Conservation & Wildlife Security

Elephant Rescue

On Saturday 16th April, our Rapid Response Team was deployed at the request of NRT conservation director Ian Craig to help save a bull elephant who had become stuck in sinking mud on the neighbouring Nannapa Community Conservancy. With the help of Loisaba’s SAME 130 tractor, the elephant was successfully rescued.

Loisaba Rhino Sanctuary Progress

This month, we hosted a team from KWS (Kenya Wildlife Service) who carried out a security assessment. This is part of an on-going process to prepare Loisaba for the reintroduction of the eastern black rhino that were last seen at Loisaba in the 1970’s. We believe the audit went well, and we look forward to hearing a positive response from KWS in the near future!

Community

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, we are continuing to support our local communities. On the 13th, a Health Outreach clinic was held at a neighbouring town with little access to healthcare – where 50 patients were treated for minor illnesses. They were also educated about COVID-19 with the team giving information on the symptoms and preventative measures, including teaching the children social distancing. This brings the total number of patients attended to in 2020 by our Clinical Health Officer Kaltuma to 756.

Health Outreach Clinic at KMC. Photo © Taro Croze

Due to the virus, many people have lost their jobs and are struggling to feed their families. This month, we were able to donate food supplies to a further 70 households in our neighbouring communities. If you would like to help us support local communities, please donate today. Even a small amount will go a long way!

Many thanks to our partners and donors who have enabled us to continue community support.

KMC community receiving food supplies.

 

Photos of the Month

Most liked Instagram and Facebook Photo:

© Heather Eaton

Best Caption: @lbiggers3 Did someone say tacos?

Photo © Taro Croze

If you have any photos from your stay at Loisaba that you would like featuring on our social media, please email them stating how you would like it to be credited to Hannah at [email protected]!

By Hannah Campbell

For rural households in Kenya, the immediate impact of the COVID-19 crisis is not a direct health impact, but an economic one. The virus is predominantly in urban centres, where people are closer together and the risk of spread is higher. If the virus does spread to rural areas, weaker health systems would mean trouble for community members. However, whether COVID-19 spreads to Loisaba’s surrounding communities or not, the food systems have been disrupted and economic challenges have increased, particularly impacting vulnerable rural households.

“Due to COVID-19, the livestock markets that people depend on have been closed. The community now have no place to sell their livestock so that they can buy food for their families. Price of food has also gone up due to less supply, and people who were employed in tourism have been sent on unpaid leave – so those families who have been depending on those individuals have been affected too” says Paul Naiputari, Loisaba’s Community Liaison and Development Officer.

© Ami Vitale

It is now more important than ever to support our neighbouring communities, and ensure they link living close to a protected area such as Loisaba with positive benefits in order to protect habitat and wildlife. Despite Loisaba’s operating budget being significantly reduced, we have been able to continue to support our local communities with support from San Diego Zoo Global, The Nature Conservancy and other generous donors.

 

Health Outreach Clinics

We are continuing to run our health outreach clinics, with our clinical health officer Kaltuma offering consultations and treatment to people that would otherwise be unable to access healthcare, as well as offering support to Ewaso Dispensary. So far this year, 5 outreach clinics have been held and a total of 756 patients seen.

Our Clinical Health Officer, Kaltuma, attending to patients.

 

COVID-19 Awareness

In addition to treating patients, our team has been spreading awareness of the symptoms and best ways to stop the spread of COVID-19, including the importance of social distancing and hand washing. Five hand washing stations have also been donated to communities.

Hand washing station made and donated by Loisaba to KMC community. © Taro Croze

 

Donations

Due to the virus, many people have lost their jobs and are struggling to feed their families. So far, we have been able to donate food supplies to 270 households in our neighbouring communities.

We have also donated $2,500 to the Laikipia County “Komesha Corona” (Put an End to Corona) Emergency Fund, with a further $5,250 donated through the county’s “sponsor a village” initiative, with food going directly to our local communities. This government led initiative is helping to deliver food packages to the families in Laikipia who are struggling with loss of employment and high food prices.

KMC community receiving food supplies.

 

Student Support

While our Education Days at the Loisaba Conservation Centre have been put on hold during the pandemic, we are continuing to support our local students. WhatsApp groups have been formed with teachers and parents, with teachers sending notes and assignments. This is challenging however, as many parents do not have smart phones and those who do don’t have a reliable internet connection. We are in the process of looking into acquiring data and airtime to help these households.

 

We need your help!

With the closure of Loisaba’s tourism properties, our operating budget has been reduced significantly – with a forecasted $1 million lost in revenue from tourism and other areas of income that would usually contribute toward wildlife security, conservancy operations and community outreach programmes.

If you would like to help us maintain zero poaching levels, keep our rangers on the ground, protect endangered species and support local communities who have no access to healthcare, please donate today.

Even a small donation will make a huge difference to Loisaba’s conservation and community development work.

Thank you, and stay safe!

By Hannah Campbell

Social media is currently flooded with photos and stories of nature ‘thriving in lockdown’. We’re all loving the sight of clear Venetian canals and hearing that China is cracking down on the illegal wildlife trade. It’s certainly true that nature is securing short-term gains from an enforced reduction in destructive human behaviours, but this is masking a much more serious longer-term problem – that wildlife conservation is now under serious threat.

So what does the COVID-19 crisis really mean for wildlife and conservation?

Reduced Operating Budgets

Most conservation efforts worldwide depend on both the people who work in protected areas such as rangers, and the income from ecotourism. With social distancing and the travel ban, many conservation areas are left with a hugely reduced operating budget and workforce, leading to many challenges in continuing to protect critical wildlife habitat and the endangered and vulnerable species that it is home to.

Loisaba’s K9 unit out on patrol. Photo © Ami Vitali

 

Increased Security Risks

The reduced operating budget isn’t the only issue. With the tourism industry being hit country-wide and the global impact on the economy, Kenya has seen large scale job losses. In many areas, this means an increased poaching and security threat, with more people unemployed who may turn to crime in order to feed their families.

© Ami Vitali

 

Local Perceptions

With COVID-19 expected to cause a revenue loss of up to $450 billion in the tourism sector, many countries that rely heavily on the tourism industry (including Africa) will have less resources to devote to wildlife conservation. This, coupled with the fact that land currently used for conservation could also be used for agriculture, is a worrying thought for conservation. To justify the existence of conservation areas, economic and social benefits must be seen by the local populations and government.

Sakakei Naiptari prepares to milk his cows. Photo © Ami Vitale

Here at Loisaba, we provide benefits to community members that would not be possible if it weren’t for Wildlife Tourism, and the conservancy that attracts it. Health clinics, education days, scholarships, school infrastructure support, security services and many more benefits help community members place a value on wildlife. However, with the collapse of tourism, many conservation areas will no longer be able to offer these benefits to communities, endangering the positive connection local people have with the wildlife they share their space with.

Loisaba’s Clinical Health Officer, Kaltuma Dabaso, assisting at the local dispensary. © Roshni Lodhia

 

We need your help!

With the closure of Loisaba’s tourism properties, our operating budget has been reduced significantly – with a forecasted $1 million lost in revenue from tourism and other areas of income that would usually contribute toward wildlife security, conservancy operations and community outreach programmes.

If you would like to help us maintain zero poaching levels, keep our rangers on the ground, protect endangered species and support local communities who have no access to healthcare, please donate today.

Even a small donation will make a huge difference to Loisaba’s conservation and community development work.

Thank you, and stay safe.

Conservation & Wildlife Security

Elephant Calf Rescue

On Saturday 18th April, our security team was called to the rescue of a baby elephant that had fallen into a well on a neighbouring property and attacked by hyenas, resulting in the loss of most of his trunk.

Our Loisaba rangers managed to free him from the well and transported him back to Loisaba, where he was flown to Reteti Elephant Sanctuary by Tropic Air. Here he will receive the critical care that he needs and hopefully one day be released back into the wild.

He is doing remarkably well at Reteti, and has been named ‘Longuro’ – meaning ‘someone who has lost a limb’ in Samburu.

Longuro at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary

 

Giraffe Rescue

On Friday 24th April, Loisaba’s rangers spotted an adult reticulated giraffe that had a snare caught around his leg. In partnership with KWS, the giraffe was darted and the snare removed successfully.

 

KWS vet waiting for the giraffe to recover from the anesthetic after successful removal of the snare.

 

Community

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, we are continuing to support our local communities. On the 29th, a Health Outreach clinic was held at a neighbouring town with little access to healthcare – where 110 patients were treated for minor illnesses. They were also educated about COVID-19 with the team giving information on the symptoms and preventative measures, including teaching the children social distancing.

Our Clinical Health Officer, Kaltuma, attending to patients at Morijo.

Due to the virus, many people have lost their jobs and are struggling to feed their families. This month, we were able to donate food supplies to 200 households in our neighbouring communities. If you would like to help us support local communities, please donate today. Even a small amount will go a long way!

We have also donated USD 7,500 to the Laikipia County “Komesha Corona” (Put an End to Corona) Emergency Fund. This government led initiative is helping to deliver food packages to the families in Laikipia who are struggling with loss of employment and high food prices.

Many thanks to our partners and donors who have enabled us to continue community support.

Koija community receiving food supplies.

 

Photos of the Month

Most liked Instagram Photo:

© Murad Habib

Most liked Facebook Photo:

If you have any photos from your stay at Loisaba that you would like featuring on our social media, please email them stating how you would like it to be credited to Hannah at [email protected]!

 

By Hannah Campbell

Lions are a critical part of the African ecosystem, keeping herbivore numbers under control. If the herbivore population is not regulated, the increase of competition among them could cause some to go extinct, and reduce biodiversity. They also play a part in keeping herds healthy and strong by preying on the weakest members. Lions also effect the behaviour of prey species that in turn change the spatial pressure on plants, which can influence other species and even water systems – known as a trophic cascade.

Lioness after a successful hunt. © Phil Carter.

Unfortunately, lions are in trouble. The ever increasing human population both threatens lion habitat and means lions are continuously pushed into closer contact with people, which increases the risk of human-wildlife conflict and the killing of lions in relation for killing livestock.

Lion Landscapes, Loisaba Conservancy, and TNC Africa are working with communities to reduce conflict between humans and lions by protecting livestock from attacks by lions and protecting lions from attacks by people. © Ami Vitali.

Our partner, Lion Landscapes, is working towards mitigating human-lion conflict by collaring lions in partnership with KWS. Specialised lion GPS collars are deployed and managed in order to provide livestock owners with real time lion movement data via a mobile app, developed by Save The Elephants. This is part of on-going research into how lions use human-dominated landscapes at different stages of their lives, and helps people keep their livestock away from lions or increase vigilance and guarding effort when lions are nearby. Collars also show when lions move into areas where risk of conflict is high, which gives Lion Rangers a chance to act quickly to prevent livestock form being attacked by lions and resulting retaliation. Altogether, information from collars reduces attacks on livestock and retaliatory killing of lions.

Loisaba’s Lion Rangers ready to respond to any incidences of human-wildlife conflict. © Ami Vitali.

 

Not all lions are collared, so how does Lion Landscapes choose which to collar?

There are three main reasons a particular lion is collared:

1. Monitoring Prides

Lions are unusual in that they are the only social cat. They live in groups known as prides that consist of mothers, daughters, sisters and one or more adult breeding males, with the young males being pushed out when they reach sexual maturity to ensure species diversity.

Lion Landscapes aims to collar the oldest lioness in each distinct pride, in order to monitor the prides movements and inform livestock owners when they are close to particular bomas (corals where cattle are kept at night). The most mature female lion is likely to be the leader of the group, and is also the individual at most risk of getting to an age where she becomes a “problem” lion (see below).

Imara (left), collared at Loisaba on 19th December 2019 with a member of her pride. © Jim Koenigsaecker.

 

2. Monitoring Young Males

When young males leave their maternal prides, they are not yet strong or experienced enough to take on older males to win a pride of their own. While avoiding the territories of more experienced males, they are often pushed into areas with less prey and more people and livestock, meaning they are then at greater risk of being killed either to prevent livestock loss or in retaliation.

In January 2020, Lion Landscapes collared one of five young adult males here at Loisaba in order to monitor their progress, and to help out if they get themselves into trouble!

Felix (left), collared at Loisaba on 18th January 2020 with one of his brothers. © Hannah Campbell.

 

3. Monitoring “Problem” Lions

There are occasions when lions become problematic, and repeatedly target livestock rather than wild prey. These “problem” lions are usually older or weaker individuals that are less able to hunt for themselves. Livestock prove much easier prey than zebra or antelope when hunting alone, so these lions are in much more danger of being killed in retaliation.

These lions are collared in order for them to be directly monitored, and maps of their locations sent to livestock owners. This means livestock owners are always on high alert when the lion is near and ready to prevent livestock predation. Research suggests that if you make it hard for a lion to kill livestock, and their attempts repeatedly fail, then they are less likely to try again and can eventually give up hunting livestock in favour of wild prey.

Narok, collared at Loisaba in February 2018. Narok was originally collared to keep track of her prides movements, but now cannot keep up with the pride during hunts. This means she is at more risk of coming into conflict with humans, so her movements are closely monitored.  © Hannah Campbell.

 

If you would like to keep up to date with Lion Landscape’s work, follow them on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram and subscribe to their newsletter!

 

 

 

 

By Hannah Campbell

The population of reticulated giraffe, one of the most iconic mammals on the planet, has declined by over 50% over the past 30 years – from 36,000 to just around 15,000 today. Poaching, loss of habitat, and land degradation are all pushing the giraffe toward an ominously named “silent extinction.”

To effectively help protect the reticulated giraffe, researchers must first understand how these towers of the savanna use their habitat. Over 100 motion-activated cameras have been installed both here at Loisaba Conservancy and at Namunyak Community Conservancy to the North East. A local team of Twiga Walinzi (which means Giraffe Guards in Swahili) is conducting field research to study and identify individual giraffes, while monitoring field cameras, engaging with local communities, and removing poachers’ snares from the conservancy sites.

During the course of a year, over 1,000,000 images are captured by these cameras! Although placed to monitor giraffes, they also photograph many different species, from warthogs to lions!

This means millions of photos need sorting through to classify what each shot has captured, which is where you can help! An online citizen science project called Wildwatch Kenya was set up to allow anyone from around the world to review and help classify the images.

Once these images are classified, and along with data from collared giraffes, researchers can identify specific areas that are favoured by giraffes and start to look into why they prefer certain habitats. This information is critical in order to provide better protection to those areas, as well providing insight on where to focus any community outreach to help reduce poaching where people may be living closer to giraffes. “The faster we can sort through these images, the faster we understand what is needing to protect reticulated giraffe in these areas” – Jenna Stacy-Dawes, San Diego Zoo Global.

Click here if you would like to help classify some of the camera trap images from the field!

Conservation and Wildlife Security

In partnership with The Peregrine Fund and Lion Landscapes, Loisaba hosted a Community Coexistence Training course at Loisaba for members of the surrounding communities. The training is designed to teach communities about the dangers and negative effects of poisoning to humans and their livestock, whilst providing individuals with the skills and knowledge to better protect their livestock and to therefore reduce retaliation killing of carnivores.

36 people from Koija, Kirimon and Il Motiok received the training. These communities were targeted as they experience high levels of human-carnivore conflict due to living adjacent to wildlife conservancies and ranches.

The training is part of the Coexistence Co-op, which is a partnership between Lion Landscapes and The Peregrine Find to reduce livestock lost to large carnivores, and stop the resultant use of highly toxic pesticides to kill ‘problem’ carnivores, and that indiscriminately poison critically endangered vultures.

Photos of the Month

Most liked Instagram photo:

Elephant © Hannah Campbell

Most liked Facebook photo:

Reticulated Giraffe © Peter Ekidor

 

Best Caption:

@gabriellafrancesca94: ‘I told you to stop and ask for directions Hank, now we’re going to be late!’

If you have any photos from your stay at Loisaba that you would like featuring on our social media, please email them stating how you would like it to be credited to Hannah at [email protected]!

 

 

By Hannah Campbell

Elewana Collection’s Loisaba Lodo Springs © Niels van Gijn

Guests all over the world are able to experience the wilderness and wildlife of Loisaba by staying at one of the three Elewana Collection tourism properties: Loisaba Lodo Springs, Loisaba Tented Camp and Loisaba Star Beds, or our Acacia Campsite.

© Down to Earth Films

Not only does the experience of visiting Loisaba educate tourists in our various conservation efforts, the conservation fee that guests pay to stay at the conservancy and other revenue from tourism makes up almost half of our operating budget.

Conservation fees help contribute towards…

Security

© Lizzie Daly

We have a well-resourced, trained and disciplined ranger force of over 70, including an armed NPR (National Police Reservist) unit, rapid response teams, a canine unit comprising three tracker dogs and a Lion Ranger team. The team provide round the clock patrolling of the conservancy to eliminate the threat of poaching, in addition to high level security for all our guests and personnel.

Systematic morning and evening aerial patrols are also carried out, using our Piper Super-cub. The flight patrol plans are based on prior ground observations such as wounded animals or intrusions, which orients the nature of the flight.

Without financial support, this team would not have the necessary training or resources, and the conservation of wildlife and habitat would become increasingly challenging.

Community Support – Education

Children at Ewaso Primary School in Laikipia, Northern Kenya. Revenue from ecotourism at Loisaba is reinvested into the neighbouring communities for schools, like this one. © Ami Vitale

A vital part of conservation is educating the local communities about its importance, and to help place a value on the environment and wildlife. Here at Loisaba we support the building and development of local schools (including classrooms, libraries and internet access) and education strategies, and hold regular education days at our Conservation Centre.

The goal is to provide community members with the means of learning about the importance of wildlife conservation and habitat protection, and show how important careful land management is in the greater Ewaso ecosystem. In our experience, children have a keen interest in wildlife and conservation, but lack the opportunity to see these in practice.

Loisaba aims to provide that link, to help with conservation education, and to encourage positive participation in the landscape. We hope that by providing this resource to the next generation, we can target and reduce human-wildlife conflict that is becoming ever more threatening with the growing human population.

In addition to this, Loisaba Conservancy offers scholarships to students at primary, secondary and university levels.

Community Support – Heath Care        

Loisaba’s Clinical Health Officer – Kaltuma Dabaso – attending to patients.

Loisaba supports a number of health services within the neighbouring community conservancies, such as providing the monthly salary for nurses and community health workers, building and equipping a maternity wing, family planning (in partnership with Communities Heath Africa Trust), facilitating the procurance of medication, and providing medical outreach camps to communities. In addition to this, our Community Health Officer, Kaltuma, visits Ewaso Dispensary to attend to patients on a weekly basis.

Conservancy Operations and Maintenance

For Loisaba to operate effectively as a conservancy and working ranch, we have to employ a variety of people with various skills in order to keep running smoothly. From chefs in the staff village to accountants in the finance office, our employees are a critical part of Loisaba Conservancy.

In order for our security and conservation teams to function, research to be carried out, and of course for game drives, hundreds of kilometres of road must be maintained by regular grading and resurfacing.

Statutory Licenses

© Niels van Gijn

As its name suggests, Loisaba is a Private Conservancy rather than a National Park. This means we can offer horse and camel rides, bike rides, fishing, bush walks and many more activities, but we do not receive any funding from the government to help us look after the land. Instead, we must pay for business permits, operational licenses, land rates (to the county council) and land rent (to the government), which your conservancy fee helps towards.

We need your help!

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in an effort to contain its spread, Loisaba Lodo Springs, Loisaba Tented Camp and Loisaba Star Beds will be operationally suspended on the 1st April 2020.

Unfortunately, this means that our operating budget will be reduced significantly due to the reduction in conservation fees. While we will ensure prudence and efficiency in our expenditure, the reality is that to continue protecting the critical habitat and endangered species at Loisaba we need your help.

If you would like to help us maintain zero poaching levels, keep our rangers on the ground, protect endangered species and support local communities who have no access to healthcare, please donate today.

Even a small donation will make a huge difference to Loisaba’s conservation and community development work.

Thank you, and stay safe.

By Hannah Campbell

For a long time, conservation had been a male dominated field. But things are changing. At Loisaba, we have been and continue to be intentional in ensuring female representation across all of our programmes. From security to community outreach, the ladies at Loisaba are shaping a better future for wildlife and people.

For International Woman’s Day this year, we are looking at looking at some of the stories of the women who are critical to our work…

Doreen Ongeri, Accountant

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

“I’m a strong lady and have come a long way. I have two daughters who are in school and I am proud that I pay their school fees single handily. I have made sure that they work hard and value money but will not limit them – they should be able to do whatever they want to do! I love working at Loisaba as it has enabled me to further my education, and has meant that I am working in a field that I trained in.”

Do you feel like women have disadvantages in Kenya?

“Today there are many women in high positions, and more girls are going to school. However, you still hear of issues of men wanting to take advantage of women in the workplace and many communities that still favour boys going to school over girls. The responsibility of taking care of children is also often left with the mother, so she has to now balance education and work with looking after a family.”

What are the problems that women face?

“Many families think that girls should not go to school, and therefore invest more in their son’s education. There are also expectations that there are certain jobs for men and for women such as housekeeping, teaching, nursing and secretary work, which often limits women. There are also some issues with young ladies getting pregnant too young and being expected to get married and look after the children, rather than furthering their education. I think there needs to be more investment in sexual education for children at school.”

What can women achieve if given the chance?

“A lot! Anything a man can do, so can a woman!”

What message would you like to send other women?

You should never be intimidated by anyone. The world has changed from thinking women should be housewives, make the most of it and do great things. You can be anyone you want to be, and soar heights!”

Milly Kwatoya, Loisaba Community Trust (Scholarships + Community Support)

Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Milly and I am from Western Kenya. I currently work with Lori DeNooyer helping with the Loisaba Community Trust community outreach programme.”

How did you start to work at Loisaba?

“I started work at Loisaba in 2006 working in the shop. I worked there for six years before starting to help in the office with operations, accounts and reservations. While working in the office, I started working at Lorok Ltd. with Lori DeNooyer – helping with scholarships for children in the local area along with other community projects.”

How Important Is Education for girls?

“Education is the background of everything. Ever since I started at Loisaba, I have always been interested in meeting the girls in the communities and encouraging them to be excited about education so they have a better chance of getting a job. It’s very different to Western Kenya where education for girls is more common. It is very fulfilling to see the girls that have been through the Loisaba Community Trust scholarship program prosper!”

What are the problems that women face in communities around Loisaba?

“Women are often expected to stay in the households and therefore parents don’t see the need to send daughters to school, meaning they do not get the same opportunities as their brothers would. FGM is also still practised here – after the ceremony they are expected to get married and have children rather than stay in school.”

How is Loisaba Community Trust helping girls and women in the community?

“I am proud to say that more girls are attending secondary school with the help of our scholarships. We also run an anti-FGM programme where young girls and parents go through training to demonstrate the dangers of the practise, and offer an alternate rite of passage. We are also planning to organise a walk to raise awareness of the dangers of FGM and encourage more members of the community to attend our workshop and ceremony. We support women in the communities too with a beadwork programme, which helps to empower them by giving them a source of income. During my work in the communities, I have seen parents attitudes change towards both sending girls to school and to perceptions of FGM – which is huge job satisfaction!”

 What message would you like to send other women?

“Keep doing what you are doing, as long as you’re happy!” 

Noryn Nabira, HR and Accounts

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

“My name is Nabira and I am a Christian Luhya from Western Kenya. I studied Economics and History at university as I am good at maths and feel economics opens up many opportunities. I am now pursuing a post-graduate diploma in HR management.”

How did you start to work at Loisaba Conservancy?

“I started work at Loisaba in February 2018. I wanted to work here as I am passionate about conservation, and agree with the mission to protect and enhance critical wildlife diversity, abundance and habitat in the Loisaba landscape while supporting neighbouring communities.”

What are the problems that women face in communities? Have you had to overcome any of these?

“Many women are not educated, and therefore it is hard for them to have an income to sustain themselves. It has meant that women are much more depended on men. There are also many practises such as FGM whereby young girls are taken out of school to marry young which is a challenge. Where I am from in Western Kenya there are fewer issues and girls are encouraged to go to school. In the communities around Loisaba however, the community is still very much pastoral and the girls are expected to look after the households. The work Loisaba does in the communities with Anti-FGM and scholarships is extremely important for women!”

What message would you like to send other women?

“Women should embrace education. Perceptions are changing, people are moving and you need to make sure you don’t get left behind!”

Linet Akinyi Mukoma, Security Control Room

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

“My name is Linet and I come from Busia County in Western Kenya. I like traveling, especially to the beach. I love Diani – it is a good place to visit when you feel stressed as the atmosphere is so relaxing! I also have a son who is turning 8 in May. I would like my son to grow up knowing that women are not weak vessels. A woman is capable and strong, and he should not look down upon women.”

What is your role at Loisaba Conservancy?

“I am a radio operator – my work is to gather information from all over the conservancy concerning wildlife and security threats. I enjoy my work because it connects me to different people and I learn more about the wildlife. I am passionate about wildlife conservation, especially the work in partnership with Lion Landscapes in order to reduce retaliation killing of lions.”

What are the problems that women face in your community?

“Women in some communities are seen to be inferior to men – they don’t have speech. They are considered as weak vessels and their place is the kitchen. Women are not seen as independent.”

What can women achieve if given the chance?

“Women can achieve a lot! They can be leaders, they are capable of doing everything in careers, in education, even work in security like me which is usually considered a man’s job.”

What message would you like to send other women?

“I would like to tell other women to not look down on themselves. They should believe they can do anything and be independent!”

Susan Lentaam, Assistant Conservation Officer

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

“My name is Susan, I’m from Wamba (Samburu East) – a very remote area. I went to school in Isiolo which was 150km from my home. There were no roads so it used to take me 3 days to walk to school, starting at 9 years old. My father was very supportive of my education and ensured I went to school, even though it was sad my parents could not attend any of the parents days and end of term events due to the distance and the fact he could not leave his cattle.”

What is your role at Loisaba Conservancy?

“I work as the assistant conservation officer, focusing on SMART (our monitoring and reporting tool that our security rangers use) and Lion Monitoring in partnership with Lion Landscapes. The most interesting thing about my job has been learning about lion behaviour and how to identify individuals. This is done by taking photos of the whisker spots on each side of the face, as each lion has a unique pattern. Ear notches are also recorded as well as any other distinguishing features to help with the ID.”

What are the problems that women face in your community? Have you had to overcome any of these?

“There is often poor attendance of girls in schools due to early marriages and harmful cultural practises like FGM. There is also discrimination especially in jobs. People think that there are jobs that women are not supposed to do as they are thought of as weak. Sometimes people think women are not good at fieldwork, such as monitoring of lions, as it is tiring work. I want to prove those people that they are wrong and women can do many jobs! Luckily my father was very supportive, so the main problem I had was the distance from school. However, my uncles did not approve of my father’s decision to send me to school and said I should get married instead. My father said “you have to be strong and brave like a lion!” and I am very grateful to him.

What can women achieve if given the chance?

“Women can do a lot of things, even in leadership roles. If a women is given a chance to lead an organisation or community they can achieve a lot as they have the best interests of the people at heart.”

What message would you like to send other women?

Support others, and be brave like a lion!”

Kaltuma Dabaso, Clinical Health Officer

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

“My name is Kaltuma and I am from Isiolo county. I come from a humble background and have always been pushed to work for the better.”

How did you become involved with the clinic at Loisaba Conservancy?

“I have always loved to help people in need, and was excited by the chance to help the communities around Loisaba when the position became vacant. Loisaba has given me the opportunity to help people through outreaches and other projects. This brings a special joy being able to interact and improve peoples lives. Working at Loisaba has also helped me grow through trainings, using different ways to teach important messages to communities.”

How important is promoting women in society using the clinic?

“By helping with the community dispensary, community trainings and holding mobile outreach clinics, we have managed to positively impact women in need and bring changes such as stopping FGM, educating women and encouraging them to attend antenatal and postnatal clinics, providing family planning and improving women’s general health.”

What challenges have you witnessed for women in the communities around Loisaba?

“Early marriage and lack of women empowerment with men making most decisions regarding family planning and FGM. Health facilities are also often too far for them to access for services such as antenatal clinic and other medical services. Women also partake in strenuous activities such as carrying water, firewood and building manyattas during pregnancy which can be very risky to both mother and baby.”

What message would you like to send other women?

“They have power and strength to bring change in society. We have important roles in the family and communities!”

By Hannah Campbell

Conservation and Wildlife Security

Earlier this month, our Conservation Officer, Horris Wanyama, attended an Elephant Monitoring Training Workshop lead by Save The Elephants in order to standardise elephant identification and monitoring methods across the landscape.

Save The Elephants, who are based up in Samburu, also shared their existing database of identified elephants. This is helpful as some of the elephants that we see at Loisaba make the 100 km journey up to Sera in Samburu, and could be unnecessarily identified twice if it wasn’t for this shared database.

Horris has been working with the rest of the conservation department in order to add to the database of elephant ID’s at Loisaba, with 52 females and 44 males currently identified.

Map to show elephants known as Kimita and Sankata at Loisaba during October 2019. Map © Space for Giants

Map to show Kimita and Sankata traveling through Isiolo to Samburu from 4th – 12th November 2019. Map © Space for Giants

Map to show Kimita and Sankata in Samburu at the beginning of this year. Map © Space for Giants

 

Community

After the successful Baotree trial in November and December last year, Koija community benefitted from the installation of predator proof bomas to 15 households as well as a five day healthcare training workshop that covered prevention of disease, basic first aid, nutrition and health and the dangers of drug abuse. Read more about Baotree here.

A big thank you to Paul (Community Officer) and Lenguya (SDZG Leopard Conservation Program) for organising the deployment of the bomas and the Loisaba workshop team for building them, to Kaltuma (Clinical Health Officer) and Paul for organising and implementing the health care workshop and to Dimitri (Baotree founder) for making it possible.

Installation of a predator proof boma

 

Healthcare workshop

Thanks to the fundraising efforts of Jillian Gann, we were also able to host two medical outreach clinics this month in Sagumai (8th Feb) and Morijo (22nd Feb), attending to a total of 192 patients. If you would like to contribute towards this critical healthcare for our local communities, help us reach our $10,000 goal for 2020 here.

Kaltuma and Jennifer treating patients at Morijo

 

Research

This month, our research team moved into their new offices! The team started with just two employees in 2017 on the SDZG Twiga Walinzi project. With the addition of the Leopard Conservation Program and four more employees, the team of six (along with their equipment) needed a larger working space for their research.

“On behalf of the entire team here, I would like to send a warm thank you to all. This is the best office ever with enough space for all of us, enough for all our equipment and the breeze outside is just so refreshing. The WiFi is also very good and we no longer need to use LAN cables. Thanks so much to Tom, Hannah, Richard, Gichuru, Njuguna and all that made the renovations happen.” – Symon Masiaine, Twiga Walinzi Conservation Coordinator

Symon Masiaine (Twiga Walinzi Conservation Coordinator)

Lexson (Twiga Walinzi), Anthony (Twiga Walinzi), Limo (Leopard Conservation Program) and Lenguya (Leopard Conservation Program) in their new office.

 

Photos of the Month

Most liked Instagram photo:

Marico Sunbird © Peter Ekidor

Most liked Facebook photo:

Leopard © Taro Croze

If you have any photos from your stay at Loisaba that you would like featuring on our social media, please email them stating how you would like it to be credited to Hannah at [email protected]!