Over the past few weeks, the drought has worsened in the area. The Ewaso Nyiro River has been dry for a while now and we’ve been digging waterholes in the dry river-bed for the wildlife. Fortunately, the number of elephants has increased in the area and they have assisted in providing water for the other animals by digging with their tusks. However, large areas have no water at all. We surveyed the entire river in Westgate Community Conservancy and selected 3 strategic locations for digging holes. We don’t have to dig too far down – just a couple of feet before clean water seeps up through the sand. However, livestock during the day and elephants at night often push the sand into the holes and we often have to re-dig the entire hole the next day. We’ve been doing this for a few weeks now and have got everyone involved. Sasaab Lodge has 4 holes in front of the lodge and the Westgate scouts have dug east of the lodge. We have the entire Conservation Area covered with our holes and have had volunteers, warriors, researchers and guests all digging every day.
Jeneria and Yesalai, two Samburu warriors, dig holes for the wildlife
Chip Owen, our great friend and supporter of Ewaso Lions, digs a hole too!
Scouts and warriors come to check the holes in the morning for tracks to see what has come to drink from them (Photo taken by the camera trap)
A real treat – just as we were finished digging this hole, a pack of 20 wild dogs came running down the river and started drinking from the hole we had just dug – right in front of us!
At each hole, we have set up camera traps to capture images of the animals that are coming to drink from the holes and to see how effective they are. We have had huge success and know that these waterholes are really helping these animals. All the predators have come to drink -striped and spotted hyenas, leopard and jackals. We’ve even had the endangered Grevy’s zebra, elephants daily, mongoose and loads of birds.
This striped hyena is a daily visitor
Elephants come every night!
We will keep digging and helping these animals daily. However, we’re waiting for the rain to come and the river to start flowing again. We can’t wait. There are signs of rain….which is the good news!