Academic News

The Center for Wildlife Management Studies' (CWMS) 5-year research plan is focusing on developing guidelines for the management of the corridor between Amboseli and Tsavo West national parks in a manner that will ensure wildlife resources conservation and enhance the economic well-being of the community in the area. For some eight (8) days now, the students have been working on three projects focusing on specific aspects of the 5-year research plan. One of the projects is assessing the status and resource use of key critical swamps in Group Ranches of the Tsavo-Amboseli ecosystem. This study is documenting the way the local community is utilizing the resources within the various swamps in the dispersal area between Amboseli and Tsavo West national parks. The focus of this study to draw attention to the importance of the swamps and the threats posed by the way people are utilizing this very critical resource.

Our Center is situated between three important national parks, Tsavo/Chyulu and Amboseli. The survival of these national parks is highly dependent on a good relationship with the local communities residing in their dispersal land. The second project is therefore analyzing the community perceptions and expectations of national parks and community wildlife sanctuaries to establish the future of these conservation areas.

The third project is assessing the extent and intensity of bushmeat activity and poaching of wildlife species within the group ranches between Amboseli, Chyulu, and Tsavo West national parks. The findings of this project and those of the second project above will determine the future of wildlife in the dispersal area by establishing the community's commitment in conserving wildlife. Dr. Simon ole Seno, Center Director

Student Reflections

This past week has marked the beginning of our Directed Research (DR) projects. We have split up into three groups that address different aspects of the human-wildlife conflict in the Tsavo-Amboseli region of Kenya. I am part of the research regarding the assessment of human and elephant impacts on vegetation led by our faculty advisor Kiringe. For the past few days, we have been getting out into the field and collecting data on vegetation damage. It has been lots of fun and especially entertaining to hear Kiringe sing about the trees he is measuring. Although measuring trees does not seem like a difficult task, it becomes complex when you realize nearly every tree in Africa has thorns. Big ones. One of the trickiest trees is the Acacia melifera. It is known by the Maasai as the "wait-a-minute tree" because whenever you try to pass it, it catches you with its hooked thorns and holds you up for a minute. Jessica DeAcetis, Boston University

Easter in Africa started out with a bang with a delicious breakfast. It consisted of potatoes, eggs, toast, cereal, fruit, and cinnamon buns with pink frosting. After breakfast was finished and dishes were washed we ventured off to Amboseli National Park, our last visit. After all the rain the park was finally green and lush with vegetation. Hundreds of elephants were seen throughout the park as well as many other animals. The sun soon became hot and we found refuge in the nearby lodge where shade and cold drinks could be found. After days of DR it was awesome to just sit and relax, not worrying about the data that needed to be entered. It wasn't an Easter we were used to, being so far from home. There was no Easter bunny hiding goodies or any gatherings of family, just good friends spending Easter in Africa. Roxanne Nalesnik, Northern Alberta Institute for Technology

To speak of the poverty of Africa is to say nothing new. Before coming here it was a despair I knew only in thought; an abstract reality where the anonymous suffer, sometimes on camera. Over the past week my group has collected some 200 interviews, and in the process the unidentified have revealed their haunting, yet beautiful faces. Yesterday, it was a naked child sitting on the ground of a boma, his face covered with flies. It was gruesome. He sat there unable to walk, a statue of unnatural stillness. His eyes opened, and the flies lined up on his cheeks seized the new space. They were under his nose, and covering his mouth and ears. Most disturbing was the child's apparent submission; a state in which a ghostly mask of flies goes unnoticed, and anguish passes as the ordinary. Question 25 of our survey asks the child's mother whether there is a public cost to wildlife, and she tells me of a man killed by an elephant in the neighboring manyatta. “How should these problems be resolved?” demands question 26. "Kill all the animals," the mother replies. Sadly, I find myself wanting to agree, retribution is a tempting motive for action. Alexander Gordon, Cornell University

Meet the Students

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