The ViewFinder
NEWSLETTER : ISSUE NO 60, JUNE 2010

[IS THIS EL NINO?][THE MADNESS CONTINUES ][HISTORY OF WILDLIFE FILM][LIONS STILL IN TROUBLE][THE MIGRATION]

IS THIS EL NINO?
After last year’s terrible drought, it doesn’t seem to have stopped raining since January.  Rainfall in Nairobi has been the wettest for nine years – we measured 772.7mm in the first five months of the year, as against 749.5 for the whole of 2009.   There have been serious floods countrywide, notably in western and northern Kenya, and more recently at the coast.   More than 100 people have drowned, and 60,000+ have been displaced by flood waters.   The hydro-electric dams are now overflowing, so ostensibly there should be a constant supply of electricity - though this isn’t always so, and we are still plagued by unscheduled power cuts.  

 

  doublecrossing

For those familiar with the Maasai Mara, this photo shows the Ntiakitiak side of the “double crossing” during recent heavy rain.  Photo credit Sean Hartley.

 

THE MADNESS CONTINUES

There has been no let up at all this year, with film crews continuing to pour in.  Right now we have a large 3D IMAX crew filming in Tsavo, and other projects being juggled at the moment include the annual Lewa marathon, quite a lot of elephants (dead and alive), lions, hyenas, flamingos, ants, zebras, giraffe, mole rats, rhinos and some charities in the slums.      Mia has been hijacked by the IMAX crew for two months, so Patricia and Jean are fielding the rest, something like 17 crews in total, so things are just a little hectic.

 

HISTORY OF WILDLIFE FILM

Jean has finished her book, “Africa’s Big Five and other film makers”, a 100-year history of wildlife filming in Kenya from 1909.   It is currently with a publisher, who plans that it will be released in September.    Hopefully copies will be available at Wildscreen.      In his foreword to the book, Dr Richard Leakey describes it as:

            …”a unique and personal perspective on a group of people who have, over the past
            century, made wildlife and nature available to hundred of millions of people across
            the world.  It is the historical context that I find interesting, and the subject of film
            making is not one that most of us know much about”.

 

LIONS STILL IN TROUBLE

Despite the deadly Furadan being officially banned in Kenya, it is still widely available.  This ghastly chemical accounted for the demise of four lions just north of the Maasai Mara early this month, not to mention the vultures, jackals and other creatures that died a horrible death.     The pressure of people in the area is part of the problem, but the authorities do not seem to be committed to stopping the sale of Furadan which causes such devastation to wildlife.     

 

THE MIGRATION

It is predicted that this year’s migration will be the largest for many years.  Reports from Tanzania indicate that numbers of wildebeest and zebra are very high indeed.     The number of calves born in January/February was enormous, and conditions since then have been just right.    Usually, we expect the herds to start trickling into the Maasai Mara around the end of June and early July, but large numbers arrived west of Sand River on 15 June, and are now pouring in.  The separate group from the Loita Hills has also started moving in on the eastern side of the reserve.     The Mara river is up, so there should be some spectacular crossings.
           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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