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Friends of Conservation
Kensington Charity Centre
Charles House
375 Kensington High St
London W14 8QH
Tel: 020 7603 5024
Email: focinfo@aol.com |
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Rhino
Black rhinos continue to be one of the most endangered animals in Africa. Its horn is still very much in demand for use in traditional medicine in Asia, as well as for ornate dagger handles in the Yemen. The demand is still so great that people are constantly lured into poaching by the vast sums of money they are offered to kill rhino, despite the consequences they face if they get caught.
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In 1972, 108 rhinos lived in the Masai Mara area. By 1982, this population had been illegally poached until only 11 animals remained. FOC responded to this urgent problem by introducing a rhino monitoring and protection programme to the area. The programme included a full time project manager as well as allowances for Reserve rangers, communication equipment, 4 wheel drive vehicles, computers for compiling statistics and other necessary equipment and infrastructure The mere fact that the poachers knew the team existed deterred them from entering the Reserve and by 1996, when FOC handed the programme back to the Masai Mara Reserve Authorities, rhino numbers totalled 40. Although FOC now works to monitor and protect wildlife outside the Reserve, we still continue to support antipoaching inside the Masai Mara Reserve through the Anne Kent Taylor Fund
www.aktaylor.com/ak_fund/akfund.htm.
Since 1989, FOC has involved a group of local Maasai as Community Rhino Scouts to protect the rhinos that live in two large unprotected group ranches outside the Reserve. The Scouts patrol the densely thicketed areas on foot obtaining information on the rhino’s whereabouts as well as raising awareness amongst communities surrounding the reserve.
The programme funded by FOC, the Eden Wildlife Trust and more recently the Darwin Initiative, successfully combines the interest of people and their wildlife. It increases the importance of wildlife as a future asset as well as providing an economic incentive for communities to preserve the wildlife and habitat.
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Cheetah
In the early 1900’s cheetah numbers worldwide were perhaps has high as 100,000. Today, scientists’ estimate as few as 12,000 remain, meaning that the world’s fastest land mammal is Africa’s most endangered cat.
In the late 1990s there was increasing concern about the declining number of cheetah sightings throughout
Kenya. No-one knows how many cheetahs are left but based on previous studies it is estimated that only
500-1000 survive in pocketed populations. Whilst cheetahs pose less threat to human activities than other
large predators, they are often feared and killed when they venture outside of protected areas. |
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FOC supports the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in their efforts to conserve cheetahs and their habitat by raising
funds and awareness in the UK. The CCF was founded in 1990 by Dr Laurie Marker and is dedicated to saving the cheetah.
The CCF has been working in Namibia and conducted extensive research into the environment and physiology of the
cheetah. To learn more about CCF and their work to save this charismatic cat, please click here.
To better understand the issues facing the cheetah, FOC and the CCF are working with the Kenya Wildlife Service
(KWS) to verify cheetah numbers. The Great Cheetah census was launched at the end of last year with the hope of gaining a better estimate of the number remaining.
You can help with this census by sending us information on any recent cheetah sightings you may have had in Kenya. Please note the
date and location of the sightings and any other information you remember, such as the group size, ages of the cheetah and their
behaviour. The markings of each cheetah are unique so if you do have photos including their tail, back legs and the
face from the front and side, they will prove extremely useful in identifying individual cheetah. Please send your
information (and photos) to us at Kensington Charity Centre, 375 Kensington High Street, London W14 8QH (please remember to label each picture with
date and location and your name and contact details).
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Other Species
FOC has been working in partnership with the Eden Wildlife Trust
(EWT) in Naikara & Olderkesi group ranches since 1988. These ‘ranches’ lie to the east of the Reserve
and are home to a number of species that are no longer found in the reserve. FOC have a dedicated group of Community
Wildlife Scouts who are trained to track and monitor wildlife as well as check for illegal activities, such as poaching
and charcoal logging. The scouts are the ‘eyes and ears’ of the community, alerting them to possible predator activity
to avoid any potential animal/people conflict. Wildlife under their surveillance includes caracal, cheetah, eland,
elephant, giraffe, greater kudu, leopard, lion, colobus monkey and painted hunting dogs.
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