephants in the Mara.
Mara Elephant Project rangers partner with their counterparts working in conservancies, and land designated for wildlife, to conduct joint anti-poaching patrols, assess human-elephant conflict, and promote coexistence with bordering communities. In June, the MEP “Foxtrot” ranger team equipped with a drone partnered with four separate conservancies to provide additional capacity, especially in the air, for increased impact. MEP’s drone operations not only benefit the elephants we protect but also the partners we’re proud to protect them with.
MEP community rangers are ambassadors not just for the organization, but the wildlife and wild spaces they protect. As a result of recent flooding in the Mara, many roads and bridges were impassable disrupting people’s commutes to school, work, and home. MEP rangers have been there to help promote the connection between conservation and community.
Overall, in June, MEP rangers alongside government partners arrested seven habitat destruction suspects. They confiscated 4 kg of bushmeat and removed 175 snares, the highest in 2024 so far. They also confiscated 11 pieces of timber, and eight posts, destroyed 38 charcoal kilns, and mitigated 25 conflict incidents. In June, MEP rangers covered a distance of 1,224.12 km on foot and 1,919.86 km by car in the GME.
The month of June started on a high note, as the MEP Coexistence Farm and long-term monitoring teams celebrated the Word Environmental Day at Enkipai Primary School thanks to support from Kampur Travel Diaries. They planted 200 trees and set up the program’s second conservation school kitchen garden. The students and the teachers were very excited and worked as they looked forward to eating the fruits of their labor in the coming months.
The MEP Farm team also trained a total of 79 women from two villages on setting up their own kitchen garden at home and providing the supplies necessary to do so. One participant who received seedlings from the previous training testified that today she is feeding her family and selling the surplus vegetables. She encouraged the other women that the training they are receiving is very important and should apply when they get to their homes. After setting up a kitchen garden at the nearby school Enkipai Primary the ladies showed lots of gratitude to MEP through bringing development to their doorstep and empowering them and their children.
MEP rangers alongside government partners deter habitat destruction and restore areas already lost. Their restoration efforts are bolstered by long-time partner Seedballs Kenya, an organization that provides seedballs, an Indigenous tree seedling covered in a nutrient ball, to distribute on degraded land. Once watered by nature, these seeds take root and grow, restoring the once-barren landscape. Seedballs Kenya Co-Founder Teddy Kinyanjui recently joined the MEP Advisory Committee and stopped by headquarters in June with four donated seedball bags containing acacia and African olive tree seedlings ready for distribution.
MEP is joining the 2024 Tusk Wildlife Ranger Challenge. Launched in 2020, the challenge is an annual celebration of solidarity, connection, and camaraderie for rangers. Racing across Africa’s protected areas, wildlife rangers unite around a common goal, to raise vital funds for frontline conservation efforts. MEP’s two teams of rangers Stanley, Cosmas, Eric, Geoffrey, Fancy, Charity, Sylvia, and Gloria will join their comrades starting tomorrow for bi-weekly challenges all leading up to the big race on September 21.
Finally, Mara Elephant Project released our 2023 Annual Report in June.
