By Joel Lo’ongonyo, El Barta Regional Coordinator
The security patrol so far had been eventful and we were on edge. Early in the morning on the first day of our patrol, we heard bouts of gunshots in Noongera, about 4 km from our location. We didn’t see much wildlife that day but it is possible the insecurity chased away any wildlife that may have been in that area. Our second day proved better- plenty of grass and rains in Mputaput and Lkotikal had attracted herds of over 60 Grevy’s zebra, many with young foals.
@Grevy’s Zebra Trust; Grevy’s zebra herd in Lkoitikal
On the final day of our joint patrol, we covered Barsaloi, Suyian and Raraiti. The habitat in these areas is always challenging; to try and view Grevy’s zebra and other wildlife, the Grevy’s Zebra Ambassador team has to navigate thick, bushy vegetation and the thorny acacia tree species make it very difficult to move around. In the midst of the thorny scrub, rocky outcrops peer out over the canopy and climbing these rocks is the only way to get a good view of the landscape and see the wildlife in the area. To make matters even more challenging, the Grevy’s zebra in this area are very shy- they have much quicker flight responses potentially as a result of the insecurity in these regions. However, through sheer determination and an abundance of passion we overcame all of these challenges! The equipment we have certainly helped too; the combination of Sony cameras with excellent zoom and Nikon binoculars with high magnification helped us capture what we needed.
As we stood at the peak of one of the rocky outcrops in the midst of the thorny bush, Moses and Lengesher, two of our Grevy’s Zebra Ambassadors, insisted on staying at the top for a while to confirm whether Grevy’s zebra were in the area. Lengesher made our day! He said “If Grevy’s zebra are not here, I must spend the night and wait… maybe they are on their way! I am 100% certain Grevy’s zebra will be seen here!” It took us a few minutes of searching until Daniel Lesikoyo, the GZT driver, started murmuring and pointing. Before we knew it, a small herd of five Grevy’s zebra with a young foal less than three months old appeared! Luckily, we were able to take one photograph of the small herd. As we tried to take a second photo, they ran into the bush! Moses laughed loudly with excitement and insisted we follow the small herd to capture their stripe patterns for individual identification, but we were unable to sight them again.
