A sticky situation
Ltingai dam is located in Isiolo county at Tale area, it was dug by Loisaba Conservancy to help the abundant wildlife in the Laikipia Samburu corridor and the neighbouring community livestock since this area is very dry and in the rainy season there is a lot of surface run water from as far as Loisaba conservancy where many of its springs overflow.
Due to unplanned community grazing and the little vegetation cover in this area, surface soil erosion have made a lot of silt in the dam, during the dry seasons the water level decreases and leaves behind the silt which takes many days to dry completely due to the soil composition of silt. When this happens livestock and wildlife are in danger since they get stuck in the silt, when livestock get stuck the herdsmen have to spend some hours to remove the cattle or shoat since the ground all over is sinking with a little perpendicular force. However, if no one notice the stuck cow/shoat it will be predated in the night by the numerous predators when they get out of their day hideout since most predators are nocturnal.
It is a different story when it comes to wildlife. When a herbivore like antelope, zebra or buffalo is stuck high chances is that it will be predated by predators, when a carnivore like hyena, jackal or leopard get stuck, it can be killed easily since all people around are livestock keepers and the perpetual grudge between predators and herders always finds its way in such situations. When a big animal like elephant is stuck mostly the community will notify us and a good example is the two recent scenarios where in one, a male elephant of about 25 years old was stuck in this dam on 16th May 2020. The community notified Loisaba Conservancy about this incident and Loisaba CEO deployed a team of rangers and one tractor who went to rescue the elephant by pulling him out using the tractor after darting by one an NRT staff. This elephant was lucky to find rescue after spending more than 24hrs whirling in the mad and exposed to immense danger from the carnivores who will feed on him while he is still alive – a good example is in 2020 when hyenas chopped off an elephant calf trunk while he was drowning in a dam (Longuro) and also the poachers can also kill him very easily when he is in the mad. Another incidence is on 17th January 2021 when the same community members reported another elephant stuck in the same dam. Loisaba conservancy sent rangers and a tractor again to rescue this helpless elephant. The team drove for about 50kms to Ltingai dam. This time it was a female elephant of about 15-20 years old and it was completely stuck and helpless. NRT team were also present and the elephant was darted and she was pulled out of the mad after two hours of struggling since the place where she was stuck was quicksand. The elephant seems to be having a small calf but luckily she was still strong. She thankfully disappeared into the bushes immediately she got upright.
Report from a Loisaba Conservancy ranger.
