We need one million votes to petition  Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, Wen JIabao to help stop Chinese demand for rhino horn. http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-the-killing-of-elephants-and-rhinos-across-africa?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email

Watch the story about Max, a tame white rhino that was hand raised by rangers, and then successfully returned to the wild. Horrifically Max was killed by poachers for a small bit of ivory… the fifth such incident that year at Ol Pejeta. Sadly Max’s horn had been removed, but the poachers killed him for that stump. Max

Relocating Sparta from Borana to Lewa; Celebrating Laikipia’s efforts in keeping our rhinos safe watch  Relocating Sparta

New for 2011: Guests who want to experience the true wildness of the area can spend one or two nights walking and fly camping in the further reaches of the conservancy, starting with a 4 – 5hour walk along the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River, accompanied by camels carrying a picnic breakfast, reaching the fly camp in the late morning. Dinner is served under the stars and the night spent under mosquito tents, giving a clear view of the sky above. Sasaab Lodge is located in the Westgate Community land, west of Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves gh on the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro.

‘…ultimately elephants have no future here if they incur costs for the people with whom they share their range and it is only by minimizing these costs and maximizing benefits from their presence that we can guarantee their future.’ Dr Max Graham, Space for Giants

Huge steps have been taken to address the problem of fence breaking elephants inWest Laikipiain recent weeks. More than 70 individual elephants have been identified as fence breakers and they are quickly teaching others to do the same. We may soon have a major management crisis on our hands, compromising the entire Laikipia West fencing strategy aimed at mitigating the costs incurred by elephants on smallholder farmers.

A plan has been put in place by a task force comprised of the KWS, the Laikipia Elephant Project, the Laikipia Wildlife Forum, ADC Mutara Ranch and Ol Pejeta Conservancy to manage the elephants that have been identified as consistent fence breakers.  The options on the table are:

• Jacking up fences so that they are at the right design and record a voltage well above 7kv
• Trimming the tusks of individual fence breakers to reduce their ability to break fences

The first elephants to have their tusks trimmed were Ismail & Nelson, responsible for breaking fences on more than 48   and 70 separate occasions, respectively. Six more elephants are due to have their tusks trimmed, followed by a period of monitoring and evaluation to see if this has worked.

• Translocation

As a very last resort persistent fence breakers may have to be eliminated, if they are threatening the lives and livelihoods of farmers. A clear protocol is now in place for how this can be done to ensure that such animals are shot safely and humanely.  Difficult decisions and actions have to be made as we move forward, with the moral tension between protecting local people and their livelihoods and elephants never more apparent.

Problems Encountered in Wildlife Crime Prosecution

• Crimes under Capp 376 carry low penalties which are not deterrent. There are therefore many cases of repeat offenders
• Being misdemeanours, the CID do not profile wildlife crime offenders and there are therefore not criminal records of such offenders in the Criminal records office.

White Rhino

Honorary wardens from the Mt Kenya region met in March to discuss escalating cases of poaching in Laikipia, Samburu and Isiolo. Meanwhile, Laikipia Wildlife Forum is supporting Vision 2050 in lobbying for changes to the Wildlife Act in the hope that the government may impose stricter legal penalties as greater deterrents to these crimes.

In March, over 100 people from across Kenya, from Garissa to Kakamega to Taita Taveta gathered at the Green hills hotel in Nyeri to discuss the rhino poaching epidemic that is rapidly affecting the country’s few remaining rhino populations. Led by Vision 2050 and supported by Laikipia Wildlife Forum, the meeting was convened urge the government to introduce stiffer legal penalties as a deterrent to poaching.

While Saboti MP Eugene Wamalwa was expected to attend the meeting he was unable to do so. However he spoke to the group by phone and said he had nonetheless put the issue on the agenda ready for the next parliamentary session.

The current penalties against poaching under Section 56 of Cap 376 of The Wildlife (Conservation and Management)(Amendment) Bill 2010 calls for a fine not exceeding Ksh 40,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or to both. A number of shocking statistics were presented by LWF Executive Director Dr Anthony King including the reported market values for rhino horn and elephant tusks. The reported market value of rhino horn in China is approximately ksh 5.7m per kilo. A rhino horn weighs between 7 – 10kg earning sellers up to Ksh 40m per horn. Ivory (elephant tusks) are priced at Ksh 120,000 per kilo, which equals Ksh 2.4m for 20kg tusks. Meanwhile, Ksh 320m is spent in Laikipia every year protecting rhinos.

Members from Samburu also reported that poachers in the area currently earn Ksh 5000 – 8000 per kg of ivory which equals Ksh 160,000 for 20kg tusks. In 2009 they were earning Ksh 3000 per kg.

According to the Uk’s Daily Mirror the price of rhino horn has matched cocaine. Illegal powdered rhino horn has hit £31,000 per kilo or nearly $50,000 per kilo, topping that of gold.

Despite a no show by the MP, the meeting however carried on and a number of eye opening comments, ways forward, statistics and views were presented.

Rhino warriors

Three Sierra 1’s from Lekurruki, Westgate and Kalama Community Conservancies represented the men and women at the frontline who risk their lives daily against sophisticated heavily-armed criminal gangs who run the illegal rhino horn and ivory trade. Representatives from Solio and Lewa also gave their experiences on the challenges faced in carrying out the dangerous task of protecting rhinos.

These are some of their comments;

• There is a growing demoralisation amongst scouts due to the fact that they have caught poachers several times, as many as 6 times, and had them taken to court only to have the same people return again due to the laxity of current penalties.
• One of the rangers recounted how after efforts to catch and apprehend 5 poachers. He stood in court and watched them get fined Ksh 20,000
• In another instance he watched poachers he had apprehended being sentenced to either 3 months in jail or Ksh 3,500 fine. All he could do was stand and watch as relatives paid off the fine and poacher walked away free, ready to return on another day.
• Poachers have even been known to gloat and taunt scouts over the fact that they will be back and there is nothing much that can be done to them.

A heart wrenching story was given by one of the rangers from a community conservancy. He told how his community recently held a meeting to discuss the escalating cases of poaching. Morale was so low that this pastoralist community talked of giving up wildlife conservation in favour of a cultivator lifestyle. People actually talked of changing lifestyles and taking up farming at the rate things are going. Wildlife conservation just didn’t seem worth it anymore.

White Rhino

May 2011……..With rhino populations facing real trouble under the threat of massive increases in poaching for their horn, Save the Rhino’s Rhino Mayday event in London had a real urgency to it this year. The event, held at the Zoological Society of London’s Meeting Rooms next to Regent’s Park, featured 14 invited speakers, who presented information on everything from protection efforts in individual conservancies and for critically endangered populations, to law enforcement, and the role that Western zoos and wildlife parks play in rhino conservation.

Representing both Care for the Wild International (CWI) and the Species Survival Network (SSN), CWI’s Director Mark Jones gave a presentation on the current status of rhinos, and why dehorning or legalising the sale of horn won’t help to protect them. Here, Mark answers some questions about the threats rhinos face, and the issues of dehorning and legalising the sale of rhino horn.

Read the interview with CWI Director Mark Jones on http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/rhino-horn-poaching.html#cr