Monday, February 26, 2007
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Sunday, January 14, 2007
A BRIEF ON BONGO SURVEILLANCE ACTIVITIES FOR 2006
Having established the areas on the Aberdares habituated by the Bongo over the past two years, more time was spent this year in a search for this rare and beautiful animal in the other mountain forests of Kenya. Sorties were undertaken in the southern forests of Mt Kenya, the Mau and Eburu.
On the Mau a small group of some 6 animals were located and although the animals themselves were not seen, fresh dung was collected to go together with samples from the other mountains for DNA testing. Local Ndorobo hunters and honey gatherers, who we hope will continue to give us information on the real threat of timber extractors and of those in the bush meat trade, assisted the team. At that time there was little evidence of either activities in this particular area, so we hope for the time being there is not too much threat to the Bongo there. It is however planned to spend more time in the area during 2007.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Eburu. This area is now completely cut off from the Mau forest, is surrounded by ever increasing settlement and the extraction of timber and wildlife is on a grand scale. Here again a small herd of Bongo was located and samples taken. Although a fringe of forest remains on the outside, inside are just heaps of charcoal kilns, snares and game pits. The charcoal and game meat is taken out overnight by donkeys, together with the only source of water for the whole area. This water is collected from condensing steam jets from which the water is siphoned out through hollowed bamboo to collecting points. Thus it is a very difficult area to control. However photographs with GPS points were taken of charcoal, game meat, and poachers, and handed over to KWS for further action. We have since heard that 2 Bongo have been killed and the authorities take little action. Until such time as Government are prepared to make a sanctuary of the crater and remaining forest, it is our suggestion that this small group of Bongo should be moved to the Aberdares. Specific funds need to be had for such an operation, and the making of a sanctuary would also require substantial funds in fencing, piping stored water for the people away from the area, and the policing by a permanent ranger team.
Several sorties have been carried out on Mt Kenya, and again a small herd of Bongo have been located. This area is still pretty vast, but the poaching and timber extraction together with much cultivation of ‘Bhangi’ is rampant. Again photographs with GPS co-ordinates have been taken, and all details passed to KWS for further action. It was hoped that by probing deeper into the forest and further out of range of settlements, that more Bongo would be found. With valued support from Halvor Astrup and the use of his helicopter, food drops were made to achieve this with our team spending up to 3 weeks away. But regrettably the deeper the team explored, the more signs of the above activities were found with people actually more or less living in the forest for long periods, being out of reach of day patrols. Again photographs and GPS coordinates have been supplied to KWS.
Back to the Aberdares we have kept up the surveillance with the use of ‘trap cameras’ kindly donated by the ‘Rare Species Conservatory Foundation,’ and the total collection of some 200 dung samples from all mentioned localities, which will now be worked upon at Cardiff University by the top world expert Michael Bruford. The cameras too have given us some excellent references by Bongo photographs from several localities in the Aberdares which can now be viewed on the web. We have now set up permanent informers in the Northern Aberdares and intend to extend this system to all areas in 2007. It is also our intention to identify appropriate schools and form wildlife clubs to give the young an awareness of the Bongo and its environment.
Finally, the awareness of all these activities appear to be having an effect. KWS have appointed a ‘Mountain Director’ who in turn has split up the Aberdares giving a warden to each with new vehicles and more men. The Director is a man with whom we have good dialogue and can participate in planning the way forward. Rather than vehicles we would like to see more equipment for longer and overnight patrols! This can be worked for the Parks, but should be extended to the forest areas and mountains as well?!
Support and financing in any form and amounts is welcomed through any of the listed ‘Charitable Trusts’
M.G.Prettejohn. Manager Bongo Surveillance Programme
On the Mau a small group of some 6 animals were located and although the animals themselves were not seen, fresh dung was collected to go together with samples from the other mountains for DNA testing. Local Ndorobo hunters and honey gatherers, who we hope will continue to give us information on the real threat of timber extractors and of those in the bush meat trade, assisted the team. At that time there was little evidence of either activities in this particular area, so we hope for the time being there is not too much threat to the Bongo there. It is however planned to spend more time in the area during 2007.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Eburu. This area is now completely cut off from the Mau forest, is surrounded by ever increasing settlement and the extraction of timber and wildlife is on a grand scale. Here again a small herd of Bongo was located and samples taken. Although a fringe of forest remains on the outside, inside are just heaps of charcoal kilns, snares and game pits. The charcoal and game meat is taken out overnight by donkeys, together with the only source of water for the whole area. This water is collected from condensing steam jets from which the water is siphoned out through hollowed bamboo to collecting points. Thus it is a very difficult area to control. However photographs with GPS points were taken of charcoal, game meat, and poachers, and handed over to KWS for further action. We have since heard that 2 Bongo have been killed and the authorities take little action. Until such time as Government are prepared to make a sanctuary of the crater and remaining forest, it is our suggestion that this small group of Bongo should be moved to the Aberdares. Specific funds need to be had for such an operation, and the making of a sanctuary would also require substantial funds in fencing, piping stored water for the people away from the area, and the policing by a permanent ranger team.
Several sorties have been carried out on Mt Kenya, and again a small herd of Bongo have been located. This area is still pretty vast, but the poaching and timber extraction together with much cultivation of ‘Bhangi’ is rampant. Again photographs with GPS co-ordinates have been taken, and all details passed to KWS for further action. It was hoped that by probing deeper into the forest and further out of range of settlements, that more Bongo would be found. With valued support from Halvor Astrup and the use of his helicopter, food drops were made to achieve this with our team spending up to 3 weeks away. But regrettably the deeper the team explored, the more signs of the above activities were found with people actually more or less living in the forest for long periods, being out of reach of day patrols. Again photographs and GPS coordinates have been supplied to KWS.
Back to the Aberdares we have kept up the surveillance with the use of ‘trap cameras’ kindly donated by the ‘Rare Species Conservatory Foundation,’ and the total collection of some 200 dung samples from all mentioned localities, which will now be worked upon at Cardiff University by the top world expert Michael Bruford. The cameras too have given us some excellent references by Bongo photographs from several localities in the Aberdares which can now be viewed on the web. We have now set up permanent informers in the Northern Aberdares and intend to extend this system to all areas in 2007. It is also our intention to identify appropriate schools and form wildlife clubs to give the young an awareness of the Bongo and its environment.
Finally, the awareness of all these activities appear to be having an effect. KWS have appointed a ‘Mountain Director’ who in turn has split up the Aberdares giving a warden to each with new vehicles and more men. The Director is a man with whom we have good dialogue and can participate in planning the way forward. Rather than vehicles we would like to see more equipment for longer and overnight patrols! This can be worked for the Parks, but should be extended to the forest areas and mountains as well?!
Support and financing in any form and amounts is welcomed through any of the listed ‘Charitable Trusts’
M.G.Prettejohn. Manager Bongo Surveillance Programme
Monday, November 13, 2006
Overview and Description
Background Description of the Mountain Bongo ( Tragelaphus euryceros isaaci)
The mountain Bongo is one of Kenya’s most rare antelopes. It is the largest and heaviest of the forest
antelope and is one of the most brightly coloured of all, with the line of its back not straight but slightly hunched. A large male can weigh up to 450kgs. It can measure almost 8 feet from nose to tail, and can stand almost 5 feet in height. In
captivity in Europe the lifespan of the Bongo averages 14 years with the longest living record to be a female of 20 years. The bright chestnut colour of the Bongo becomes darker with age. There are 12 to 14 vertical white stripes on the shoulders, flanks and hindquarters, with other white patches about the face and legs. Their ears are very large and broad giving
excellent hearing.
As young males mature they leave their maternal groups and join other smaller male groups, whilst the older males often remain solitary. The females remain in small groups. Bongos are shy, nocturnal animals. They are
occasionally active during the day especially after heavy and continuous rain, when they may appear in the open. The Bongo are easily frightened and will seek cover, standing very still, highly alert for long periods, making a “snuffling” noise much as an Eland, when first disturbed, and thereafter remaining deadly silent.
The Bongo, are entirely browsers and are therefore restricted to areas with abundant year round growth of leaves and shoots of shrubs. They are fond of rotting wood and will range widely in their quest for appropriate
vegetation.
Current situation
The human population has increased considerably in the last decade in areas surrounding the Aberdare Forest. With this human increase there is a greater demand for meat regardless of source. Poaching, together with illegal logging activities over recent years have been a real threat to the Bongo. In 1975 there were estimated to be 500 of these magnificent antelopes on the Aberdares.
Bongo are susceptible to disease such as Rinderpest, and various predators such as lion have taken their toll, but
certainly the most serious of these predators are the people living near the forest.
With recent surveys, the current situation has indicated the actual numbers could be close to100. These graceful creatures are close to extinction and need our protection to
ensure their survival.
Cover Letter from Mike Prettejohn
‘THE QUEST TO SAVE THE MOUNTAIN BONGO’
BONGO SURVEILLANCE
In 1975 the Kenya Game Dept. made a survey of possible Bongo numbers on the Aberdare range of central Kenya, and came up with an estimate of 500 animals. From that time to the end of 1988 they were seen occasionally whilst driving round the Park but mostly from the Ark Lodge on the salt lick at night or in the early hours of the morning. At the same time several outfitters captured specimens that were sent to zoos and Parks in the US. and UK; the original stock of the Bongo surviving today in those countries. From the close of 1988 it appeared that for one reason or another they had died out, as there were no further reported sightings until 2003 when a Park Ranger took a photograph of one mostly covered by thick foliage. And this only after an awareness of their existence through the setting up of a special ‘Bongo Surveillance Team.’
Having spent most of my life in the environs of Mt Kenya and the Aberdares, and many months tracking down these elusive animals, I was asked by the Senior Warden of the Park at the time, Daniel Onsombe, if I thought there were any left, and what could be done to find out? Thus in 2003 in conjunction with ‘The Kenya Wildlife Services’ KWS, I set up a small team of 6 men, together with a Ranger, and equipped them to spend 2-3 weeks at a time in the depths of the forest. Financed by I.F.A.W., Care for the Wild, and a number of individuals specifically Halvor Astrup, we bought special equipment including GPSs and Satellite telephones together with light weight tentage, sleeping, and rain gear.
Most of the good old trackers were either too old or long gone by this time, but I managed to track down Peter Mwangi who had been employed in the 70’s to actually catch these animals. Together we got a team together and Mwangi led them into the forest systematically going up and down the ridges until within 2 years we had covered pretty well the whole of the eastern Aberdares from north to south. Each time signs of Bongo were found a GPS reading was taken and message sent to me via satellite whence I was able to transfer the findings to a map, and so get an idea of numbers and areas in which they moved and lay up. From this I assessed that there were possibly 5 distinct groups with males that ranged far and wide between them, and that in total there may be from 80- 100 animals. What we also found was that in much of the far-reaching areas, unapproached by regular patrols, the poaching with snares, dogs, and the destruction of the forest was rampant. Although we were not equipped to deal with these situations, messages were relayed to me and I was able to pin point areas and have the KWS move in to capture the culprits. With so much of the findings guesswork, we could not know for instance whether we may have counted the same individual in different areas over again, and so I thought a more scientific approach was required.
Thus Lyndon Estes joined us, a student from Virginia University doing his PhD on Bongo feeds and environs and sponsored by ‘The Rare Species Conservatory Foundation.’ Besides more finance, Lyndon brought more sophisticated equipment in the way of GPS map plotting, and gave us scope to expand operations with an extra team. Together we decided that the way forward for more accuracy would be to collect dung samples for eventual DNA extraction in order to ‘finger print’ individuals as well as determining more accurate numbers and their genetic status. And so 2005 saw us going over all the areas where we had found Bongo signs, and joined by Lyndon, the teams have collected some 150 specimens to date, stored in tubes with ethanol ready for the extraction
In late 2005, people now fired with interest brought news of the existence of Bongo, not only on the Mau and southern Mt Kenya, but Eburru as well. So teams were dispatched for sorties in the three areas and indeed their existence verified in all, and a number of samples taken from each. Unlike the Aberdares these areas, and in particular Eburru, are completely unprotected with human interference and the burning of charcoal encroaching by the day. The surveillance teams however are determined to persevere with the Bongo protection in these areas as funds become available, and help Government with long-term policies to protect them however.
In Feb 2006 Lyndon returned from a spell in the US bringing with him a remote ‘trap camera’ working over 24 hours and taking pictures of moving objects every 30 seconds, or as otherwise set up. This has now been used on selected salt licks with stunning results. The very first picture was of a Bongo bull taken at 10.30 at night. Next a female and her calf were caught in daylight, and finally at least 9 different animals in a group at night. But these out of some 2000 pictures in total ranging from elephant to buffalo, giant forest hog, bushbuck and all.
This has given the teams an extra boost to keep the surveillance operating. Funds are more or less in place through the ‘Rare Species Conservatory Foundation’ and ‘The African Fund for Endangered Wildlife’ to extract and work on the DNA. Negotiations are in process with Michael Bruford of Cardiff University, UK. to do this work together with a Kenyan student.
To summarise then, the DNA results will indicate the best way forward for the future management of these animals. The Aberdare lot need continued surveillance for their safety whilst much more surveillance is required in all the three other areas. And indeed there could be yet a fourth area to probe, The Cherenganis of western Kenya.
Any support will be much appreciated. Funds can be accepted through any of the listed organisations and will be recognised by personal contact and up-dates on our website. Work and money will be required for a long term yet to ensure the Bongo’s future through surveillance and awareness, and to aid and assist KWS in their efforts to protect not only the Bongo but also its habitat and environ.
Mike Prettejohn, project manager, Bongo Surveillance in conjunction with KWS.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)