Uneasy calm in Nairobi
Category: Election 2007 | Date: Jan 01 2008 | By: admin
Yesterday a planned rally was called off and politicians from both sides asked their supporters to desist from engaging in acts of violence and hooliganism. There is now an uneasy calm in Nairobi and I believe other parts of the country.
It is quite clear that the politicians hold the key to peace in this country and all you need is a reckless statement from a politician and innocent Kenyans die. To quote todays Editorial of the Daily Nation, Kenyas leading Newspaper“Neither PNU nor ODM during their campaigns demonstrated any particular restraint or regard for the country’s stability. Their mantra appears to have been: We either rule it or burn it” This is exactly what is happening!
Lets hope that politicians will allow peace to prevail but we (all Kenyans) should never allow ourselves to be used by politicians to achieve their selfish ends.
Iregi Mwenja
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Kenya election, call for peace
Category: Election 2007 | Date: Jan 01 2008 | By: admin
I am sitting alone in the office today because most people fear venturing out due to the violence that was witnessed yesterday in some estates in Nairobi. Indeed, in the whole building, no one else has come to work like it happens even on holidays save for the security guards manning the gate.
There has been so much uncertainty here in Nairobi in the last three days and the condition makes it difficult to work, shop or even venture out of your own house. I am now not sure if I will resume my fieldwork next week, given that there is violence going on in other parts of the country as well. This will affect my program for January 2008 and probably result in a delay in my fieldwork planned for this month. I am sure the majority of Kenyans have also been affected in their daily work.
I am therefore appealing to every Kenyan to embrace peace and tolerance and plead with the politicians to restrain their supporters and seek redress through the courts. Otherwise everyone will suffers and especially the average Kenyan who have nowhere to run to. My work of conserving wildlife will also be affected just like all the other sectors.
Iregi Mwenja
Patriotic Kenyan
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Presenting my team
Category: Samburu Survey | Date: Dec 28 2007 | By: admin
The Samburu primates study that I lead is made up of research assistants, guides, scouts and secuirity escorts who are mostly drawn from the local Samburu community. I am glad to share with you photos of some of the peope that have made the fieldwork part of this study a success.
The Team at Ngare Narok in september 2007 where we were making preliminary observations of the ecology of the newly discovered population of de Brazza’s monkey in Mathews range.
The Ang’ata Nanyuki team in Leroghi where our search for sykes monkey were fruitless in June 2007.
The Uaso Ngi’ro rivers near Lodung’okwe. The team which I led was searching for sykes monkeys believed to have been in this area in the 1980s
The team at Lagat valley in Baragoi searching for Patas monkey
Another team at Angata Nayuki in Leroghi that was looking for Patas and sykes monkeys
A guide and an escort in last year’s de Brazza’s monkey survey in Mathews range.
The list is not exshaustive as not all of them are currently available in my photo library. As you read my posts, please remember that this people played a crucial role in the study and they deserve credit for their contribution. I am personally very grateful to my team for serving with deligence and dedications despite the numerous difficulties and hardships, especailly lack of adequate resources during feildwork.
Iregi Mwenja
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Climbing Mt Nyiro
Category: Samburu Survey | Date: Dec 26 2007 | By: admin
Climbing Mt Nyiro was the most physically challenging moment of my primates survey fieldwork in Samburu this year. The photos say it all…
Climbing from South Horr
My local Guide, Ljejian
Taking a break
Another Break
It took us ten hours to get to Kurante where we picthed our tents before heading to Kosi Kosi (which is 2600 m above sea level) the next morning.
Finally the view
South Horr trading center and the Ndonyo Mara on the background
Iregi Mwenja
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Dr Iain Douglas-Hamilton reports Patas monkey sighting in Samburu
Category: Endangered Wildlife | Date: Dec 18 2007 | By: admin
Last month I received reports from Chege of the Steve Chege blog that Dr Iain of Save the Elephants had mentioned to him that he had seen a Patas monkey while flying over the western parts of Samburu National Reserve. I also received the same information from Bridget McGraw - Guest Editor of the ‘Swara’ Magazine of the East African Wildife Society. I later talked to Dr Iain and he gave me the information below confirming that it was indeed Patas they found;
“In October 2007 during the course of an elephant collaring operation, I sighted along with Daniel Lentipo a Patas Monkey in the western part of Samburu National Reserve. The animal was running through open bush and we got a good view for a few seconds. Both Daniel and I independently recognised it as a Patas Monkey. I don’t know if this constitutes a rare sighting but I have never come across one in Buffalo, Shaba, and Samburu National Reserves. The nearest ones are those in Laikipia. Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton Founder, Save the Elephants”
Photos: Manzolillo Nightgale
Patas monkey are highly dependent on Whistling Thorn (Acacia drepanolobium) for both food and sleeping sites.
I shared this information with Primatologists Dr Butynski and Yvonne de Jong and this is what Dr Butysnki had to say; “….Looks to be a very nice record…..very likely this is a ‘wandering adult male’….they do this sort of think…apparently….go off long distances from the range in which groups live….in search, I suppose, of new, distant groups and opportunities”
However, this remians the first confirmed report of the species sighting in Samburu district, though as Dr Butynski suggests, it could just be a wandering male from the Laikipia and not a resident group. Meanwhile, I am still working on the unconfirmed reports that there is a troop in northern Samburu, near Parsaloi which I will be able to verify early next year - see the previous blog for more details.
Iregi Mwenja
Project leader, Samburu Primates
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Delayed field trip
Category: Samburu Survey | Date: Dec 13 2007 | By: admin
I have been forced to postpone my last field trip of the year following continued rains in Mathews range whose river drains to the Milgis river on the western side. I have been planning to survey the Ndoto by going round the mountain using the Milgis lagga (dry River bed) as it is the only way to cross over from the west. Until the River bed is dry, most parts on the south are inaccessible. If I go now, I will only be able to access the mountain from Ilaut side via Baragoi-South Horr road and leave out the crucial southern parts. The General elections are also due in two weeks and it would not be advisable to conduct the study during the last days of campaigns and voting day. The is also the festive season and christmas is around the corner and it will be difficult to convince people to join me, like it happened last years during my last fields trip of the Mathews range de Brazza’s survey.
Ndoto mountains, a view of the northern side’s from the top of Mt Nyiro, 30 km away
Seiya river and a patas monkey
I have been able to get this regular updates courtesy to my partner on the ground - Milgis Trust. The Manager, Moses Lesoloiya have also been assisting with leads into unconfirmed reports of patas sightings at Suiyan and trip logistics, including transport and scouts. We have agreed to make it early January.
Mwenja searching for patas monkey at Lagat river, a tributary of the Seiya river four months ago.
Open grassland near suiyan with a view of Leroghi/Kirisia Hills on the background
Acacia bushland which offer ideal conditions for patas monkey habitation
Iregi Mwenja
Project Leader
Samburu Primates
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Presenting my findings at the 17th IPR scientific conference
Category: Endangered Wildlife | Date: Nov 20 2007 | By: admin
Last week on Thursday, I presented my findings on the newly discovered population of de Brazza’s monkey at the 17th Institute of Primate Research Scientific Conference at KCCT Mbagathi in Nairobi. Although the Institute is predominantly a Bio-medical instutuion, the Ecology and Conservation department had 8 high quality presentations which included mine titled “A new population of de Brazza’s monkey in Kenya”
Below is the title slide
Iregi Mwenja
Project leader
Samburu Primates
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National Geographic reports de Brazza’s discovery
Category: Endangered Wildlife | Date: Nov 06 2007 | By: admin
The report of the de Brazza’s monkey discovery continue to makes news internationally. The latest is the National Geographic News published today. here is the link to the article
I would like to share some photos of the beautiful Mathews range.
‘Lkimani’ the Mathews point as seen from the north
Milgis River that seperates the Mathews range and the Ndotos.
Mt Uarges, the highest peak of the Mathews range found on the south of the ranges
Iregi Mwenja
Technorati : Samburu, discovery, monkey
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Climate change and de Brazza’s discovery, here is the connection - updated version
Category: Climate change, Endangered Wildlife | Date: Nov 05 2007 | By: admin
Some people are wondering, what is the connection between the discovery of a rare primate species population in northern Kenya and climate change. I sought to get more details from Dr Richard Leakey.
When the reports of this new population in Samburu emerged, many people speculated that the population could exhibit significant difference from the population in Western Kenya. Indeed, when I went there, I expected to see glaring behavioural and physical differences from what I had seen in Western Kenya. However, after the 8 months study no difference was evident from my field observations. This doesn’t rule out the fact that there could be significant genetic variations until molecular studies are done to compare the two populations. While social behaviour and organisation of a population is sometimes influenced by ecological factors, such an isolated population could exhibit some deviation in response to challenges that come with its unique environment and prolonged isolation. However, this was not observed during the study either.
Kori Bustard, a rare bird that I came acroos in Laikipia on my way to Samburu
In addition, I was surprised to see similarities between the de Brazza’s habitat in Mathews range and that in Kisere forest in Western Kenya. Majority of the most preferred plant species eaten by de Brazza’s in Kisere happened to be in Mathews range and were highly ranked in the De Brazza’s diet. The similarity in the habitat is also surprising since Mathews range is found in the northern semi-arid part of the country far away from Kakamega forest where Kisere is found, with the Great Rift Valley dividing the two. This signifies that there was “a wet corridor” (as Dr Leakey puts it) that allowed biological exchanges to the East and to the west of the Rift Valley. This must be very recent, not before the formation of the Great Rift Valley.
The Reticulated Giraffe is endemic to northern kenya
But we know many species that don’t cross over to either sides of the Rift valley in Kenya. For example, Gerenuk and Grevy Zebra don’t cross the west, the Sykes monkey in Kenya are on the east while in the west we find the Blue monkey, some antelope and the Giraffe are different races on both sides of the Rift Valley etc. However, we know that the Mangabeys and Red Colobus are found predominantly in the Equatorial forest Central and West Africa. Then how did the Tana mangabey and the Tana Red colobus population cross-over to the Kenyan coast?
Dr Leakey explains that there was a connection between the equatorial forest of central Africa and the region to the east of the Rift Valley in Kenya and Ethiopia. This is not before the formation of the Rift Valley which occurred about 2 million years ago, but very recently. “I suspect this was approximately 8000 years ago during the Holocene and it is an indication of some dramatic results of the last major period of climate change. We should not assume that today’s landscapes will remain as they are - big changes are certain, the only question is when” said Dr Richard Leakey.
Lamu archipelago. Global warming will lead to submerging of some villages in the Islands.
So here is the connection. This discovery gives us a golden opportunity to understand climate change, the greatest threat to humanity in our time.
I leave you with this image showing de Brazza’s monkey distribution in Kenya. The red show know groups, while the blue shows unconfirmed groups. Just click on my name.
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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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