Taming of the Shrew
Category: Coastal Forest, Elephant Shrew, Shimoni Forest, Shrews, Small mammals | Date: Nov 17 2009 | By: gvikenya
For about a year now we’ve been experimenting with a method of trapping the elusive and shy Zanj elephant shrew. This particular shrew is technically a sengi, and is a species that is not only endemic to the east African coast, but is also listed as ‘rare’ and ‘data deficient’ by the IUCN.
Shimoni forest boasts a significant population of this small mammal, and sightings of it by our forest teams are fairly regular (especially at this time of year when visibility is good). So we did some research and decided to procure ourselves a 50m long, very finely threaded fishing net with which to catch them with!
One of the cleared patches that mark the habitual pathway
We set the net up in a large semi circle, and either ‘beat the bush’ towards the net hoping to drive a shrew into it, or we sit nice and quietly and wait for one to wander in. This method works because the Zanj elephant shrew uses habitual pathways, which it will travel along each day clearing them of obstacles. So if one was to encounter the net, it would most likely attempt to get through or over the net, causing it to get entangled. Once caught we would take its measurements, weight, and then clip a small patch of fur on a designated spot on its body for mark-recapture purposes.
Some zanj elephant shrew droppings that are found around the paths
Unfortunately we haven’t caught one yet, but I do not doubt the method itself. Due to the amount of time needed to complete all of our regular surveys, we only get a chance to do this survey perhaps once or twice every three months. This is obviously not even remotely enough to stand a chance of catching a shrew. Especially because until recently we did not know what their trails looked like and therefore could not strategically place our net.
But a couple of weeks ago we saw one of the little chaps running away from us, and so we had a closer look at the exact route it took through the undergrowth. To our surprise, the path was quite obviously marked. Approximately every 30cm, there is a cleared area of dirt. A patch where all the leaf litter and twigs and other debris is cleared, leaving a bare area of dirt approximately 10cm long. And these cleared patches headed off into the undergrowth!
Several of the patches leading off into the undergrowth
Now we know what to look for, we have been spotting the shrew trails all over the forest! This has given us motivation to get back into shrew netting, and allowed us to strategically place our net across these trails, greatly increasing our chance of catching one!
We’ll keep you posted!
Tags: , beat the bush, data deficient, debris, droppings, East African Coast, elusive, endemic, entangled, fishing net, good visibility, habitual pathways, IUCN, leaf litter, mark-recapture, measurments, method of trapping, obstacles, rare, regular surveys, research, sengi, Shimoni Forest, shrew netting, shy, significant population, small mammal, strategically, trails, twigs, undergrowth, weight, zanj elephant shrew
Shimoni Forest Burns
Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Elephant Shrew, Forest fire, Kenya Wildlife Service, Logging, Shimoni Forest | Date: Apr 09 2009 | By: gvikenya
Hello again all,
This blog is not a happy one I’m afraid, as I bring you all news of an enormous fire in Shimoni East Forest. About three weeks ago, we were on Wasini Island - the location of our base - and we noticed an ominous orange glow on the horizon. It was in the direction of the forest, but we saw no signs of a fire in the subsequent weeks as we were conducting our surveys on the southern most transects, the ones nearest the coast.
Today however, we headed up to transect 6 (our northern most transect) for the first time in at least a month and a half. What we found was crushing, to say the least.
Some of the fire damage
A massive area just south of transect 6 had been burned, with most of the damage at the base of large trees. This is a method used to weaken the base of the tree and make it easier to fell. By our estimations, that area stretched for at least 150 X 150 metres. This was shocking enough, but the worst was yet to come.
The damage done to the ground
We managed to find the start of our transect (the north/south spine we use for access was obliterated by the fire), and headed east conducting a primate community survey. Around section 3 (150 metres from the start) we started seeing more evidence of fire damage. The further down the transect we went, the worse it got. Everywhere, there were big trees burnt at the base, and the entire ground was scorched black. Nothing on the ground seemed to have been spared; all the leaf litter, ground shrubs and saplings were gone, and any dead wood or old logs were piles of ash. The fire damage stretched up to section 17, which is 850 metres from where we started.
We don’t know how far the damage stretches in the other direction, but for a forest that has an area no more than 3 square kilometres, it is a scary size. We spent most of the day in stunned silence, not quite believing what we were seeing.
What we must be grateful for however, is that it was only a ground level fire that must have moved fairly quickly, the dry leaf litter being the fuel. The majority of the trees and the larger bushes, thickets and scrubs survived.
We’re not sure to what extent the fire stretched north or south, as we were walking east only. When we start surveying on transect 5, which is 200 metres south of where we were, we will see how far it stretches. All we can hope for is that it is a thin strip, and that other areas of the forest were spared.
Standing speechless…
One can only guess as to what happened, but my hunch is that people conducting illegal logging in the forest, set fires to weaken the trees. Then either the fires got out of control or were just left to burn away.
Our spirits were lifted throughout the day though, as we sighted three troops of Colobus monkeys, a zanj elephant shrew and a harvey’s duiker. There were also plenty of the usual butterflies, insects and spiders around, so it appears the damage was not as catastrophic as it could have been.
We contacted the assistant warden of the Kenya Wildlife Service and the members of the community policing unit and informed them of what has happened. Let us hope that this filters through to the community, and helps to highlight the fragility and vulnerability of this small, but ecologically critical coastal forest habitat.
Tags: , Forest fire, harvey's duiker, illegal logging, slash and burn, zanj elephant shrew
Biodiversity in the Forest, Bush Babies in the Kitchen & Bush Pigs at the Bar!
Category: Birds, Coastal Forest, Colobus, Elephant Shrew, Shimoni Forest, Small mammals, Uncategorized, bush baby, chameleon | Date: Jan 21 2009 | By: gvikenya
It was only a matter of days after the arrival of our expedition members, before we were back in Shimoni’s coastal forest and underway with our research programme. The beginning of 2009 did not disappoint… within just the first week it felt like we’d seen an expedition’s worth of biodiversity. Heading out at 5.30am on bird surveys was made more than worthwhile with groups of colobus seemingly in every tree above. With the onset of the dry season, the leaves are falling and we were treated to clear views of colobus crashing through the branches and Syke’s monkeys scampering below.
The bird surveys delivered a hatrick of hornbills - crowned, silvery-cheeked and trumpeter. Elephant shrews were in evidence every day, hurtling over the leaf litter as were the small suni antelope. The night walk provided everyone with a clear view of a suni as it stood in our torchlight for a minute before disappearing in to the bush and bush babies too, their bright orange reflective eyes giving them away. However the most exciting ‘cameo’ of the week was a little chap that we hadn’t recorded since our first sighting nearly three years ago… an impressively cryptic species in the dry leaf litter, it seems remarkable that we should see it at all, and very satisfying to have a short-tailed (or bearded) pygmy chameleon make a reappearance on our casual observations database.
However, it seems that we didn’t need to go to all the effort of 5.30am departures and hot sweaty treks to the furthest reaches of our transects to enjoy Shimoni’s rich wildlife… we didn’t even need to leave the kitchen. Having quietly cursed rats for leaving half chewed bananas on the kitchen floor, I was proven wrong when two brown bundles of fur climbed through the window. The short-eared bush babies have returned every night since, and I can happily report that mangoes make for a suitable alternative to bananas for our uninvited dinner guests. And just when we thought our forest week was over, and we could relax with a cold beer at Smugglers, the biggest surprise of them all dropped by… a bush pig behind the bar!
Tags: biodiversity, bush baby, bush pig, chameleon, coastal forests, Colobus, Elephant Shrew, galago, hornbill, primate, sengi
Friends of Shimoni Forest back to work in the Kenyan Coastal Forest!!!
Category: Birds, Butterflies, Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Colobus, Community Conservation, Elephant Shrew, Environmental Education, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Logging, Primate Research, Shimoni Forest, Uncategorized | Date: Jan 19 2009 | By: gvikenya
Greetings from Kenya!My name is Drew; I’m an American from California currently living in Shimoni, a small village on the south coast of Kenya. Shimoni is home to a very important coastal forest and is believed to house the second largest population of Angolan Black and White Colobus monkey in Kenya. Kenyan coastal forests have a number of endemic species, including 10 birds, 34 reptiles, 75 butterflies. We also have the rare zanj elephant shrew in Shimoni an animal in which very little data has been collected.
I work with a local community group called “Friends of Shimoni Forest” dedicated to conserving the forest and educating the community on its importance. Our group was created near the end of 2007 when local community members began to realize that the destruction of the forest was no longer sustainable. The forest had always been used for its natural resources, but in recent years the amount of charcoal and timber being removed has increased nearly 300%, much of which was not being consumed by local people. This inspired the community to take action in conservation to insure that the forest would be available for generations to come.
2009 marks a new beginning and our group has big plans for the year to come. In January a new Area Sub Chief, Adini Miongo Mgenti, was designated to Shimoni sub location. He has shown himself to be dedicated to conservation and is committed to working with us towards our goals. His support will be critical and we are very fortunate to have him with us. With the new school year starting, we will move forward with our community education. Lesson plans are being created and soon we will be in classrooms working with the youth and creating our Friends of Shimoni Forest youth group, very exciting. Alternative livelihoods for community members is always a priority so things like bee-keeping and creating a forest walk for tourist are also in the works. It’s amazing to see our members’ dedication and determination to protecting this beautiful environment. We invite you to come along for the ride this year and share in this incredible experience.
Talk to you soon,
Drew.
Tags: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, colobus monkey, Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Forest, Logging, Shimoni Forest
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