Amongst the 25+ lions in the Nairobi National Park are to be found several other species of cat such as this serval. African wild cats are recorded & leopards, as well as cheetah, though they are not doing well .
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
School Run
My children are lucky enough to go to school most days through the NNP. And what a school run it was today! First thing in the morning I could hear the yelps & whinnys of a herd of zebra near our house and as we got into the Park my son said "look at all those zebra" as a large mob galloped along the ridge. They seemed to be nervous as though sensing a predator & they were right, for sitting at Masai Gate checking into the Park, my daughter saw a leopard! We had heard the alarm calls of a troop of vervet monkeys, perched in a safe vantage point at the top of a fig tree along the Embakasi Eiver. I checked with Jeannie Rose, saying "what colour was the tip of it's tail?" "White" came back the unhesitating reply.......
Along the road a minute later trotted a pair of silver-backed jackals, searching for the action & then we found more zebra & a herd of buffalo,looking like black ticks on the tawny hillside opposite. On the burnt plains further on were kongoni, zebra & more buffalo & as we got to the road along the edge of the Langata forest, a group of giraffes were gazing intently at something. We drove around the corner & there was a zebra stallion chasing something out of curiosity: a serval bounding through the long grass..... 3 predators in 15 minutes!
That's early morning in NNP for you.....
Along the road a minute later trotted a pair of silver-backed jackals, searching for the action & then we found more zebra & a herd of buffalo,looking like black ticks on the tawny hillside opposite. On the burnt plains further on were kongoni, zebra & more buffalo & as we got to the road along the edge of the Langata forest, a group of giraffes were gazing intently at something. We drove around the corner & there was a zebra stallion chasing something out of curiosity: a serval bounding through the long grass..... 3 predators in 15 minutes!
That's early morning in NNP for you.....
Friday, October 3, 2008
Long Term Problems
Which won't go away unless they are addressed.
NNP faces some particular problems owing to it's unique position right on the edge of a major city. Two of the most significant (& urgent-because to do nothing about them will just compound their effects) are LITTER & INVASIVE PLANTS.
Litter comes in two forms- along the roads & tracks of the park & blown in from the city. It is quite incredible how visitors come into the Park & despite the signs (& the pristine look of the natural Park...) chuck their litter out of the window. This is usually the remains of what they are eating as they drive by, but can also include used condoms & other esoteric human detritus....
But the really BIG problem ,especially now when it is building for rain & swirling dry-season winds & dust devils can whip discarded litter from all over Nairobi high into the sky, is wind-borne litter settling in the Park. You can see it on trees: bright coloured plastic bags for the most part; and on distant plains, sullying the grand savannah vistas.
Plastic & rubbish matters for two reasons: it destroys the natural feel & look of the Park, which is of such intrinsic value & it is a danger to any of the grazers which might inadvertedly ingest it.
What to do about it? PICK IT UP.......but the powers that be do not & neither are there enough volunteers to do so in their abscence. Which leaves your solitary correspondent on his never-ending pick-up litter mission....
Invasive species of plants abound in & around the city, where people have introduced so many garden & ornamental species, which then compete with the natives.
Two of the most pernicious are the "death spurge" - a horrible Euphorbia sp. which exudes poison from it's roots to kill the competition whilst propagating itself in a myriad different ways , which is invading the rocky grassland adjacent to the park & Opuntia sp., the 'prickly pear', which is choking the gorges (which have a truly interesting botany themselves) on the southern boundary of the Park. This problem will only get worse if the authorities do not do something about it (ie remove the invaders by hand.........)
NNP faces some particular problems owing to it's unique position right on the edge of a major city. Two of the most significant (& urgent-because to do nothing about them will just compound their effects) are LITTER & INVASIVE PLANTS.
Litter comes in two forms- along the roads & tracks of the park & blown in from the city. It is quite incredible how visitors come into the Park & despite the signs (& the pristine look of the natural Park...) chuck their litter out of the window. This is usually the remains of what they are eating as they drive by, but can also include used condoms & other esoteric human detritus....
But the really BIG problem ,especially now when it is building for rain & swirling dry-season winds & dust devils can whip discarded litter from all over Nairobi high into the sky, is wind-borne litter settling in the Park. You can see it on trees: bright coloured plastic bags for the most part; and on distant plains, sullying the grand savannah vistas.
Plastic & rubbish matters for two reasons: it destroys the natural feel & look of the Park, which is of such intrinsic value & it is a danger to any of the grazers which might inadvertedly ingest it.
What to do about it? PICK IT UP.......but the powers that be do not & neither are there enough volunteers to do so in their abscence. Which leaves your solitary correspondent on his never-ending pick-up litter mission....
Invasive species of plants abound in & around the city, where people have introduced so many garden & ornamental species, which then compete with the natives.
Two of the most pernicious are the "death spurge" - a horrible Euphorbia sp. which exudes poison from it's roots to kill the competition whilst propagating itself in a myriad different ways , which is invading the rocky grassland adjacent to the park & Opuntia sp., the 'prickly pear', which is choking the gorges (which have a truly interesting botany themselves) on the southern boundary of the Park. This problem will only get worse if the authorities do not do something about it (ie remove the invaders by hand.........)
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