Esteemed colleagues, friends, supporters and raptor lovers,

We hope you enjoy our latest newsletter. Fortunately very few injured or poisoned bird have come our way which hopefully means there is less persecution going on in the form of poisoning, electrocutions or injuries, or is it that there are so few birds left?

Our two centres have been growing with upgraded enclosures, numerous visitors, and presently 43 birds in our care.

We have been active in raptor conservation and monitoring and hope you enjoy reading about some of the highlights.

Nick Trent

Executive Director

Rescue, Rehab and Releases

The rescue of an overboard Lappet Faced Vulture chick in the Mara Triangle

Bob & Gina Poole and Clement Kiragu (ClementWild) have been filming one of the Endangered Lappet-faced Vulture nests that our team is monitoring in the Mara Triangle for an upcoming documentary. One morning they arrived at the nest and noticed that overnight the nest had fallen, and the chick was laying helplessly on the ground. Bob quickly called our team and together with the Mara Conservancy we worked to build back the nest. The entire process was a huge success and in just a few hours the chick was back home in the canopy. Over the following days we checked the nest regularly and were relieved to see the parents feeding the chick like nothing had happened. Bob, Gina, and Clement were even able to get the footage they needed! 

The decision to save this chick’s life is not one that our Trust makes lightly. Lappet-faced Vultures are an Endangered species, and their population is declining throughout Africa. Every bit of help we can give this species is one step towards preventing further population decline. Laying helplessly on the ground this chick would have almost certainly been killed by a predator like a leopard or hyaena. Our simple action helped ensure that this chick was able to successfully fledge, and we hope that it thrives in adolescence, reaches adulthood, and one day raises chicks of its own.

Ongoing rehabilitation of Kori Bustard 

On 25th July 2021 an adult female Kori Bustard was brought to the Naivasha Raptor Centre for rehabilitation. It had sustained a complex break to the distal part of its right tarsus (the far end of the foot, near the ‘ankle’ and toes) and surgery was not an option due to the location and complexity of the break. We created a brace for the leg which was left in place for 8 weeks. The strapping has since been removed and the break has healed but the resulting callus that formed has limited the bird’s dexterity. She is convalescing at the Naivasha Raptor Center and needs a further few weeks to settle prior to making a decision as to whether it can be released. 

Successful fostering of a Yellow-billed Kite chick 

In May, a Yellow-billed Kite chick was brought into the Naivasha Raptor Centre from Nairobi, after falling out of its nest. The Kite was fostered and raised by a captive pair of unreleasable Augur Buzzards. The foster parents are Gene, an adult female who’s blind in one eye, and Oscar, a melanistic sub-adult who may be a male and is missing one leg after being electrocuted. If Oscar is indeed a male we hope they will breed in a couple of years once he’s mature. They are yet to breed because of Oscar’s age but should do so over the next couple of years. Gene and Oscar get on very well and seemed to enjoy fostering the kite. This is a very important function, as the Kite is now socialised as a diurnal raptor and has not become a human imprint.

The Kite was successfully released as a full-grown juvenile on 25th September, back at its place of origin in Loresho, Nairobi. The Kite has since been seen several times flying well in the release area, along with other kites.

Chubby the Ruppell's Vulture

Chubby, the adult Ruppell’s Vulture that came to Naivasha Raptor Centre after being poisoned in Laikipia early January is doing well. It was rehabbed for two weeks and before its release Shiv Kapila tagged it with a solar-powered GPS unit in order for us to monitor his movement and wellbeing. It was then released on Kedong, very close to the Naivasha Raptor Centre.

Chubby made its way back to northern Kenya in 3 days, and over the past few months it has been foraging in a wide area around Samburu and Marsabit, constantly returning to Ololokwe. As such, we think it’s breeding on one of the sites on Ololokwe. A map of its recent movements is below.

Monitoring and Research

Counting African Fish Eagles on Lake Naivasha

The first African Fish Eagle counts at Lake Naivasha for 2021 were completed in September  and 331 birds were counted. This number is a record high since population recording began in the early 1950s by Leslie Brown. Arguably, the Lake has not been in a worse state given the permanent habitat degradation of the riparian environment over the last 40 years, high levels of siltation and the near collapse of the Naivasha fishery. This means other factors must influence fish eagle populations and breeding. As Fish Eagles are generalists capable of eating anything from frogs to large carcasses, food is clearly not a limiting factor. As water levels are at an all-time high, and Fish Eagle numbers generally follow water levels, this is thought to be the most important environmental factor that governs their local population and breeding status.

Picture below is Blue CF, a female bird ringed by Simon in the mid-1990s. She still occupies the same territory and is the only Fish Eagle that produces 2-3 chicks per season.

Raptor Tagging with The Peregrine Fund

In Aug 2021 Simon worked on the tagging operation of vultures on Lisa Ranch, one of the Athi Kapiti Wildlife Conservancies. The vulture tagging was done in collaboration with Dr Ralph Buij of The Peregrine Fund and Dr Shane McPherson of the Konrad Lorenz Research Center for Behaviour and Cognition, University of Vienna. A team from Kenya Wildlife Service came along to observe. A total of 5 vultures were tagged. 

In October another tagging operation was executed in a high conflict area to monitor the high mortality of raptors. Simon and Ralph were able to fit solar-powered gps-units to 9 Augur buzzards, 2 African hawk Eagles and one Martial Eagle. Recapturing the Martial Eagle was a highlight during this stressful operation. When measuring the Martial Eagle, Simon recognised the ring that he and Carter Ong Smith had put on the bird in 1997, during her Mphil study of the Martial Eagle in the Nairobi Park and Athi Kapiti. It was amazing to get reacquainted with this majestic bird after 24 years. Much has changed in his environment but he is still breeding and looks in perfect condition. 

The data from all these transmitters will help improve our collective conservation efforts of these large raptor species.

Right: Martial eagle held by Ralph Buij from The Peregrine Fund while Daniel Mutete from Kenya Wildlife Service is taking measurements. Left: Simon holding an African Hawk Eagle.

Mara Raptor Project Nest Monitoring

The Mara Raptor Project continues to monitor approximately 250 large raptor nests in the greater Mara ecosystem which has been the primary responsibility of Lemein Par. The highlight of this year has undoubtedly been monitoring 4 critically endangered White-headed Vulture nests. One of these nests was spotted by Simon Landholt while on a Balloon Safari (pictured below) and it looks like they are incubating. Monitoring some of these nests wouldn’t be possible without the support of Governors Camp Collection as the nests are in the difficult to access Mara River forests and can’t be properly monitored other than with a balloon.

Captive breeding to restore populations

The Spotted Eagle Owls are breeding again

The Spotted Eagle Owls seem to be incubating a clutch of eggs – their second in their new enclosure. The female spends 90% of her time in her nest box, and calls during the day, a very good sign. The male is very attentive, delivering food frequently. This pair has been with us for about 15 years, and consistently produces 5 or 6 chicks per year, all of which are released into the local Naivasha area when full grown and socialised, as well as proven their hunting abilities.

Pictured below one of the captive-bred Spotted Eagle Owls, released last year.

Vulture Breeding Activity

The five permanent-resident Rüppell’s Vultures continue to show signs of early breeding activity: organising nesting material, spending the majority of their time on the nesting ledge, and they have started to get on better with each other – in particular, the two oldest (Yusef and Gollum) have started allopreening with each other and the younger birds, rather than picking squabbles. These signs are good! To provide further encouragement, they have been given tailor-made nests and additional nesting material every fortnight. We think they could have proper breeding this year or in the first half of next year, even though most of the birds are on the young side.

The picture above shows Gollum lying in a nest tyre, ‘practicing’. Ahmed is in the centre and Yusef sits on the perch to the right, both are moulting into adulthood. 

The two newest Rüppell’s Vultures, Edgar and Norman, both have permanent wing damage. They are in their 1st and 2nd years and have a long way to go to reach breeding age but until then they will do their part as well habituated education birds.

The names of these vultures are all gender-specific but we don't actually know if they're males or females. Vultures, like other raptors, don’t have external genitalia and because vultures are very similar in size between genders, we can't tell. Let’s hope we have at least one of each gender! And in the future we should consider using gender-neutral names, to be on the safe side! 

Girl and George are mating! 

The Crowned Eagles Girl and George have built up their nest and are mating! Girl has produced offspring with her previous mate, Rosie. In fact they were the world's first captive breeding pair of Crowned Eagles. Together they raised 9 chicks that were all released in the wild. Some of their offspring went on to form pairs and breed in the wild. Unfortunately Rosy died of a cobra bite back in April 2019. Girl, now in her 50s, was paired up with her current mate, George who is about 6 years old. When successful this will be the first offspring for George. 
 

Read our about Rosie, our founding raptor

Mitigating threats

Drowning in water tanks

Many raptors (and other animals) drown in water tanks because when they fall in, they can’t get out due to the steep walls. The Soysambu raptor project has been making water reservoirs safe which in itself is a simple task - all you need is a wooden ladder, usually a sturdy branch. It is such an easy mitigation measure that it is heartbreaking that still many raptors and other animals die because water tanks are not yet raptor friendly.

Lanner Falcons and Augur Buzzards successfully breed again at Soysambu Conservancy after years of failed attempts

Baboons are a menace for many tree and cliff-nesting raptors, raiding the nest for eggs and chicks and causing general disturbance. With fewer suitable nesting sites and an increase in baboon populations, raptors are finding it more and more challenging to rear their young. This season Kenya Bird of Prey Trust assisted a well known Lanner Falcon pair to successfully rear three chicks by ensuring that their cliff nest was not disturbed by baboons, and that the chicks had access to a regular food supply. Nearby a pair of Augur Buzzards also successfully reared their chick as their nest tree was simply made inaccessible to the same troop of baboons. It is through simple measures such as these that raptors' chances of producing offspring can be increased in an every changing environment that does not favour those at the top of the food chain.

A 7-week fledged Lanner Falcon chick is seen learning to fly in August 2021. This offspring is the first breeding success of a Lanner Falcon pair on Soysambu in 7 years.

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