Marauding Lion on Soysambu!

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Last week the Conservancy was home to a traveling lion! Foot prints (pictured below), growls in the night, spooked horses, whispers of 2 Masai cattle being taken in the bordering Ututu forest…

Lion foot print

With the help of some Kenya Wildlife Service trackers we followed the footprints from near the main office right across the property to the foot of the Sleeping Warrior, where we lost them. Several days later he was seen near Lake Naivasha passing through several properties (photo below). We can only guess where he is off to, The Mara perhaps- Wildebeest for dinner?

The lion near Naivasha

Flash back: Guereza Colobus Monkey introduction to Soysambu

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Paula Kahumbu helped with the relocation of Colobus monkeys to Soysambu back in 1999. Today she recounts the event

The guereza colobus at Soysambu came from the Malewa river – with the original troop size somewhere between 9 and 15. There was one adult male, several females and Juveniles. The monkeys were being killed by farmers as they were raiding the maize – the farmers had chopped every tree except eucalyptus so the colobus were living in the eucalyptus and feeding on maize.

This is not their natural habitat and the conservancy unfortunately only have a rough estimate of the number of monkeys originally introduced to the area. The current total is belived to be around 12. The monkeys are primarily leaf eaters with ruminant like stomachs. This allows them to digest the mature foliage, however, they also consume fruits, flowers and seeds. The colobinae species is generally found in Asia, but the colobus monkey is only found in Africa, and is therefore a rarity. Due to this fact, there is a large problem with poaching of the monkey’s for their skins and fur, which is traditionally used as tribal headgear or alternatively sold abroad or to tourists. It is therefore paramount that projects such as this one take place to help maintain this endangered animal.

Colobus in the Soysambu riverine forrest

We moved them in 1999 with WSPA and they escaped from the holding cage the same night. We feared they’d scatter but they didn’t. Dr Nick D’souza helped with the translocation – we didn’t need to do any darting or anything – just caught them in cages after about 3 months of habituation, then moved the cages to the news site and released the monkeys into a big cage.

When we came back the next morning they were in the acacia watching us as we searched like idiots amongst the bushes for them. It was the first ever translocation of colobus guereza in Kenya and went perfectly!

A volunteer’s experience

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Volunteer Shalynn Pack tells of her 4 weeks at Soysambu

Habari!

Hello all, my name is Shalynn Pack and I just returned home to the USA after volunteering in Soysambu. I’ve got one year of university left, studying Zoology and Wildlife Conservation. I came to Kenya this summer to do a 2 month internship with Kenya Wildlife Services at Lake Nakuru National Park. Long story short, that didn’t work out but luckily, I found Soysambu! I moved out here with 4 weeks to spare before my flight home, and I couldn’t have been happier.

The main project I worked on is the monitoring and identification of the Rothschilds giraffe. It’s estimated that there are around 50 giraffe on the Conservancy, but no one knows for sure. To find the total number of giraffe residing on Soysambu, we have to start with identifying individuals and compiling a manual. Honestly, I couldn’t have thought of a better job: watching giraffe all day, getting to know them individually, and thinking up fun names for them. We were able to identify several new giraffe, including 5 adorable new juveniles. With the help of Dr. Julian Fennessy of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, this research will provide the baseline data for the first long-term study of Rothschilds Giraffe, a species with only 750 individuals remaining worldwide.

Giraffe and baby

We also developed a giraffe habitat assessment for Soysambu Conservancy. Since the drought began, the giraffe have been stripping the bark of the yellow fever acacia trees, a habit that has severely damaged the health of the acacia forests. This project is designed to measure and monitor the extent of the damage over time. The assessment entailed creating GPS plots around the lakeshore and collecting data on the height, circumference, browse height, and level of bark stripping within these plots. In conjunction with the giraffe monitoring data, the assessment could ultimately provide insight on the need to reduce the giraffe population via translocation.

Beyond the field research projects, Soysambu gave me so many unique and exciting experiences. I have so many good memories at the Conservancy! We patrolled for snares on camelback, saw the sun rise over Lake Elmenteita in a hot air balloon, watched a leopard kill and drag off an impala, came too close to a fat African Rock Python, and dodged stinging nettles as we watched colobus monkeys leap from tree to tree. Soysambu is truly a unique place, and I feel so lucky to have been a part of it.

Volunteers on camel patrol

The Conservancy “a sight to behold”

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July 21st, a group of sixty-seven students and seven teachers from Highbridges Academy took a day trip to Soysambu Conservancy. The students spent the day exploring the different areas of the Conservancy including Lake Elmenteita with thousands of pink flamingoes and the pelicans nesting out on the black lava island. They had great luck with their game drives, seeing giraffe, buffalo, gazelles and the rare sight of a wart hog family. The students were also taken on a tour of the old Delamere farm house and saw the statue of 3rd Baron Lord Delamere – who began farming on Soysambu in 1906.

 

School trips such as this are a great way to teach the next generation of young conservationists about the importance of protecting this beautiful land and wildlife. We hope the experiences the students of Highbridges Academy had whilst visiting us will inspire them to take action in the fight to preserve Kenya’s beautiful forests and wildlife.

Memoirs of a volunteer

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Holly Fagan tells of her experience volunteering at Mbogo Primary, one of the two primary schools on Soysambu Conservancy

Before I arrived in Kenya I spent the last few months raising money for this little school deep in the heart of Africa’s Great Rift Valley. I knew they were in need but I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. The dirt floors are rocky and hazardous, the desks are rotten and splintering, there are almost no chairs – even for the teachers – the doors and shutters are falling off their hinges – if there are any at all – and learning resources are virtually non-existent.

Yet, the children there are some of the most cheerful, delightful and enchanting children I have ever met. When I first arrived they were quite shy around me because they’re not used to visitors, but their curiosity overtook their unease and I soon had the whole school crowded around me with outstretched hands. I’m sure I shook some of those hands three or four times!

Students with cups of hot porridge from the lunch program

I started off helping out in the Nursery class which was great fun – the children have so little they get quite excited about really basic things such as glue! I’ve also been teaching English and Maths and Science to the older students. There is a huge range of abilities and potential in the classes. Some of the students are very bright and eager to learn whereas others barely speak. It must be difficult to teach such a varied class. When I went to the school one of the teachers, Florence, was trying to teach Classes One, Two and Three. That’s pupils aged five to nine. I took Class Three for her and taught them in the morning. The pupils were so enthusiastic and polite and I really enjoyed it.

I find it difficult to explain how it felt but it was a very good feeling; being able to help the children and communicate with them. I felt “lifted” by the experience, like I had done something really important and worthwhile. It was the most gratifying thing I have ever done and I feel very privileged to have had this experience.

The children need exercise books, textbooks, pencils, rubbers, sharpeners, basic school equipment that they just don’t have! They even need clothes and shoes. The money I’ve raised is going towards next term’s feeding programme. For many of the children it is the only hot meal they get a day and it is only a cup of uji, or thin porridge, but I realise now how much more they need, so I will try to continue with my fundraising.

Mbogo Primary classroom