Author Archives: Combes Kathryn

Games afternoon at Soysambu Primary Schools

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Yesterday, seven volunteers from Africa Ventures plus myself spent the afternoon playing sports at the two primary schools, Mbogo and Kiboko (Swahili for Buffalo and Hippo respectively) on Soysambu Conservancy.

Students and Teachers of Mbogo School

The schools are government run and the students attending are the children of employees from Delamere Estates Ltd and Soysambu Conservancy Ltd- all of whom live on the Conservancy. The schools are humble, Kiboko School was formerly horse stables, and Mbogo School is a series of mud and stone huts with dirt floors. Many of the children walk up to 10km, rain hail or shine to get to school each day, and their smiling faces on arrival are a testament to their eagerness to learn.

Smiling faces of Mbogo School

While volunteers Hannah and Suquia got a lesson in Swahili from some of the children, Chris and Alex helped the Mbogo teams to a one-all draw in soccer, then I joined in teaching the kids to play Tail Tag- which ended in a tail grabbing battle between two brothers! Mean while at the other end of the Conservancy, Volunteers Georgie, Tor and Kat at Kiboko Primary lead the soccer teams to a nil-all draw.

Mbogo teachers with Volunteer Chris

Soysambu Conservancy Ltd (SCL) helps to support both Mbogo and Kiboko Schools. Recently SCL has facilitated donations of student and teacher desks, along with gifts of exercise books, pencils, globes, maps and more brought by donor groups and visitors to the Conservancy. Re-commencing next year, a donor funded lunch program at Mbogo Primary will be running, providing the children with an extra nutritional boost to help them get through the day. The Conservancy is also hoping to expand the lunch program to Kiboko Primary.

Osmani poses for a photo

If you would like to help Soysambu Conservancy Ltd’s effort to support Mbogo and Kiboko Schools you can make a donation through this Wildlife Direct blog (see donation box on the right of the screen).

Soysambu’s newest arrivals!

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Spring has definitely sprung on Soysambu, and with it has come the next generation of wildlife. Baby Gazelles, Impala, Baboons and Zebra can be seen running and dancing around on the fresh (albeit short) but never the less, green grass! Three new arrivals in particular have everyone talking excitedly, three brand new Rothschild’s Giraffe! Three giraffe calves playing We are not sure exactly when they were born, but signs all point to sometime in the last week. The three calves are in a group of about 12 other adults and sub-adults living in the sanctuary around the lake sure. There is also another heavily pregnant female who looks ready to have her calf any day now! Mother giraffe stands over her calfSoysambu Conservancy currently has a group of volunteers monitoring the giraffe and their habitat daily. The group from Africa Venture Volunteers is working on an ongoing identification project for the giraffe on Soysambu, taking pictures and monitoring movements and social groupings of the giraffe. The volunteers are also studying the habitat destruction that seems to occurring in areas of the Conservancy that the giraffe graze heavily. Acacia xanthophloea, or Yellow Fever Tree, is the primary food source of the giraffe, and in addition browsing the foliage, the giraffe are also stripping bark from the trunks and branches. This practice in some areas is leading to ring-barking and death of a number of the trees. Two calves sharing a secret… Giraffe expert, Julian Fennessy of Kenyan Land Conservation Trust visited with a prospective PhD student Zoe Muller to see the giraffe population as well as to meet with the volunteers and offer them guidance in their researching. There has been surprisingly few studies done on the Rothschild’s giraffe, so with the help of Julian, Zoe and the volunteers we hope to gain a better understanding of the giraffe on Soysambu as well as add to the information bank of the Rothschild’s giraffe. A happy familyGiraffe calf stares with curiosityThanks to Zoe Muller for the photos.

The Lake Nakuru National Park to Lake Naivasha Project

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Here on Soysambu Conservancy we are not only working to protect and preserve the wildlife and habitat in our immediate vicinity, but the Conservancy land is a crucial part of a bigger wildlife and habitat protection project- The Lake Nakuru National Park to Lake Naivasha Project.

The aim of the project is to secure critical habitat for the free movement of wildlife between Nakuru Park and Lake Naivasha by connecting key community, private and public lands. Moving north to south, the long-term vision seeks to connect three nationally and internationally important water sources in the Rift Valley – Lake Nakuru, Lake Elmenteita and Lake Naivasha as part of a greater conservation area. The Project is involving land holders of small and large scale farms, businesses, properties already designated as wildlife sanctuaries, Kenya Land Conservation Trust; Kenya Wildlife Service; The Lakes Nakuru, Naivasha and Elmenteita Conservation Area (LaNNECA); and other conservation bodies.

As we look around us it can be disheartening to see forests and natural habitat being cleared to make way for more farms. However, a lion that recently roamed from Nakuru Park, through Soysambu all the way down to Lake Naivasha area was a symbol of hope that there still is hope in protecting this corridor. There is no doubt though, the window of opportunity is closing, which is why we are working right now to conserve this strip of precious habitat. So far the response and enthusiasm to the project has been very encouraging.

By supporting The Conservancy, you are not only helping to protect the wildlife, habitat and communities within and around Soysambu, but you are helping to preserve one of the last remaining wildlife corridors through the Kenyan Rift Valley. Please consider making a donation to Soysambu Conservancy, no matter how big or small, your money will go directly to protecting and conserving this land.

The daily battle against the bush meat trade (follow up)

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The day after I wrote the below article on the , our security team came across 30+ snares in one small area of Soysambu, proving that this really is a daily battle and something needs to happen now to stop it.

Pictured below is Soysambu Conservancy Community and Wildlife manager Charles Muthui with Mohammed, one of the security rangers unloading the snares yesterday (Saturday 7th Nov).  

30+ snares found in the northern end of the Conservancy 

The battle against the bush meat trade

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Warning: The blog below contains links to some graphic images…

Poaching for the bush meat trade has long been a problem on Soysambu.

Trespassers break onto The Conservancy and set snares – nooses made from lengths of wire, attached to a tree, bush or fence and hung over animal trails (see image below).

A snare hung in a shrub waiting for an unsuspecting animal to walk through 

The unwitting animal, be it an Impala, Gazelle, Zebra, Buffalo, Eland etc, walks into the snare and becomes trapped. The more it pulls or struggles the tighter the snare becomes, eventually leading to a cruel death by suffocation. The animal is then collected and either eaten, or the meat sold.

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