Wildlife
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Wildlife Works Crew to the Rescue, One Baby Elephant at a Time
By: CARA BRAUND- Conservation Intern- 5th October 2011 Monday mornings aren’t always the most exciting in many offices, but this Monday at Wildlife Works Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project proved to be a little different than usual! We received a phone call from one of our rangers saying that an elephant had become stuck in a muddy rock catchment on our neighbouring ranch. Apparently the creature was only around two years old, and had been stuck for over 24 hours.With none of her family members in sight, it was important we help her out of her predicament as soon as possible before she became too dehydrated. The team raced to Kivuko rock…
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Statement made in Kenya to Heighten Awareness on Elephant Poaching
Article by Jason Straziuso, Independent Newspaper Kenya has publicly burnt elephant ivory worth £10m – at Manyani, Tsavo National Park – in an attempt to focus attention on rising poaching deaths. President Mwai Kibaki personally wielded the torch to light the bonfire of 335 confiscated tusks and 41,000 ivory trinkets. He told several hundred people gathered at a rural Kenya Wildlife Service training facility: “Through the disposal of contraband ivory, we seek to formally demonstrate to the world our determination to eliminate all forms of illegal trade in ivory.”We must all appreciate the negative effects of illegal trade to our national economies. We cannot afford to sit back and allow…
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Injured Elephant Treated on Rukinga
BY ROB DODSON – VP – RUKINGA – 15th February 2011 Our Wildlife Works rangers at our Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project came across a large male elephant that was having trouble walking and so we called in the Sheldrick Trust vet to dart him and have a look at the heavily swollen leg. Our rangers led the vet through the thick bush to where the elephant was leaning against a tree, showing obvious severe discomfort. A dart was successfully shot into his flank and he went down after a few minutes and we were able to have a good look at him. We found that he had a small but…
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Tsavo Elephant Count
BY ROB DODSON – VP – Saturday 12th February 2011 The Tsavo Conservation Area 2011 elephant census found 12,572 elephants in Tsavo East, West, Chyulus, the ranches, Mkomazi and the adjoining dispersal areas. This is up from 11,696 that were counted in the 2008 count, representing a 2.5% increase per year, which is significantly less than the 4.5% increase in numbers recorded between the 2005-2006 counts and the 2006-2008 counts. Of significant interest is that the 2008 only found 30 carcasses, which is in line with natural deaths. This time over 500 were spotted, which is a huge increase and is likely to be attributed to the 2009 drought and…
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Elephant Poaching on Rukinga Sanctuary
3 JANUARY 2011 – Eric Sagwe, Head Ranger On Monday 3 January 2011 having checked into Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project headquarters in the morning, I and my team of eight Rangers, went out on an afternoon patrol through Rukinga Sanctuary. At 3.00pm we found some footprints of three people who we tracked off Rukinga and into a neighboring ranch. As we followed their tracks in the sand we came across their lunch break camp which was very recent, and showed evidence of bush-meat having been eaten – a small team of poachers. The tracks kept getting fresher and clearer until an hour and half later we knew we where very…
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Cheetah Sighting
Our rangers see wild cheetahs at least twice a month. I will probably see them twice in my lifetime. I had my first pass while driving through the sanctuary with the models for the third day of our photoshoot. As if they were waiting for the photographer, ready for their close up, they glided along the edge of the water tank silhouetting their sleek bodies against the morning skyline. Unfazed by our presence within their 15 feet radius, they went about their business of lounging in the dawn’s cool mist before the sun started baking the red Kenyan earth. Magnificent creatures.
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Karibu
Karibu means Welcome in Swahili. This is the pre pre relaunch blog of Wildlife Works, which was started in 1997 by the visionary Mike Korchinsky. Mike’s first trip to Africa for vacation 14 years ago launched him into a lifetime’s work to save Africa’s wildlife. He saw a cycle of violence between the rangers, poachers and wildlife that prevented any chance for long-term, sustainable solutions for the community. He quit the consulting company he started and sold, purchased 80,000 acres of land in East Kenya to build his vision for Wildlife Works, an apparel production company advancing economic and social solutions for communities where wildlife survival is threatened. Currently, over…
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Mombasa Road Wildlife Crossing Point
By Rob Dodson on Oct 13, 2010: An historic day, marking out the new Mombasa Road Wildlife Corridor. This 2.3km stretch of road will be left open and undeveloped between the Tsavo East National Park boundary in the north and Jojoba, Rukinga and Wangalla Ranches in the south. Now that the land has been officially demarcated, the Marungu Ward Councillor Mr James Mboga (pictured at the centre of the first photograph) will apply for permission for sign boards to be erected at either side of the corridor, alerting traffic to be vigilant and drive carefully through the corridor. Wildlife Works Carbon will assist with funding the construction of the signboards…