Matt with his great looking tusks. Notice the stream behind his eye from his temporal gland, this is one way to tell that he is in musth.
As the afternoon progressed we lost Matt for a long period
of time, he just disappeared down into the river where we couldn’t see him from
the road. We tried to get to another point where we would see him if he
continued walking east as he had been but he did not appear. He must have
changed directions or crossed the river again. It was a hectic hour where we
all searched for the bull by the river. Who would think that you could easily
lose a huge elephant? He was eventually spotted on the Buffalo Springs side of
the river by David (the head researcher here who was in another car) and we
prepared for the possibility of having to dart him on that side. This was a
process because the bridge that used to provide easy accessibility across the
river had been washed away during flooding last year. Now Save the Elephants
has to have another car parked across the river and you reach it by climbing
down a sketchy ladder on the edge of the bridge or by crossing the crocodile
filled river. Either way it would take time for all of us to get over there if
Matt stayed on that side. While we waited for Matt to make a decision, Ian
Craig, the director of Lewa Conservancy, arrived to act as the veterinarian and
do the darting of the bull.
Finally at around 4:00 Matt crossed to the Samburu Reserve
side and started to move north away from the river. Shifra and I followed from
a distance and Ian prepared to dart from the other car. As soon as he was far
enough into the open plains the dart was shot. Matt ran for a few steps and
then turned to charge the car that David and Ian were in, stopping a few feet
from the car with his ears and head raised. Shifra and I started backing as far
away as we could get watching nervously. A musth bull as big as Matt is not
something you want to mess around with, but David knew what he was doing and
drove quickly away. He has done over 100 immobilizations of elephants and can
read their behavior expertly. Luckily Matt lost interest in the car and turned
to continue walking north. We followed from afar and after a few minutes we saw
him start to wobble. Luckily he fell perfectly on his side and we drove up to
him quickly.
Ian preparing the gun to dart Matt
Ian took care of monitoring the bull and Shifra and I watched as
the collar was placed in preparation. It was a cool, stormy afternoon so we
didn’t need to pour water on the ears to keep the bull cool as is usually done.
It was amazing to be right next to that huge animal! His big breaths huffed
out of his trunk, warming your leg if you stood close. We measured his tusks
while everything was prepared. His longest tusk measured 62 inches long and his
other was 50 inches, pretty impressive! It took a while to get the collar strap
under his neck because he was so big and heavy. We had to use a car jack to
lift his head up and pull the strap under using the force of the car. Finally
the strap came through and it was quickly secured. We gathered everything up
and got in the cars to drive away as the antidote was administered. We drove
far away and watched as he got up after about 2 minutes. He continued walking
north calmly, feeling his new collar with his trunk. After our successful
collaring we drove back to camp and ran into a bunch of tourists watching
lionesses on the way. It was a great day!
Atuko positioning the collar and making sure the ear is covering Matt's eye
Posing with Matt as efforts to get the collar under his neck continue
Jacking up Matt's head so the strap of the collar can be pulled underneath
Ian Craig watches while the collar is secured with a counterweight
Matt walking away with his new collar
The second event was the Safaricom Marathon last Saturday in
Lewa Conservancy (Safaricom is the biggest cell network in Kenya). People come
from all over to run this marathon and half marathon which are supposed to be some
of the toughest in the world. The route is actually through the conservancy so
all the wildlife has to be scared away before the run begins. I went with some of
the STE staff, Gilbert, Chris, Daud, and Resson. We woke up super early to
drive to Lewa and catch the beginning of the race. We were there on time but
unbeknownst to us, we had to register to get to the area the runners were
starting from. It was frustrating because we had walked 20 minutes to get to
the starting line area without being told that we needed to register. So we
walked to the finish line where people were already gathering. It was
impossible to see over the banners on either side of the finish without
standing on tip-toes. Two major flaws of the marathon. Luckily Iain
Douglas-Hamilton, the founder of STE, then arrived and traveling in the car
with him we were able to easily cross the boundaries. We drove along the
running route and stopped at a spot to cheer on runners. His daughter Dudu and
her adorable son were also with us. The coolest sight of the day was a group of
impala jumping across the road right in front of marathon runners.
Unfortunately I wasn’t quick enough to get a photo.
Cheering on runners. The impala leapt across the road in front of the runners in this photo
One of the front runners in the marathon (in red) passes us as we walk along the road
We also were able to watch from a relief station where
people were passing out water and orange slices to runners. As we walked to the
station we saw the frontrunner of the race which was lucky. The station was 1
km from the finish line so it was a great spot to cheer. We stayed there until
the end of the race and walked to the finish line where the festivities were
taking place. It was pretty cool to be walking around inside the conservancy where
you normally are not allowed to leave your car. The finish line was like a
festival with booths, food, and music. We watched a dance competition put on by
Safaricom where a DJ played songs and volunteers from the crowd competed to win
t-shirts. It was pretty funny, especially the little kids who went up to dance.
We then started the drive back to camp, stopping in Isiolo for chai, chapatti,
and nyama choma (tea, flatbread, and roasted meat). It was a nice break from
the daily routine at camp and fun to get out of the bush for a while.
Cheering at the aid station
Hanging out with Gilbert, Daud, and Chris (from left to right) at the finish line
Other than those events the daily routine of watching
elephants and data work has continued. I can now identify many families without
checking the ID book and have gotten a little better at ageing and sexing them. I had fun watching the Euro Cup soccer
games with the guys here in the nearby lodge staff quarters. Every team I
rooted for lost, but the atmosphere was fun with people yelling in Swahili at
the TV. I’m still enjoying life here but I'm very excited to see my family in two weeks when my internship ends!