THE VIEWFINDERNEWSLETTER : ISSUE NO 27, MARCH 2002 [Strange Times] [Indian Ocean in trouble] [The Business] [Kitten update ] [Rhino Deaths] The Christmas/New Year period brought an extremely unusual wildlife phenomenon in the Samburu National Reserve, Northern Kenya. A lone lioness adopted a young oryx calf, and protected it for an incredible sixteen days. Inevitably, the calf came to a sticky end, when a hungry male lion killed it. If that was not extraordinary enough, the same lioness did it again. On 14th February, she adopted another young oryx which was immediately named “Valentine”. This male calf was quite young, but certainly not weak or starving - the oryx parents were never more than a few yards away. A dubious decision was made to ‘rescue’ the calf and KWS rangers moved it to Lewa Downs two days after it had first been seen with the lioness. It was subsequently airlifted to the KWS animal orphanage in Nairobi. The Samburu people are furious, and want it back. It is a well-known fact that the calf would never be accepted back by its parents after being exposed to human scent, nor could it be reintroduced to the herd at a later date, as resident males would attack it. A solution might be to neuter the animal, and reintroduce it into a herd of females. This is a prime example of ‘interfering with nature’ and public opinion in Kenya finds the whole thing totally unacceptable. The fate of this second calf is not rosy, and it is widely thought that this lioness is very likely to do it again. Whatever her reasons, it is an incredible story.
Early this year another strange phenomenon hit East Africa, this time in a marine setting. Large quantities of fish were found floating off the Somali coast, and this extended southwards to the Lamu archipelago and further towards Malindi. The toll was heavy, including large fish such as tuna and even bigger pelagics such as sharks and sailfish. The cause seems to have been a red algal bloom, which infected the waters, though the reasons are not entirely clear. All forms of fishing were banned for some time, and scientists put it all down to global warming. Now this algal bloom seems to have disappeared, carried who knows where by the tides. After a near-disastrous fourth quarter of last year, things have started picking up again for us, and we have worked on something like 16 films in the first two months of 2002. This time last year, the total was 34, so business is down by nearly 60%. It is disturbing that the trend (for want of a better word) in wildlife films is taking so long to come full circle. The present situation for local camera, sound and post-production people is a little worrying, and measures are afoot for these folks to go into local production independently. So any of you broadcasters looking for African programmes, please get in touch. We can offer 10, 20 or 30 minute stories concerning wildlife and people separately or together, and these can be presenter-led or not. Measures are also being taken to re-invent the Kenya Film Producers’ Association, which has slid into oblivion over the past few years. Further to our September newsletter, we are pleased to report that the three caracal kittens are now three quarters grown and thriving on Borana ranch. They spend their time roaming free in the grounds around the lodge, but still come to be fed. They have now been joined by a very young serval kitten that was also found abandoned at Bogoria. Named ‘Simuni’ (sixpence), she is not in the least intimidated by the caracals and has proved to be a feisty little creature with a very inquisitive nature. We don’t usually include two pictures, but she is so cute … photo by Delulu Upson. Recent reports in the local press, and talk in conservation circles indicates that there has been a sudden increase in rhino poaching, particularly in Tsavo National Park. Several rhinos had been translocated in recent years to that park from other areas, to ‘protect’ them. Attempts to find the truth have been less than successful. What is also of enormous concern is the unexplained death in the Nairobi National Park on February 19th of “Magnett”, who was hand raised by Daphne Sheldrick from the age of one week. Magnett has been free ranging in the park for five and a half years, and was discovered dead by a ranger patrol less than a kilometre from the Sheldrick Trust Orphanage. A press announcement from the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust on February 22nd says, “The burial of Magnett was conducted in such haste that, to this day, there is no conclusive evidence as to the cause of her death”. Members of KWS staff are no longer allowed to talk to the press, so it is difficult to find out what really happened. |
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