by Mary Wykstra

Since March 2008 we have worked with partners in the Samburu region to better understand the issues facing cheetahs in these northern districts. In August 2008 I received authorization from the Samburu and Isiolo County Councils and initiated a cheetah monitoring programme in collaboration with the Ewaso Tracking Project. In 2009 I received permission to collar four cheetahs in the region, the first of which would be from within the Reserves (Samburu and Buffalo Springs).

by Mary Wykstra\

The drought and the world financial crisis made starting new work very difficult in 2009. I am happy that we made it through the year. We let one scout go in the Salama area due to lack of funds and we did not hire any staff in the Samburu area yet. We made three attempts in 2009 to dart cheetahs in the Samburu and Buffalo Springs Reserves, but each time the KWS veterinarian was available, the cheetahs were no where to be seen.

by Mary Wykstra
The collaring of Cheetah Jane in August has given us a chance to see a different kind of movement from “Mom” who we tracked in 2005-7.

At first we thought Jane was going to behave similar because she stayed on the Stanley Ranch for about 2 weeks- moving from the hills to the plains. An interesting aspect was that Jane moved a lot at night – often more than 5km. During the day she had smaller movements that appear to be from one shady place to another.

by Mary Wykstra

Last year we planted trees and held a contest between schools. Part of our tree planting commitment was to cattle dip committees. The trees we delivered are a part of a pledge from EcoSys Action to plant trees in Kenya. The good news is that we have assisted in the planting of over 3000 trees to date. And both good and bad, we had a real problem finding indiginous trees to deliver this year.

While I was in the US I received word that rains had started in the Salama area. I was soooo very excited when I arrived at the camp to see it beginning to turn green. Through November and into January the rains continued randomly. \

In early December it rained a bit nearly every day. We delivered trees to the Marwa Cattle Dip and spent most of the day in the mud - what a welcome! After a month of rain, these trees are all surviving and will make the area spectacular.

by Mary Wykstra

The first greeting when I arrived from the US to the Nairobi base house was from my dogs – Ginger and Bahati were extremely happy to have me home. They were followed by three young men and a lady from the Netherlands. The men were from a Netherlands NGO which works in Tanzania to improve livestock husbandry and production. …

by Mary Wykstra

Just prior to my departure for the US we sold the small Suzuki which has been with our project since 2004. Ovder 100,000km of service took its toll on the poor car and we often found that the small 3 door vehicle was insufficient for our needs. Now that we have the camp in Salama and are starting work in Samburu it means that we really need two good field cars.

by Mary Wykstra

Over the weekend of the 24-25th Oct, I packed my bags and did final inventory of the remaining crafts. Our stock is nearly depleted. With the success of craft sales on this trip it has heightened the need to open a business for the import of these crafts for import and wholesale in the Zoo and conservation industry. …

by Mary Wykstra

Guy Combes and Paul Thomson picked me at the airport late in the evening. We stayed at Guy’s home in New Jersey. From there we drove to Connecticut to visit Guy’s publisher, Grenwich Workshop and Yale University. On the 14th Guy and I presented jointly on the collaborative efforts in habitat monitoring through Soysambu conservancy and ACK. We encouraged students to pursue degrees in all varieties of habitat change, climate change and wildlife and natural resource management to consider either programme for MSc or PhD research. …

by Mary Wykstra

For the next week, 3-12 Oct, Guy Combes and I were hosted by Wendy and Guy, and by Dale Anderson from Project Survival. Project survival set up time for us to spend with Tango (ambassador cheetah) and the other ambassadors at Cat Haven, a trip to Animal Ark in Reno with opportunity to see their cheetahs run and to resupply crafts. Animal Ark is a small facility outside of Reno where three cheetahs are a part of the collection. …