AMBOSELI ELEPHANT RESEARCH PROJECT
October 2000 Report and an Urgent Plea for Help
October 17, 2000
Cynthia Moss
Conditions in Amboseli have deteriorated rapidly since my last report one
month ago. The drought has now reached an acute stage with the result that
thousands of Maasai cattle are in the Park competing with the wildlife for the
little remaining vegetation. The elephants appear to be the main targets of
Maasai frustration. In the last few weeks 12 elephants have been speared, eight
of these have died of their wounds. With one exception all the speared animals
have been females and calves because they are the ones who are in the Park. The
females who have been killed were old friends, known to me for over 25 years.
For their families the loss is tragic, but most horrifying of all is the
spearing of the calves. The FB family has lost three members--Fay, their second
oldest adult female; her two-year-old calf; and Fanny's three-year-old calf. In
addition, Fanny's seven-year-old daughter is badly wounded but still living. In
the KA family, Kriste was found with 13 spear wounds. The KWS vet who came down
from Nairobi to treat her had to put her down when it was obvious she would not
recover.
Last week while I was in Amboseli I found the matriarch of the OB family,
Omega, with three fresh spear wounds. The one on her trunk was bleeding
copiously. (See photo.) The whole next day I tried to find her with the vet but
could not trace her. She has not been seen since. Two more members of the family
have also been found with wounds. One four-year-old calf is in very bad shape,
hardly able to walk. Ozoro, a 16-year-old female is also wounded. A little calf
less than two years old was found dead and we think this too was a calf from the
OB family.
My team is out every day searching for the wounded elephants and trying to
find any new ones who have been attacked. Soila Sayialel, AERP's project
manager, and Jonathan Lekanayia, our person in charge of outreach to the Maasai,
are trying as hard as they can, along with the Kenya Wildlife Service, to find
out why the spearings are occurring. In the meantime, in a program AERP has had
for two years, we continue to pay a consolation fee to owners of livestock that
have been killed by elephants. We do not think these current spearings are in
retaliation for cows being killed, because the cows have been killed outside the
Park in other places altogether. The situation is extremely frustrating because
we seem to be powerless to prevent the spearings. We know the Maasai are
suffering in the drought but killing the elephants is not helping anyone.
To make matters more difficult, we do not have adequate vehicles to move
about inside and outside the Park to monitor the elephants and try to reach the
Maasai. The project has two vehicles, my ancient Land-Rover (see photo), which
is 16 years old and temporarily grounded with a malfunctioning alternator, and
an eight-year-old Toyota Landcruiser which is in Nairobi with serious engine
problems. At the moment we are borrowing a vehicle from the African Wildlife
Foundation. With this one vehicle we are trying to keep the research going as
well as protecting the elephants. It can't be done. We desperately need a new
vehicle but can't afford one. If anyone out there can help us, we and the
elephants need your support.
Please send an emergency donation
earmarked for the Amboseli Elephant
Research Project to:
Amboseli Trust for Elephants
10 State Street
Newburyport, MA 01950
Click here for a
printer-friendly donation form.
(The Trust has obtained charitable status with both the Internal Revenue
Service and the Pennsylvania Department of State. A copy of its official
registration in Pennsylvania may be obtained by calling 1-800-732-0999.
Contributions to the Trust are fully deductible as the Trust is a Section
501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit cooperation. --webmaster)
or for more information contact: info©elephanttrust.org.
Thank you.
Cynthia Moss
