AWF Blog

• New Cameras

  Posted: March 11, 2009, 5:02 pm by Nakedi

  Receiving the 20 brand new cameras is a blessing for us. I am extremely grateful for this. We are finally able to experiment further on the most efficient way to get reliable results from the use of cameras.

  In the first part of the survey we relied heavily on what the guides knew about leopard activity in the concession. We then placed cameras in those areas, and later in similar areas. As a result there was a lot of bias in our sampling design. Furthermore, somehow the results from the first survey suggested that there were more males than females in the area. This is highly unlikely as it is well known that a male leopard’s territory should overlap territories belonging to two or three female leopards.

  The following may help explain what we have:
  1.    We left out a lot of gaps in our first trial;
  2.    By moving the cameras around we created a few discrepancies; and
  3.    We are dealing with a whole new leopard feature altogether.

  The second step in this series of experiments is to place cameras in the form of a grid in a given random area on the concession.

  I managed to place the cameras in the form of 5 x 5 grid, which will allow us to see the random movements of the leopards. I placed the cameras at 1 kilometre apart.

  The red dots are where I placed the new cameras. Click to enlarge.

  It requires a lot of walking. It takes two full days to get it all done, but it is enjoyable. We get to see a lot of game along the way mostly giraffe, white rhino, wildebeest, to name a few. We have yet to walk in to a pride of lions and when that happens, I hope to be able to tell you all about it. Who wants to walk with me? In reality though, it is a challenge to get people to join on a daily basis. It can get strenuous and tiring.

  Below is the list of people who helped or attempted to help:

  Day 1: 9 hours/12 cameras set
  Shadrak Nyathi (Kruger Park Field Ranger): Survived the onslaught, mentioned the hours in passing with a smile.
  Kim Laxton (Visitor): Brought the wrong shoes and had to quit along the way.
  Nakedi Maputla: Overslept, had to apologise for what felt like an eternity and ruined a pair of socks from carrot seed grass.

  Day 2: 10 hours/13 cameras set
  Shadrak Nyathi, the field ranger from Kruger National Park: Survived, said something about the hours while smiling.
  Nakedi Maputla: Ruined a pair of socks from carrot seed grass.

  Day 3: Checking cameras; 7 hours/12 cameras checked
  Ben Delport, Singita guide: Ruined a pair of socks from carrot seed grass, his last pair, but said he enjoyed it.
  Nakedi Maputla: Ruined a pair of socks from…

  Lesson learned: Never oversleep

  This method should theoretically be much easier to analyse than the biased method we used earlier.

  We will leave the cameras in the same area until an apparent asymptote is reached. We will later bait the cameras to see if baiting will have a significant effect on the capture success.

• Training Anti-Poaching Scouts in Amboseli

  Posted: March 11, 2009, 4:00 pm by Muoria

  As I mentioned in my earlier post, working with local communities is crucial in our Grevy’s zebra conservation efforts. We therefore work with local community  scouts  to monitor Grevy’s zebras and other wild animal numbers, human-wildlife conflicts, poaching and other conservation related issues.

  Because of our experience in working with community scouts – in particularly on community areas around Samburu, Buffalo Springs, and Shaba national reserves – I was requested by Fiesta (AWF’s Kilimanjaro Heartland Director) to help recruit and train scouts to monitor wildlife in Osupuko and Kilitome conservancies.

  The Kilitome community scouts we trained near Amboseli.

  These two conservancies lie on an important wildlife corridor connecting Amboseli National Park with Kimana Sanctuary and on to Tsavo West National Park (read more about AWF’s land leasing program with them here).

  Towards the end of last year, I visited the Kilimanjaro Heartland and with Rashid (AWF Field Assistant), we managed to recruit and train 4 scouts who have been monitoring wildlife distribution, poaching, human-wildlife conflicts and other wildlife issues in Osupuko Conservancy.

  Rashid goes over mapping with the scout trainees.

  Last week, I visited the Kilimanjaro Heartland again to help Rashid recruit and train scouts for Kilitome conservancy, located just next to Amboseli National Park. Rashid had already dealt with all the logistical issues, and on 3rd March 2009, 13 members of Kilitome conservancy were eagerly waiting to be interviewed to become Kilitome Conservancy scouts.

  Conducting interviews and selecting the best was very challenging; all the interviewees were prepared to become “community  scouts.” However, only 6 were to be selected and Rashid and myself had to decide on the best 6.

  Rashid trains the scouts how to walk transects using GPS.

  The training day was on 4th March. The 6 new scouts who were selected the previous day were trained on the importance of wildlife, the importance of monitoring and data collection protocols. They learnt to use GPS units and to record wildlife sightings, human-wildlife conflict incidents, poaching and other illegal wildlife killing incidents, and vegetation destruction.

  Here I am in "the Dusty Heartland" working with a GPS unit.

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes