Samburu Monkeys

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.

Iregi Mwenja

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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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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

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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