Where Can You See Lions?

Having met lions early on at Meru, we didn't know whether we would be lucky enough to see any more, but that would be just the beginning. These cubs were very young and quite frail still, urgently in need of another meal. They had two lionesses with them and now that the park had greened up and the prey animals returned, they stood a good chance of success. 

In his book, My Pride and Joy, George Adamson  creates a family tree for the lions he released in Kenya, including Christian, a lion that had been domesticated and living in a London apartment until he was brought to Kenya in the 1960's. The greatest threat to Christian's cubs was other lions.

The mother of these cubs was always on the lookout - both for potential prey and threats to her and her cubs. She studiously ignored us and only when the cubs were settled did she close her eyes and sleep.

Hook and Eye

I really enjoyed my visit to my ponies at the Hook Reserve today, meeting up with Jayne who has a very long badge within the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. Without even knowing it, she has been responsible for a seismic and positive shift in my mental health, offering me as the right owner with the right ponies in the right place, the opportunity to turn my ponies out on such a large, and ostensibly wild, site. For me it is a joy to see my ponies thriving in this environment which, despite the fact that it is surrounded by fast roads, feels so isolated. It is rare to see more than a handful of other people on the reserve, and all of them are people who are in love with nature. A lot of them look out for my ponies and would get in touch with the Trust if there were any problems. I hope the ponies can get through their first year without any issues and this will give me a good indication of how they will fare although we did have some pretty weird weather.

When I arrived, the ponies were already at the gate, seemingly waiting for something to happen, so I was slightly worried that someone has been feeding them, especially when they were still in the same place two hours later - you know how ponies will sacrifice many hours eating time on the promise of one carrot. I have asked the Lookers to look out for anyone who may be giving them titbits even though it is forbidden by the Trust.

Jayne and I went on to check the cattle who were all present and correct. They will be leaving the site soon as their part in restoring it is over and there is a risk that they will poach the ground and reduce the grazing available to the ponies. The grazing may look beige but there are plenty of green shoots insulated by the leaves, and lots to browse upon above ground level. This gorse bush may have been over-optimistic:

I have visited the ponies over thirty times since they arrived at the Reserve and although heavily reliant on the Grazing Team and the Lookers to check them the rest of the time, I always make a day of it when I go up - litter picking in and around the site as a way of saying thank you to Jayne and the Trust. Generally the laybys are much cleaner most of the time but it is disappointed to find fly-tips that I have no hope of removing. Fortunately I now have a contact at the Council who, like me, believes that it is essential to remove rubbish before it becomes a magnet for other stuff. The tip would not have charged for this:

I'll close with this glorious picture of an Exmoor at Greywell which was sent to me over Christmas. 

Bring on the Chubby Unicorns

It takes less than the time it takes to clean your teeth to remove a rhino horn with a saw. The horn, made from the same fibres that make up fingernails, it highly sought after in the East, ground into a powder which is reputed to boost sexual desire. Not only is this not true, but it is a pathetic reason to kill the endangered rhino whose horn is now worth more than gold. Fortunately, the number of Eastern black rhino is now on the increase, having been dangerously close to extinction, but this is only due to the outstanding efforts of conservancies and National Parks to protect them with sophisticated - and extremely brave - security teams, and carefully fenced area with specially designed 'gates' for other animals through.

Loisaba is all set up and waiting for the arrival of their rhino. Apart from upgrading the security team and fencing a massive area of land, they have built a special rhino boma which can be used to administer any medical care if a rhino is sick or injured.

Meru has a rhino sanctuary within the park where rhino can wander widely and safely within a large area, thick with vegetation and swampy ground where they can wallow and bathe in the dark, sandy mud.

In the same area, the lions were keeping a close eye on passers-by.

Meru

Forgive my holiday photos, I won't put all 8,000 of them up here! Meru, like all of the Kenyan National Parks has suffered from a drought all year, fortunately not losing too many of their wild animals that seem to be well-adapted. Some will have migrated but most have stayed. 

Fortunately there was rain about three weeks before our arrival and the whole area had flourished into an improbable green, and the animals which had become bony had started to fill out again. 

You rarely see a thin zebra!

Meru will be forever associated with Joy and George Adamson, albeit that their own relationship was ragged (Joy didn't give George a penny from the proceeds of her book, Born Free), they fought for and gained protection for Meru National Park and Joy set up the Born Free Foundation which is busy, even today, protecting the lions and other animals in the park. This in contrast to Kora on the other side of the Tano River, and the place where both of them were eventually murdered in different incidents, is devoid of wildlife because of illegal grazing and poaching. 

Gerenuk or long-necked antelope

There are thirteen rivers that run permanently across Meru, often highlighted by the wonderful Y-Y palm which is limited to Meru National Park. 

There are also the mysterious and ancient Baobab trees which are the subject of so many children's stories.

The rivers attract a lot of birds and other creatures. 

At lunchtime it was time to go to Elsa's Kopje, the only remaining lodge in Meru, to be greeted by the most amazing team, headed by the outstanding, and sometimes coy, Grace Leonard. As always there were plenty of wildlife around the camp itself and underneath the framed pictures...

Me: "I like your scarf"

Grace: "I wore it especially for you."

I bet she says that to all the girls and all the boys.

Courtesy: Grace Leonard