Project Lion Rover - real hope for lions

Project Lion Rover is part of a new initiative in which Born Free will work with the Kenya Wildlife Service, Land Rover, the local Meru community and others, to do all we can to ensure that lions are free to live and thrive in the Meru Conservation Area (MCA) for generations to come. The project offers real hope for lions in their heartland.

A new era is dawning for Meru National Park thanks to Lion Rover Project’s targeted approach, jointly implemented by Born Free and KWS, supported by Land Rover.

Lions are in the Priority Species list in the Barcode of Wildlife Project. Each Partner Country (Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa) in the project has been asked to compile a list of approximately 200 species that are:

• Listed in one of the CITES Appendices which regulates their international trade; 
• Protected by national laws against possessing, killing, selling, and/or trafficking; 
• Endangered by domestic and/or international trade in that country; 
• Encountered by officials responsible for species protection; 
• Are trafficked as parts, products, or immature stages that are hard to identify; 
• Are hard to identify as adult, intact specimens because of their similarity to other species that are not protected; and 
• Are likely to be the basis of criminal investigations and prosecutions. 

The four BWP partner countries have selected 774 priority species for the project.

Kenneth Ochieng, Senior Warden Meru National Park introduces Born Free founder Virginia McKennato Kenya Wildlife Service rangers in Meru National Park

In response to requests from Captain Kenneth Ochieng, KWS Senior Warden Meru National Park, tents, laptops, binoculars, cold weather clothing, cameras and Global Positioning System units (GPS) were bought by Born Free with funds provided by Land Rover. They were recently put into action as part of enhanced anti-poaching activities.

Meru is where George and Joy Adamson famously raised and released Elsa the lioness back to the wild, a story told in the book and subsequent film Born Free.

Meru is beautiful, wild and rugged country. Not for the faint-hearted. Its golden plains, acacia forests and stands of palm are criss-crossed by sparkling rivers that sustain the wildlife of this extraordinary landscape. Meru is the land of the lion. Not only because of Elsa, but it is where George went on to return three lions from the film Born Free, to a life of freedom.

Phase One of Project Lion Rover, supported by Land Rover, involves the purchase and deployment of critically important equipment to the local KWS team charged with the protection of wildlife in the MCA.

This Phase will be followed by a series of coordinated actions under the Lion Rover umbrella including: the establishment of a Born Free de-snaring team; the provision of supplemental fuel for anti-poaching activities; and the development of conflict mitigation strategies with local people (including improved livestock security).

Vitally important for the medium and long-term will be the integration of these efforts into the KWS Large Carnivore Conservation Strategy document (due for revision in 2015).

As part of this effort, Born Free shall be working at the landscape level to support lion population analysis, in conjunction with the locally-based KWS Senior Scientist. This activity will permit KWS to establish credible lion baseline data and to monitor our progress in the months and years to come.

This research will help to: determine how many lions there are and what is happening to their natural prey species; identify conflict hotspots; help focus the KWS anti-poaching effort; determine what we can do to mitigate conflict; pin-point where bushmeat poaching is causing the greatest damage and guide our de-snaring team in their work to reduce its impact.

It will also help us decide how we can bring benefits to the local community, thereby creating an atmosphere of greater tolerance, understanding and respect for wildlife, especially lions.

6th annual Grevy’s Zebra conference

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) recently held the 6th annual Grevy’s Zebra  conference in Nairobi to review measures taken over the last 10 years to stem the decreasing population of the endangered species, whose population has dwindled from 15,000 in the 1970’s to the current 2,800 animals.

The conference brought together researchers and academics from diverse backgrounds who made presentations on recent findings on Grevy’s zebra, particularly on its survival amid a myriad of threats.

Mr Patrick Omondi KWS Deputy Director for Species Conservation and Management, and Chair of Barcode of Wildlife Project Kenya, who opened the conference, asked participants to strive to come up with a clear road map of addressing the threats facing the survival of the endangered species. He cited habitat loss, predation and diseases as the major threats to the survival of the Grevy’s Zebra.

Historically, Grevy’s Zebra were found in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia with a reported sighting in Sudan. Currently, the species is only found in Kenya and Ethiopia, with Kenya holding 90 percent of the total population.

Grevy’s zebra (Equus grevyi) was listed as Endangered A 2ac, C 2a (i) by the IUCN/SSC Equid Specialist Group (IUCN, 2003).  Grevy’s zebra is also listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), which offers them the highest protection against trade. The population size of Grevy’s zebra has reduced drastically and the species’ natural range has undergone one of the most dramatic constrictions of any animal species in Africa.

The main threats responsible for the decline of the species population are loss of range, hunting, competition with domestic livestock for critical resources, loss of access to critical resources, disease, predation, use of its products for medicinal purposes and drought; particularly in northern Kenya.

Forum addresses wildlife conservation issues

KWS Ag. Director General, Mr. William Kiprono addressing media after the end of a joint forum for Wildlife conservation NGOs at KWS headquarters in Nairobi.

Kenya Wildlife Service recently held a meeting with stakeholders in the wildlife sector to foster a cordial working relationship and share experiences on issues of common concern.  

The sensitisation meeting, attended by over 50 representatives of various wildlife sector NGOs, focused on four thematic areas, namely:

·     Partnership between NGOs and the government in the implementation of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, 2013, which came into force on January 10, 2014.

KWS acting Director General, Mr. William Kiprono, who addressed the forum expressed gratitude to the NGOs officials for supporting wildlife conservation efforts; singling out de-snaring, translocation of wildlife, removal of invasive species in protected areas, and resource mobilisation.

Other than poaching, Mr. Kiprono said the country is loosing a lot of animals as a result of unscrupulous traders who are killing animals for bush meat. He blamed the rapid loss of wildlife habitat on the high rate of crimes against wildlife and exhorted the public to join KWS in conserving and addressing issues that affect wildlife. Mr. Kiprono said KWS as the lead conservation body in the country has accurate and up-to-date data concerning wildlife numbers. He asked anybody with enquiries regarding this to contact the Deputy Director in charge of Species Conservation and Management for updated information.

The Director of Wildlife in the Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, Mr. Stephen Manegene, said it was regrettable stakeholders in the wildlife sector are not able to agree on a myriad of issues, including carrying out of wildlife censuses.

He asked NGOs to work closely with KWS and the ministry so that information from the country regarding critical issues of wildlife can be standard, accurate and timely. “Access to information is enshrined in Kenya’s Constitution and the Government will ensure this is enforced by all sectors”, he said.

Mrs Munira Bashir, a representative of one of the NGOs, The Nature Conservancy, said there was an urgent need to put in place subsidiary legislation to operationalize the Wildlife Act. She said stakeholders had identified about 26 guidelines necessary to make the Act operational. She said The Nature Conservancy would spearhead the development of five of the guidelines and called on other organisations to support the rest.