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Save the kale: How one leafy green is changing lives
For some of us, eating vegetables is a chore. For others, it is a means of survival. In Kenya, kale is referred to as “Sukuma wiki” which means “to stretch the week” in Swahili. The green leafy plant serves as a staple of the average person’s diet, especially for those living on less than a dollar per day. During periods of drought, the demand for water becomes crucial for plant, animal and human use. Water shortages can cause food to become scarce, and what does reach the markets is priced exorbitantly high. The inflated prices leave families without enough food to feed everyone. In these desperate times, the youngest children…
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POACHERS-Caught on camera on Wildlife Works Rukinga Sanctuary
By: CARA BRAUND- Conservation Intern- 17th October 2011 As part of their efforts to track biodiversity levels on Rukinga and the rest of the project area, the Biodiversity Division have been testing out camera traps to photograph unsuspecting wildlife in their natural habitat. The first six test cameras are on day and night and the first trials have been going well, with elephants, lesser kudu, giraffe, kongoni civets and even aardwolf being captured. The team got a bit of a surprise, however, when checking the recent results of their work. Mixed among the shots of buffalo and kudu was the image of several men walking through the bush several hours…
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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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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…
