GVI Kenya

Category: Kenya Wildlife Service, Shimoni Forest, yellow baboon | Date: Oct 20 2009 | By: gvikenya

Yesterday saw an interesting discovery for us GVI folk here in Shimoni forest.  We were at the end of the negative sections of transect 5, innocently conducting a butterfly sweep net survey, when we were stuck with a very intense smell of decay.  We spent a good few minutes trying to establish the source, but soon discovered where it was coming from.  Tucked away right at the foot of an impressively sized baobab tree, lay the semi-decayed corpse of a yellow baboon!

Baboons are a very widespread and successful group, who can be found in most places across sub-Saharan Africa.  They are certainly abundant in Kenya, and there is a lively population here in Shimoni.  In many places in Africa, they are a bothersome crop pest, and are even listed as vermin in some countries.  Here in Shimoni however, the yellow baboon (Papio cynocephalus) are found in the actual forest itself, and are still wild and shy, avoiding humans at all costs and surviving on the fruits of the forest alone.  This makes them a fantastic animal to see when in the forest, and a relatively rare one. 

This photo shows the whole body in the foetal position, with the left arm out behind its back

So you can imagine our surprise when we stumbled across this poor fellow!  Its very difficult to say exactly what happened to it, especially as none of us here are experts in dead bodies or establishing causes of death!  There were no obvious injuries or wounds that gave it away (we did look quite closely), although there was a lot of dry blood around the body.  It was at the foot of a big baobab, so perhaps it fell out of the tree?  It was also right on the edge of a shamba (farm), so the idea of it being killed by a vengeful farmer is not impossible either.

This shot is from the other side, again of most of the body

What did strike us as strange was the apparent lack of scavenging of the body.  Almost all the skin was in tact, with none of it appearing to have been eaten.  Perhaps it was the location of the body – in the shadow of a big tree – that has allowed it to remain invisible and untouched by the many scavengers in the area.

 A closer look at the head

It was a very interesting find; never before have we been allowed such a detailed look at the anatomy of a baboon, yet I fear the mystery of its death will remain unsolved.  We will be informing the Kenya Wildlife Service of our find.  I am however, going to ask their permission to bury it, and then to keep the skeleton (once it has fully decomposed), as it would be really interesting to have a full baboon skeleton to use as an educational tool.  I’m not sure what protocols they have regarding dead animals, so this may not be allowed, but there’s no harm in asking!

If we come to any conclusions about the cause of death, we’ll let you all know!  

Tags: abundant, anatomy, baboons, baobab tree, butterfly sweep net survey, cause of death, crop pest, decomposed, dry blood, educational tool, farm, farmer, foetal position, injuries, Kenya, Kenya Wildlife Service, Papio cynocephalus, protocols, scavenging, shamba, shimoni, shy, skeleton, skin, sub_Saharan Africa, vermin, wild, wounds, yellow baboon

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Category: Coastal Forest, Community Conservation, Eco-tourism, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kaya, Mangroves, Shimoni Forest | Date: Oct 19 2009 | By: gvikenya

If you cast your eyes back over a few of our blogs recently you’ll read about the tourist trail that Friends of Shimoni Forest are creating.  This trail is going to run through Shimoni forest to show tourists some of the amazing flora and fauna to be seen, it will take them on a visit to a couple of the sacred Kaya’s or traditional religious sites, and it will take them past some of the amazing mangrove forests that run along the whole eastern coastline. 

An example of some of the mangroves

Mangroves are some of the most amazing trees in the world.  They tend to inhabit coastlines, estuaries or river mouths, and form some of the most critical habitats on the planet.  They act as nurseries and hunting grounds for countless aquatic species, as well as a home to many terrestrial species such as baboons and genets.  They also act as a buffer zone between fresh water bodies and the sea for runoff, silts and pollution.  They are also the only tree species that can exist in salt water!

Mangroves happily exist on beaches

Because of their importance, coupled with the fact they are exceptionally cool, means they are a site not to be missed on the tourist trail.  There is one particular spot where the tourists are going to be taken where at least five different species of mangrove can be seen, and where they extend unbroken for kilometers. 

The original idea was to create a boardwalk through the mangroves, which the tourists would be taken along.  This idea was scrapped, mainly because there are several mangrove boardwalks already in the area, and we wanted ours to be extra special.  So we have come up with the idea of a viewing platform!  We want to build a very tall (and very safe of course…) structure of some sort, on which the tourists can sit, drink a cup of chai and look out over the huge expanse of mangroves to the east, and the towering trees of shimoni forest to the south and west.  We think this will deliver a unique experience to people who have come to see this stunning area. 

One of the magnificent trees of Shimoni forest

Of course there are going to be many issues involved in the creation of this structure.  We are not sure yet what materials will be used in the construction, but bamboo has been suggested already.  The structure will need to be built on coral rag (fossilised coral), which will not be the simplest base for a tall structure…!  Then of course there is the issue of finances, which as ever, will probably be the hardest to overcome.  But overcome it shall be!  It will be the best view in Kenya (excluding Mount Kenya perhaps…)!

Tags: aquatic species, baboons, bamboo, boardwalk, buffer zone, chai, coastline, coral rag, critical habitat, estuaries, fauna, finance, flora, fossilised coral, fresh water bodies, Friends of Shimoni Forest, genets, hunting grounds, issues, Kenya, mangrove forest, materials, Mount Kenya, nurseries, planet, pollution, river mouth, runoff, sacred Kaya, Shimoni Forest, silts, structure, terrestrial species, tourist trail, traditional religious sites, unique experience, viewing platform

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