Wildlife In The Mara Targeted By Bush Meat Traps
Three lions, four hyenas and an eland were found killed by deadly bush meat snares at Ol Chorro Conservancy near the Mara River in Narok West Sub-County on Monday evening. The Mara is beautiful, the vast plains awe visitors just like the smell of cow dung and milk. There are vast fields to graze, but that does not mean you can snore the night away. You have to keep vigil.
A joint effort by rangers from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Enoonkishu, Ol Chorro, Lemek and Mara North conservancies is sweeping a larger area for snares. And will be conducting a full investigation into the matter.
The Mara Predators Conservation Programme broke the news about the death of the three lions from the same pride. Which they identified as Rafiki, Lenkume and one of Lenkume’s sons. The four hyenas and an eland all fell victim to the snares.
“More than 50 snares were set up in a small area on the periphery of Ol Chorro Conservancy. Not far from the Mara River. Which is the conservancy border.” The Mara Predators Conservation Programme said on its official Twitter page. Some local efforts are helping educate pastoralists about the dangers poison poses to this delicate ecosystem and devising new ways to fend off predators.
Viewed from Ol-olchura Village after a night of heavy rains, the vast plains of the world-famous Maasai Mara National Reserve in Narok County, Kenya, are nothing short of breath-taking. The warm morning sun and the glitter of morning dew against the backdrop of a group of morans (warriors) chatting beside a herd of cattle lazily chewing cud completes the mosaic of serenity.
Ol-olchura, is sandwiched between Maasai Mara to the west and the Nashulai and Mara Naboisho conservancies. And like many keeping watch over the herd, Ole Kasoe can tell the good and bad of being squeezed in the world-famous region. He is a herder and a freelance tour guide registered under the Maasai Mara tour guides association, which comprises over 2,000 local guides.
He knows the smell of blood from a sheep or cow mauled by a predator. He also knows how it feels to forego sleep to keep the predators away.
“It is a delicate balance.” He says. “We survive on tourism because of the wildlife but then we are also pastoralists who entirely depend on our herds.” While the rainy season might be a blessing for the Mara, in Ol-olchura it is a curse. One that converts the picturesque plans into killing fields for prey and predators.
Rangers across the plain constantly remove thousands of bush meat snares every year. In the past few years, field rangers in Mara have arrested more than 100 poachers, traversing the vast Mara Triangle and going as far as Serengeti in Tanzania.
