More news reports on monkey discovery
Category: Endangered Wildlife | Date: Oct 31 2007 | By: admin
Voice of America yesterday aired an interview on my recent study of the newly discovered de Brazza’s monkey population in Mathews range forest in Samburu.
More websites have published this news including TimesOnline, Wildlife Extra Yubanet , Africanews among others.
You can read more on this story in my earlier posts below or contact me on iregim{at}yahoo.com for the full report.
Iregi Mwenja
This study and ongoing studies in Samburu were generously supported by;
“Only if we understand can we care. Only if we care can we help. Only if we help can they be saved” Jane Goodall, Primatologist, conservationist and founders of Goodall Institute.
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Why Rare Primates??
Category: Endangered Wildlife | Date: Oct 31 2007 | By: admin
Many people asked me, why primates? What motivates you to work in these difficult places? Well let me shed some light.
I started my conservation career 7 years ago as a Park Warden at the Kenya Wildlife Service. I served in various Parks and Reserves and was lucky get hands-on experience on the conservation of different tropical ecosystems-types ranging from marine at the Kiunga Marine National Reserve in the Lamu Archipelago to the Afro-alpine ecosystem of Mt. Elgon National Park.
It was during this time that I developed great interest in rare threatened species when I realized that they were never incorporated in the mainstream conservation agenda. Most conservation Organizations focused on “greater species” like Rhinos, elephants, cheetahs etc, whose dilemma has been “over-marketed” at the expense of the endangered “lesser species” like the de Brazza’s monkey, bushbabies etc.
De Brazza’s monkey
I decided to dedicate my time working on the conservation of these forgotten endangered species that required equal if not more urgent attention. However, the greatest challenge was to create awareness on these rare species to secure support from all stakeholders. To create the awareness, I started by working on the assessments of conservation status of the de Brazza’s monkey and the Sitatunga (an antelope), to convince all and sundry that they needed attention too.
However, my most outstanding work has been the national assessment of the de Brazza’s monkey, which includes the first survey of the newly discovered population in Mathews range in Samburu. Over the years, this has meant that I sometimes work in areas where other biologists have not ventured due to insecurity and lack of infrastructure like in Samburu and Boni-Dodori forest on the Kenya Somali border.
Guereza colobus
In Samburu, the difficult condition in this region deters many biologists from venturing here. It was therefore not surprising that this discovery came too late in time. I have also found out that there are plenty of other endangered and neglected primate’s species that needed attention too here. I have this year expanded my research to cover six rare species in Samburu i.e. the newly discovered De Brazza’s, Sykes’ and Patas’ monkey (new reports in the district as well) and the Mt Uarges guereza, the only Endangered guereza sub-species and endemic to Samburu.
Sykes monkey
When all the data from these surveys is collected and collated, the major task of setting up in situ conservation measures will begin. Today however, education and awareness has been integrated in the research and a long term monitoring of these species has started. This is how I have been acting locally to impact globally.
Iregi Mwenja
Grevy Zebra blog - Karibu
Category: Endangered Wildlife | Date: Oct 17 2007 | By: admin
I am happy to see a blogger from Samburu joining me on this site. I am sure we will have a lot to share. Like these photos taken at Kisima, near Maralal on 2nd June,2007
Iregi Mwenja
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IUCN/SSC Primates Specialist Group publishes De Brazza’s discovery
Category: Endangered Wildlife | Date: Oct 16 2007 | By: admin
My findings of the discovery of a new population of de Brazza’s monkey in Mathews range, norther kenya was published online the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Groups’s Primate Conservation journal recently. Below is the abstract and the link to the Pdf.
Abstract:
Until recently, de Brazza’s monkey (Cercopithecus neglectus) was not known to occur east of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya. However, after eight months of intensive surveys in the remote and isolated Mathews Range Forest Reserve of Samburu, we were able to count a total of 162 de Brazza’s monkeys in 24 groups; including 139 adults and sub-adults and 23 infants. They were found in ten separate laggas distributed throughout the mountain range, with the highest concentration in the central part of the reserve. By extrapolating information gathered on this study - from interviews and field observations - the population of the entire Mathews Range Forest Reserve was estimated at 200 - 300. Although the threats arising from the human activities in the forest ecosystem are generally minimal, they were considerable on the lower elevations, affecting especially this species. The most affected habitats are those near human settlements on the lower altitudes (where 75% of the total population of de Brazza’s monkeys occurs) since they are easily accessible. During the onset of the dry season and periods of drought, communities invade these areas with large herds of livestock, where they feed them on leaves of evergreen tree species such as Faidherbia albida, Ficus sp., and Olea sp. The people cut the branches almost denuding the tree. These species are important in the diet of de Brazza’s monkey. The study resulted in the first record of de Brazza’s monkeys occurring above 2,100 m above sea level. They were seen in Olkaela in the Mathews range at an elevation of 2,203 m.
Groups distribution in Mathews range forest
Read the full article here
Iregi Mwenja
Institute of Primate Research of the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
I want to leave you with this photos taken during the course of the study last year.
Awareness creation in Ngilai, Mathews range
Strategising with the local guides before deploying the research team into the dense forest
Ngeng’ river on the plains of Samburu
Preparing a meal late in the night
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More skulls
Category: Samburu Survey | Date: Oct 15 2007 | By: admin
Thanks Louise for your assistance with the skull identification. I take photos of everything I come across and sometimes they happen to be species outside my speciality. But how did this buffalo skull at Mathews range end up with a new body! I just liked the image.
There is a fossilized remains of an elephant skull at Marti which residents claim has turned into a rock. Does that interest you? I could get speceimens next month, for free!
Iregi Mwenja
A small but costly mistake in the field
Category: Samburu Survey | Date: Oct 13 2007 | By: admin
As I promised in the last post, I have posted this link to a video that showing how the Samburu make fire for dried sticks. This is how the Samburu people used to make fire before modern fire lighters were introduced. We had to rely on this method after we forget a fire lighter in our car (which was parked 15 km away at Marti) during a Patas’ monkey survey along the Lagat valley
It was late in the evening and we couldn’t find the species required to make fire in the valley. We spent the night without food after the 15km walk to Lagat Valley. The next morning, had to call-off the survey and return to Marti, another 7 hours walk in a temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius. On the photo in the last post, we had done about 10 km and had run out of the precious water. That morning, we threw away our raw foodstuff - potatoes, rice and beans to cut on our luggage and save our dwindling energy to walk to the car at Marti.
So my sadness had nothing to do with insecurity! But I learnt a valuable lesson. To pack one item at a time! Next month I will be back and you guess what will be the first item in my luggage!
Back at Marti, I bought a chicken from the locals which was prepared for us as we had animated discussions with the Morans who couldn’t understand why these people have to leave their comfort in Nairobi and subject themselves to the hardship in such remote and insecure places. What they will never understand is that this is adventure to me, not hardships. It’s fun. It’s want I want to do for my country, to help save our planet!
Iregi Mwenja
I was not in Congo!
Category: Endangered Wildlife | Date: Oct 02 2007 | By: admin
Thank you Lisa, Christine C. Jon and all those who have given their comments on my last three posts. It’s very encouraging to see people who are thousands of miles away showing interest in the work we are doing in Samburu. I would like to share with you the satellite image (Google map) of the study area, showing important localities that I have mentioned in my blog. The link is;
From the map, you can see that the area is remote and working there means encountering numerous hardships that have deterred many biologists from venturing there for decades. Below is an image that clearly depicts one of the hardships – insecurity.
The area is Marti (not somewhere in Congo), central part of Samburu bordering West Pokot. Cattle’s rustling between the Samburu and the Pokot is common in this area . We had to get armed escort from the Police Reserves to walk to Langat Lugga where we were searching for Patas’ monkey in what will be the first officail record of patas in Samburu. However, my sadness in this photo was caused by something else, not the insecurity. Lookout for the next post for the details.
My sad encounter with a rhino in Mathews range
Category: Endangered Wildlife | Date: Oct 01 2007 | By: admin
During my last field trip which ended last month, I had a rather depressing “encounter” with a rhino on the central part of western Mathews range. I unearthed in a river bed the lower jaw of a Black rhino that was no doubt killed 20-30 years ago by poachers who employed a few locals to track the rhinos and elephnat in this remote forest. The Somali poachers were the middlemen who provided the locals with weapons and food and as little as $ 5 for every elephant or rhino killed. They took the trophies and sold them for hundreds of dollars, became wealthy and expanded the “business” succesifully wiping out all the rhinos in Mathews range. Only two were rescued a decade ago and they were taken to a rhino santuary at Lewa.
Today, there are no Rhinos in Mathews range and the neighboring Kirisia Hills, Ndotto and Mt Nyiro forests, places that had plenty of rhinos 40 years ago. But the community are bitter that their treasured resource was exterminated by a few selfish criminals. To jealously guard what was left behind, almost the entire district has been converted to Community Conservancies and the district is quickly embracing Wildlife conservation as sustainable means of livelihood.
The selfish few will never get another chance!
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