DAVID SHELDRICK AND TSAVO

 PART TWO.....

The park was becoming a safe haven for the elephants and many more were flocking in from the outlying areas outside the park where human population was ever expanding and this huge numbers were causing havoc to the vegetation and the park was slowly being turned into a desert. Talk about the elephant numbers was rife in Nairobi and the press was picking up this call and this really worried the park management because many wanted the country to go the South Africa way where they culled their elephants annually in order to keep the population at a fixed level.  The National parks service wanted to know the true elephant numbers in Tsavo and they requested the government to assist and the British Army volunteered to count the elephants while they conducted normal exercises in the park which led to the first ever elephant  census in Kenya in 1966. The park was divided in to blocks where each was to be counted in a day and adjoining blocks were simultaneously counted to avoid duplication. The army did the census in precision and all the data was plotted on block maps at the end of each day. “ operation count “ as it was code named was a success and 9000 elephants were counted in the park and more than 15000 were seen at the dispersal areas around the park. 

An American company called the Ford Foundation gave a financial grant to the then Kenya Government to support elephant research in Tsavo and a Dr. Richard Maitland Laws , assisted by the infamous Ian Parker were brought in to lead the research and once in Tsavo the team settled in very fast and they insisted on getting data from dead elephants to assist them in assessing population dynamics in relation to vegetation, and they requested that 300 elephants be culled. The Koito area which is north of the galana river and nesting at the tail end of the yatta plateau was chosen as the killing ground and the execution was so precise where whole family units were rounded up by helicopters and they all ended up laying on top of each other.  Dr. Laws collected the specimens but after a while he reported that he needed more samples of the dead elephants from a different population for comparative reasons.

 It is important to note that Dr. Laws and Ian Parker had already culled many elephants at the Muchison Falls National Park in Uganda and Tanzania was also in the process of inviting them for a similar excursion at the Mkomazi National Park. Culling was a very lucrative undertaking for the person who won the tender ended up selling the meat, skins, feet and tusks for profit and it was an open secret that Ian Parker actually bought a plane from this proceeds. David Sheldrick refused to give in to the second slaughter and after they were both called to Nairobi the National Parks service sided with him and Laws was forced to leave Tsavo.

David sheldrick when on to setup the Tsavo research committee under Dr. Glover and Dr. Walter Lenthold and it is this team who helped collect the now eroded jaw bones at the current Tsavo research. In the early 1970 a serious drought hit Tsavo and elephants died in their thousands which was David Sheldricks argument that nature had its own ways of controlling populations. The only herds that survived that drought were the once who were led by a strong matriarch who understood the comings and changes in seasons and led their families to other places to shield them from the looming disaster. This survivors returned to Tsavo after the rains and multiplied to the current great numbers and it is the genes and resilience of those strong matriarchs that we now have the great majestic tuskers of the Tsavo.

The Aruba dam was built in the 60s by David to provide water for the elephants and the rhinos who swarmed the southern sector of the park , for Voi river was the only source of water for the wildlife during the dry spell with elephants digging holes out of the sandy kanderi swamp and on the sandy stretch’s of the Voi river, but rhinos with their clumsy long pointed horns did not have the luxury to drink from the elephant water holes, so the park management decided to dig the Aruba dam. It took several months because everything was done by hand but it eventually became the most referred and popular site mostly by tourists who enjoyed seeing the majestic herds of elephants and hundreds of the snorting black rhinos not to mention the thousands of plain game who thronged the dika plains all the way to Dakota and west towards maungu. The Aruba lake became the center of life for Tsavo and this prompted the management to erect few self catering bungalows near the dam which became instant hits . They also started a small shop selling canned food and soft drinks, and a petrol station.

Tilapia fish was also introduced into the dam and this brought in some much needed revenue and a source of protein for the rangers. David Sheldrick went on to build a causeway striding the gallana river near laggards falls to assist his field force to access the northern corridor during the rainy season and this super bridge has stood the sands of time and is still used to date though a new overhanging bridge was built south of the falls. Peter Jenkins was an assistant warden under David and he was eventually moved to establish the Meru National Park and Bill Woodley shifted to the northern part of Tsavo east and settled near the ithumba hill. 

This were the pioneers of wildlife conservation in our country and it is worth remembering them because it is through their efforts and determination that wildlife thrives today. David Sheldrick was formally known as “ Bwana sana nane “ by the local communities because he had a reputation of only stopping working at 1400 hours every day to break for lunch , and he build Tsavo from scratch. He gave his whole life and that of his family to conservation and his orphaned elephant project that he started in his own house in Tsavo with his wife ( Daphne ) in the 60s is still living on and is managed by Davids  daughter called Angela.  

My 13 years in Tsavo are memories that I will cherish for ever , for they helped shape my conservation years and my career. In 1989 I` learned to fly courtesy of Daphne Sheldrick and most of my youthful energies and growing up happened within the confines of Taru desert. I have tried to ape the founder of Tsavo himself but I confess that in many instances I dropped off before I started , sometimes not because of my wants but because the system dictates otherwise. I was the longest serving security officer in Tsavo in the late 90s and my close to five years as the Assistant Director there gave me a memorable experience. I know that my tour of Tsavo has ended now that i fume around my retirement years , but I must confess that I will for ever hold the place at the deepest and most secure part of my heart.

THE MARVELS OF MERU NATIONAL PARK

Meru National Park had an area of 870 sq kms and less than a thousand elephants within its boundaries but Meru park was special. It was my second park after Mt Elgon  and security issues between them were never the same. Elgon was a forest park while Meru had both open savanna and thick thorny bushes south of the park which were intolerable even to wildlife such that the only animals I remember seeing in there were Dikdik, the lesser kudu and some very poisonous snakes. 
The park had one major blessing in that it had more than eight rivers traversing its entire boundaries.They streamed down from the Nyambene hills that rise tall on the western side of the park and completely block the magnificent view of the mountain God, known to the Kikuyu , the Ameru and the Embu as "Kirinyaga" and "oldonyio keri "to the Maa tribes .  The Ngaya forest was small but we patrolled it often because it was frequented by a small group of elephants.

The rivers that I remember include Rojeweru, Mutundu, Kibangwa, Murera, Bisanadi, Kiolu, Punguru and Bwatherongi.  The Jilodima and the Gollo plains were full of life during the rains and sometimes the grass was so tall that we could stalk game better than the marauding cats that roamed the park in big prides. 
I have once had the urge to walk up to one of this lions just to confirm if they might be the descendants of Mr Adamson , the famous lion keeper of Kora , but I never brought out the idea for fear that my rangers would nail and force me into the challenge . 
we had so much of those escapades and I remember one time when I was almost made to snatch a cobra by its tail, but a sensible NCO sensed my willingness and shot the serpent before I proved my manhood to my piers. I had a terrible dream that night and I swore never to be lured into such heroism again. 

We were boys then and we always ended up breaking every promise and all oaths that we bestowed on our poor selves.We always knew that the Gods understood our actions and that they would almost all the time forgive us and our trespasses.

The Dakadima outcrop was also called the Rapsu rock and was near the Jillodima plains where hundreds of elephants came together for meetings and ceremonies only known to them every time it rained. Such gatherings have always invited armed gangs from the neighboring Garisa District, so our chores were always cut out for us . Placing an OP ( observation post ) on the rock was routine and a rear base close by to react to reports and sightings. We had plenty of contacts with poachers such that our platoon base in Korbessa was referred to as Bosnia . 

The Bisanadi river was a major hazard those days, it served as the eastern boundary of the park and a common watering point for the noisy Somali goats and their smelly camels. There were two crossing points used by the Somali poachers to enter the park, Machet and Gutishi, and our ambushes were always successful at this points. Malkarupia was the junction where Bisanadi river met the mighty Tana River and this was one of our preferred spots where we used as a listening post and a repeat business ambush zone.

There were times when things went quite in the park and we were forced to go out to look for mischief. We could choose between visiting the Kubiramata hills which would then lead us to Danyier village and to Scott market,  or we could walk the Mohamed Fujo cut line where we would end up in Garbatula to sample it's  hidden treasures. Kinna town was our preferred hub. There was only one telephone booth in the town serving the whole community and we were always given preference and the priority to use it over everybody else. We were the law and the Borana community of Kinna recognized our potential. We protected them from cattle rustlers and from their ancestral enemies ; the Somali gun men of Mbalambala. 

One day, one of our patrols saw foot prints of a big group of people outside the park who were heading towards Kinna town. We were not sure if they were of the local Borana community who also patrol their grazing area or they were from the Somali group who normally attack to rob shops or to steal livestock . 
The team radioed the base and an officer ( Platoon commander George Osuri ) was sent to Kinna to inquire if their men were out on patrol but while they were still talking to the village head men , bullets started flying every where, the village people responded quickly and the attack was repulsed very fast. By this time I had taken off on our spotter plane where we saw the whole episode as it was unfolding below. We could not do much but to report the fighting fast hand to all who were tuned into channel 5 on our VHF radio.  We latter saved the local youths from walking into an ambush laid on their path by the withdrawing attackers. This act and many others brought us in KWS very close to the Kinna people. 

Meru National Park remained as one of the high risk parks in the history of the Kenya National Parks until when the Government got a grant from the AFD ( the French Government ) which was used to rope in all the communities around the park and poaching was completely eradicated in and out of the Meru ecosystem . The communities benefited from taking care of wildlife and the park reclaimed its glory as being one of the most natural parks in the country. 

I am happy that we did our bit during the mucky years and I will always look back and reflect the good, the bad and the ugly incidents we went through to secure and protect the great places and species on earth for humanity. Having worked in Meru for six months, I was transferred south to Lamu to head the company in April 1994.