By David Western

The news on the wildlife front is finally positive after the population crashes of the 2009 drought. The recovery is captured simply and compellingly by the ACP ground monitoring program: Zebra numbers have sprung back to a pre-drought levels of 6,000 animals. The rebound is due in part to recruitment, but also to fresh immigration from outside the Amboseli ecosystem.

Wildebeest numbers have inched up to nearly 3,000, entirely due to recruitment. Buffalo numbers, which were declining steadily until the long rains, have risen strongly from around 160 to over 280 since then. There is clear evidence that at least two herds moved into the basin, most probably from the Kilimanjaro forest. Infant survival is also picking up from heavy predation by hyenas in the aftermath of the drought. I attribute the resurgence in the ungulate herds of Amboseli in the last year to the strong aversive movement zebra, wildebeest and buffalo have used to escape predation by moving out of the park at night and wide dispersal at the onset of the rains. Tellingly, now that their numbers are up, the nightly migration of zebra and wildebeest out of the park has ebbed.

Elephant numbers are also continuing to climb and now stand at around 1,600, in the larger Amboseli Ecosystem marking a full recovery from the 2009 drought losses www.elephanttrust.org. The recovery testifies to the negligible poaching, as documented in Big Life www.biglife.org. The growing Amboseli population is dispersing widely across the Kenya Tanzania borderlands, according to collared elephant tracking by IFAW www.ifaw.org.  As reported earlier, elephant numbers in the park grew sharply after a long declined from the late 1980s to the drought of 2009.

The resurgence was due to the lower elephant pressure on the swamps and regrowth of sedges following the loss of some 400 animals in the drought. The elephant numbers in the park have begun to decline once more with the heavy pressure on swamp grazing. The growing and dispersing herds of elephants is causing conflict with farmers east and south of Amboseli. David Western and Peadar Brehony (coordinator of the Borderlands Conservation Initiative) met Richard Bonham and his staff of Big Life on Mbirikani Group to discuss how to address the mounting human-elephant conflict.

We agreed to pull together all the main NGOs, including ACC, ACP and the Amboseli Trust for Elephants to address the conflict under the umbrella of the Amboseli Ecosystem Trust. The AET board of trustees met the following week and agreed to serve as the umbrella for the human-wildlife conflict study and management program.

Livestock populations

Livestock populations sprang back to pre-drought levels far faster than from natural recruitment. The resurgent population is due in large measure to pastoralists selling their healthy cattle and buying up twice the number of Somali cattle from the north. The rapid recovery has stunted pasture regeneration and pushed Amboseli back into a premature grazing deficit. Cattle have moved in from as far as the rift valley, putting yet more pressure on the grasslands.

This recurrent boom and bust cycle of livestock and grassland production will be the focal point of land use and herd management at the Mbirikani land planning workshop in January. Funds are available under the GEF grant, starting January, to develop better herd and pasture management programs.

By Victor N. Mose

ACP, ACC, and NAU launched a NASA-funded One Health survey using GEDI and local monitoring for ecosystem health.

By David Western, Victor N. Mose, David Maitumo, Immaculate Ombongi, Sakimba Kimiti, Winfridah Kemunto, Samuel Lekanaiya, Paul Kasaine and Sunte Kimiti

The heavy prolonged El Niño rains boosted pastures across the Amboseli ecosystem

By David Western, Immaculate Ombongi and Victor N. Mose

Our study traces the transition from traditional livestock practices based on seasonal migrations to permanent

Wildlife finally in recovery after the 2009 drought

Authored by : David Western
Posted on January 15, 2015

The news on the wildlife front is finally positive after the population crashes of the 2009 drought. The recovery is captured simply and compellingly by the ACP ground monitoring program: Zebra numbers have sprung back to a pre-drought levels of 6,000 animals. The rebound is due in part to recruitment, but also to fresh immigration from outside the Amboseli ecosystem.

Wildebeest numbers have inched up to nearly 3,000, entirely due to recruitment. Buffalo numbers, which were declining steadily until the long rains, have risen strongly from around 160 to over 280 since then. There is clear evidence that at least two herds moved into the basin, most probably from the Kilimanjaro forest. Infant survival is also picking up from heavy predation by hyenas in the aftermath of the drought. I attribute the resurgence in the ungulate herds of Amboseli in the last year to the strong aversive movement zebra, wildebeest and buffalo have used to escape predation by moving out of the park at night and wide dispersal at the onset of the rains. Tellingly, now that their numbers are up, the nightly migration of zebra and wildebeest out of the park has ebbed.

Elephant numbers are also continuing to climb and now stand at around 1,600, in the larger Amboseli Ecosystem marking a full recovery from the 2009 drought losses www.elephanttrust.org. The recovery testifies to the negligible poaching, as documented in Big Life www.biglife.org. The growing Amboseli population is dispersing widely across the Kenya Tanzania borderlands, according to collared elephant tracking by IFAW www.ifaw.org.  As reported earlier, elephant numbers in the park grew sharply after a long declined from the late 1980s to the drought of 2009.

The resurgence was due to the lower elephant pressure on the swamps and regrowth of sedges following the loss of some 400 animals in the drought. The elephant numbers in the park have begun to decline once more with the heavy pressure on swamp grazing. The growing and dispersing herds of elephants is causing conflict with farmers east and south of Amboseli. David Western and Peadar Brehony (coordinator of the Borderlands Conservation Initiative) met Richard Bonham and his staff of Big Life on Mbirikani Group to discuss how to address the mounting human-elephant conflict.

We agreed to pull together all the main NGOs, including ACC, ACP and the Amboseli Trust for Elephants to address the conflict under the umbrella of the Amboseli Ecosystem Trust. The AET board of trustees met the following week and agreed to serve as the umbrella for the human-wildlife conflict study and management program.

Livestock populations

Livestock populations sprang back to pre-drought levels far faster than from natural recruitment. The resurgent population is due in large measure to pastoralists selling their healthy cattle and buying up twice the number of Somali cattle from the north. The rapid recovery has stunted pasture regeneration and pushed Amboseli back into a premature grazing deficit. Cattle have moved in from as far as the rift valley, putting yet more pressure on the grasslands.

This recurrent boom and bust cycle of livestock and grassland production will be the focal point of land use and herd management at the Mbirikani land planning workshop in January. Funds are available under the GEF grant, starting January, to develop better herd and pasture management programs.

By David Western

The news on the wildlife front is finally positive after the population crashes of the 2009 drought. The recovery is captured simply and compellingly by the ACP ground monitoring program: Zebra numbers have sprung back to a pre-drought levels of 6,000 animals. The rebound is due in part to recruitment, but also to fresh immigration from outside the Amboseli ecosystem.

Wildebeest numbers have inched up to nearly 3,000, entirely due to recruitment. Buffalo numbers, which were declining steadily until the long rains, have risen strongly from around 160 to over 280 since then. There is clear evidence that at least two herds moved into the basin, most probably from the Kilimanjaro forest. Infant survival is also picking up from heavy predation by hyenas in the aftermath of the drought. I attribute the resurgence in the ungulate herds of Amboseli in the last year to the strong aversive movement zebra, wildebeest and buffalo have used to escape predation by moving out of the park at night and wide dispersal at the onset of the rains. Tellingly, now that their numbers are up, the nightly migration of zebra and wildebeest out of the park has ebbed.

Elephant numbers are also continuing to climb and now stand at around 1,600, in the larger Amboseli Ecosystem marking a full recovery from the 2009 drought losses www.elephanttrust.org. The recovery testifies to the negligible poaching, as documented in Big Life www.biglife.org. The growing Amboseli population is dispersing widely across the Kenya Tanzania borderlands, according to collared elephant tracking by IFAW www.ifaw.org.  As reported earlier, elephant numbers in the park grew sharply after a long declined from the late 1980s to the drought of 2009.

The resurgence was due to the lower elephant pressure on the swamps and regrowth of sedges following the loss of some 400 animals in the drought. The elephant numbers in the park have begun to decline once more with the heavy pressure on swamp grazing. The growing and dispersing herds of elephants is causing conflict with farmers east and south of Amboseli. David Western and Peadar Brehony (coordinator of the Borderlands Conservation Initiative) met Richard Bonham and his staff of Big Life on Mbirikani Group to discuss how to address the mounting human-elephant conflict.

We agreed to pull together all the main NGOs, including ACC, ACP and the Amboseli Trust for Elephants to address the conflict under the umbrella of the Amboseli Ecosystem Trust. The AET board of trustees met the following week and agreed to serve as the umbrella for the human-wildlife conflict study and management program.

Livestock populations

Livestock populations sprang back to pre-drought levels far faster than from natural recruitment. The resurgent population is due in large measure to pastoralists selling their healthy cattle and buying up twice the number of Somali cattle from the north. The rapid recovery has stunted pasture regeneration and pushed Amboseli back into a premature grazing deficit. Cattle have moved in from as far as the rift valley, putting yet more pressure on the grasslands.

This recurrent boom and bust cycle of livestock and grassland production will be the focal point of land use and herd management at the Mbirikani land planning workshop in January. Funds are available under the GEF grant, starting January, to develop better herd and pasture management programs.

By Victor N. Mose

ACP, ACC, and NAU launched a NASA-funded One Health survey using GEDI and local monitoring for ecosystem health.

By David Western, Victor N. Mose, David Maitumo, Immaculate Ombongi, Sakimba Kimiti, Winfridah Kemunto, Samuel Lekanaiya, Paul Kasaine and Sunte Kimiti

The heavy prolonged El Niño rains boosted pastures across the Amboseli ecosystem

By David Western, Immaculate Ombongi and Victor N. Mose

Our study traces the transition from traditional livestock practices based on seasonal migrations to permanent

Posted on January 15, 2015

By David Western

The news on the wildlife front is finally positive after the population crashes of the 2009 drought. The recovery is captured simply and compellingly by the ACP ground monitoring program: Zebra numbers have sprung back to a pre-drought levels of 6,000 animals. The rebound is due in part to recruitment, but also to fresh immigration from outside the Amboseli ecosystem.

Wildebeest numbers have inched up to nearly 3,000, entirely due to recruitment. Buffalo numbers, which were declining steadily until the long rains, have risen strongly from around 160 to over 280 since then. There is clear evidence that at least two herds moved into the basin, most probably from the Kilimanjaro forest. Infant survival is also picking up from heavy predation by hyenas in the aftermath of the drought. I attribute the resurgence in the ungulate herds of Amboseli in the last year to the strong aversive movement zebra, wildebeest and buffalo have used to escape predation by moving out of the park at night and wide dispersal at the onset of the rains. Tellingly, now that their numbers are up, the nightly migration of zebra and wildebeest out of the park has ebbed.

Elephant numbers are also continuing to climb and now stand at around 1,600, in the larger Amboseli Ecosystem marking a full recovery from the 2009 drought losses www.elephanttrust.org. The recovery testifies to the negligible poaching, as documented in Big Life www.biglife.org. The growing Amboseli population is dispersing widely across the Kenya Tanzania borderlands, according to collared elephant tracking by IFAW www.ifaw.org.  As reported earlier, elephant numbers in the park grew sharply after a long declined from the late 1980s to the drought of 2009.

The resurgence was due to the lower elephant pressure on the swamps and regrowth of sedges following the loss of some 400 animals in the drought. The elephant numbers in the park have begun to decline once more with the heavy pressure on swamp grazing. The growing and dispersing herds of elephants is causing conflict with farmers east and south of Amboseli. David Western and Peadar Brehony (coordinator of the Borderlands Conservation Initiative) met Richard Bonham and his staff of Big Life on Mbirikani Group to discuss how to address the mounting human-elephant conflict.

We agreed to pull together all the main NGOs, including ACC, ACP and the Amboseli Trust for Elephants to address the conflict under the umbrella of the Amboseli Ecosystem Trust. The AET board of trustees met the following week and agreed to serve as the umbrella for the human-wildlife conflict study and management program.

Livestock populations

Livestock populations sprang back to pre-drought levels far faster than from natural recruitment. The resurgent population is due in large measure to pastoralists selling their healthy cattle and buying up twice the number of Somali cattle from the north. The rapid recovery has stunted pasture regeneration and pushed Amboseli back into a premature grazing deficit. Cattle have moved in from as far as the rift valley, putting yet more pressure on the grasslands.

This recurrent boom and bust cycle of livestock and grassland production will be the focal point of land use and herd management at the Mbirikani land planning workshop in January. Funds are available under the GEF grant, starting January, to develop better herd and pasture management programs.

Recent Posts

By David Western, Victor N. Mose, David Maitumo, Immaculate Ombongi, Sakimba Kimiti, Winfridah Kemunto, Samuel Lekanaiya, Paul Kasaine and Sunte Kimiti

The outlook for livestock and wildlife in the short dry season normally stretching from January to the long rains

By Victor N. Mose

ACP, ACC, and NAU launched a NASA-funded One Health survey using GEDI and local monitoring for ecosystem health.

By David Western, Victor N. Mose, David Maitumo, Immaculate Ombongi, Sakimba Kimiti, Winfridah Kemunto, Samuel Lekanaiya, Paul Kasaine and Sunte Kimiti

The heavy prolonged El Niño rains boosted pastures across the Amboseli ecosystem

By David Western, Immaculate Ombongi and Victor N. Mose

Our study traces the transition from traditional livestock practices based on seasonal migrations to permanent

By Victor N. Mose, PhD, ACC/ACP, Nairobi, Kenya.

The MOSAIC field mission to the Amazon region, following a previous mission to East Africa

By Victor N. Mose, PhD, ACC/ACP, Nairobi, Kenya.

In a recent community meeting held at the Amboseli Ecosystem Trust offices in southern Kenya.

By Victor N. Mose and David Western

The Amboseli Conservation Program (ACP) has conducted regular aerial sample counts of Amboseli and eastern Kajiado

By Victor N. Mose, David Western and the ACP Team

The Amboseli Conservation Program (ACP) continued to monitor the conditions of the rangelands, livestock and wild

By Victor N. Mose

A notable discussion at the forum focused on disparities in data availability between the Global North and South.

By Victor N. Mose, David Western and the ACP Team

The effects of the good short rains have been felt in the Amboseli area.

Contact Us

Amboseli Conservation Program
P.O Box 15289-00509 or 62844-00200
Nairobi, Kenya.

Tel/Fax: +254 20 891360 / 891751
Email: acc@acc.or.ke