Academic Update
The first month of the spring semester has had many interesting moments within the Wildlife Management course. The students who are from varied academic backgrounds have had to start thinking and acting like wildlife managers, a task that has been uphill for most considering that wildlife management in Amboseli ecosystem can be a complicated affair indeed.

To make their life easier, as the faculty teaching the wildlife management course, I took them through most of the basic wildlife management principles both in theory and in practice – what was taught at the chumba had to be practiced in the field, at Amboseli National Park. Students identified all the large mammals in the Park from the hatches of their Land Cruisers using their field guides and binoculars. This was their first visit and they were very excited to see some of the large mammals face to face for the first time ever. They also conducted roadside counts of these large mammals during the second visit, traversing the whole Amboseli National Park within a day, a very exhausting but exciting experience for them. During the third visit the students learned about the management challenges of this Park through a hands-on approach, and afterwards discussed possible solutions to all the challenges. I realized at this juncture that most of the students had started realising that the principles of wildlife management can’t easily be practiced alone for successful conservation of wildlife in Amboseli to occur, but a more pragmatic approach involving the integration of these principles, with the local Maasai culture and economics is the only way that can assure successful conservation of wildlife in the Amboseli.
-Dr. Shem Mwasi, Lecturer in Wildlife Management

Student Reflections
What happens on an SFS day trip to Amboseli National Park? Let me begin by saying that when the day is over, we emerge from our Land Cruisers dazed, burned, and coated in a thick layer of dust.

We woke up early and headed to the park in high spirits. Our assignment is to split up and complete a large mammal count for Professor Shem’s Wildlife Management class. The range-finding, odometer-reading, field guide-flipping stage lasts for several hours. In the meantime we drive by more than 70 elephants, scads of spotted hyenas, ostriches, zebras, gazelles, and three Black-backed Jackals (lucky find!). We spend the long hours poking out of the open hatches, binoculars clapped to our eyeballs, the sun searing the back of our necks. At 1:00 we head to Observation Hill for lunch, where we see a crowned crane, goliath heron, and marabou stork. The hours that follow are reserved for a game drive. By this time we are all exhausted, but the thought of simba keeps us going. An hour in, we find them. Almost invisible, resting in the shade of the palm trees, two females and several cubs. Lions!

After that we high-tail it back to camp. Most of us are burned in at least one place and slightly bruised from jostling against the vehicles. We are all marvelously dirty. A much awaited dinner from our beloved cook Arthur is polished off with relish, followed by a campfire and singing before bed. Not bad for one day.
-Caity Peterson, Stetson University

It’s been an incredible month here at Kilimanjaro Bush Camp. My classmates and I have been getting to know the local people incredibly well in the past couple of weeks. We first truly delved into Maasai culture firsthand when our neighbors invited us to a local boy’s circumcision ceremony, which included a lot of celebration by way of dancing and singing. My classmates and I also went out into the field to interview local residents on their hardships and concerns regarding trying to maintain their livelihoods. It was interesting and touching to hear people’s concerns regarding school and health availability, and human-wildlife conflict. We have also had a homestay, and interviewed local farmers regarding this human-wildlife conflict.

Overall, I have been greatly enlightened about the human dimension of wildlife management, and I have found myself hoping to be able to help people while continuing my infatuation with wildlife. I am excited to see who I meet and what wildlife we observe in the time to come.
-Christine Wilkinson, Cornell University

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