Nairobi National Park

By Will Knocker:

The dreaded Parthenium Weed -spread by human activities such as road building -has gained a foothold in Nairobi National Park, especially in the Athi Basin area, where a pylon line is currently being constructed….floodwater also spreads the seeds, so we can expect mega-infestation after the current Rains…

Each single plant is said to be able to produce 25,ooo seeds -if you want to see the end result, look on the verges of the new by-pass from JKIA heading to the Thika Highway: what a mess….

The experts tell us that this is a plant (it is of the Feverfew family) which poisons its neighbours, including grass & is a major threat to African grassland ecosystems…in Ethiopia (where it first arrived in Famine Relief supplies) it has compromised thousands of acres of rangeland.

Parthenium causes allergic reactions in people & animals, so pull it up with gloves or a handkerchief…..if you see this plant: DESTROY IT!!

Parthenium is not to be confused with one of our commonest & most widely spread wild flower species Heliotropium (see above)

For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenium_hysterophorus

By Will Knocker:

“And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these……..”

So says the Good Book & this year’s rains in Nairobi National Park has brought out the wild flowers in all their glorious profusion:

Wild harebells:Cyphia glandulifera…..

Pentanesia ouranogune

Ipomoea jaegeri

Hypoxis obtusa

The glorious, scented Gladiolus candidus….

The ubiquitous Heliotropum, one of the commonest wildflower geni in Kenya:

The word “heliotropium” is the Latin name for an ancient plant which had
the unique habit of turning to face the sun at all times. The plant’s name is
derived from two Greek words: helio, meaning “sun,” and tropos, meaning “turn.”

Pentas parvifolia

One for you Flower Fundis out there…..

Come on, readers….what have we got here?

Below, Commelina reptans….

Commelinia ecklonia ssp. nairobiensis

Bauhinia sp..

The aptly named Gloriosa superba…

By Will Knocker:

The Empakasi river in spate…

Empakasi Gorge…

The road to Masai Gate: would you cross?

Perhaps not….

The Kiserian river just downstream, muddy with grey clay..

Striped swallow, enjoying?

The Empakasi below Hippo pools….

By Will Knocker (Photos by Gareth Jones):

A dikdik (this is Kirk’s as different to Guenther’s which inhabits the arid North of Kenya) in the Park: an unusual sight although they are common in the abutting Silole Sanctuary area…..

Gareth, was this pic taken in Silole, or the Park? In game counts, Suni (see below) are often described as ‘dikdik’….

The Suni, below (from ‘esuuni’: a small antelope in Maa) is a dwarf antelope inhabiting forest areas: it is a completely different animal to the dikdik, which likes semi-arid localities….

Do let me know of your sightings of these 2 species of small buck & has anyone seen a Red Forest duiker (reportedly present in Langata forest), Steinbuck or Oribi recently? The Park is a haven of course for so many species of antelope….

IMAGES BY WILL KNOCKER…..

By Will Knocker:

Yesterday was a super rhino day in NNP: this was the view from my breakfast room in the Silole Sanctuary on the edge of the Park.

Behind the giraffe ‘gardeners’: 4 browse rhinos on the ridge (Somali Ridge) behind…..

Then I found this lone bull a kilometer or so away……

And then this cow on the edge of the Sosian Valley….

And her calf…….

Truly awesome animals, threatened by human ignorance & greed.

Yesterday Yumi the leopard researcher came to look at leopard pugs behind Silole Cottage & gave me an update on the research she is doing on NNP leopards. She collared 2 leopards in order to monitor their movements.One is ‘ours’: she lives in the park & in the Silole Sanctuary abutting the park, whilst the other animal is resident in the Langata Forest in the west of the park.

Yumi was telling me about analysis of the scat (droppings) in these 2 areas of the park & the results are interesting: these leopards really are suburban, making use of the food resources inside & outside of the park. The first (Silole) leopard, which inhabits the area around the river-gorges of the Kiserian & Empakasi rivers had baboon & hyrax remains in it’s scat, along with the hairs of sheep & goats presumably stolen from Masai homesteads outside the park, whilst the second leopard, whose movements show it crosses the Magadi road into the neighbouring Mukoma Estate had bushbuck remains & domestic dog hairs in it’s scat. So now you know where your missing pet went to…….

Ujonjo was the last adult male lion left in Nairobi National Park when the population of lions (historical average 30) dropped to just 7 individuals in 2005. Since then the population has bounced back to an estimated 35-40 individuals. Here he is photographed outside the Park in the Silole Sanctuary…….

He was recently observed killing a cub in the west of the park & my theory is that this was in fact the off-spring of his son (see below), who with a younger brother has established dominance over the lionesses who wander alone or in small groups there…..

In the east of the park, Ujonjo remains the master………

A cow eland in the Nairobi National Park, an oasis for the largest antelope in the world.

These animals are your writer’s particular favourite animals, large, beautiful, gentle & perfectly adapted to living in the vagaries of Africa’s savannah ecosystems, of which the NNP is a perfect example.

Grazing 25% of their food in the scarce wet seasons, making use of the abundant grass resource when it is available & then browsing in the dry season, or in dry areas, eland traditionally wandered over huge areas at will……

An eland bull- a truly massive animal -heavier even than a buffalo according to Kingdon-& formidable, as demonstrated by bulls’ ability to graze in long grass areas without fear of lion predation.

Generally however, the eland’s primary response to danger is to run away or jump: they are spectacular leapers able to jump over fences with effortless ease (especially the cows:bulls are a little too massive!)

We have 500 + eland in the park & I see this population rising over time as their shyness & alertness prevents them from wandering out into the fast-diminishing ‘dispersal area’ outside of the park, which is increasingly humanised by the day & where delicious eland meat is at a premium in a country where the poor cannot afford to but meat in butcheries = plenty of illegal hunting for bushmeat.

In the park they are safe…..& to successfully breed as well…..

A bull eland looks down at the writer’s cottage in the Silole Sanctuary, just outside the park.

A bull eland browsing. Not only can they make use of available plant nutrients, eland are very efficient in their use of water & can live in arid areas or exist without drinking for long periods . Compare their dry droppings to the wet pats of cattle…..

A bull & youngsters, which have an intense attraction for one another & so are found in (usually large-especially in NNP) nursery herds where they seem to communally suckle from lactating cows . ( Might an expert enlighten us on this thesis?)

Eland milk is one of the richest milks in nature (like whale milk) & young eland grow rapidly as  result.

Africa has not been innovative in using it’s wildlife eg. hippoes are the creatures which are most efficient in turning grass into meat (protein) in comparison to inefficient & resource gobbling domestic animals.  In contrast,eland have been domesticated on the steppes of Russia, where their milk is fed to the sick in local hospitals…..

Long live these elegant & beautifully adapted animals in Nairobi National Park…….

Photographs by Rob Allen, Dave McKelvie & Will Knocker

Two lionesses stare at soaring vultures overhead, attracted by their kongoni kill.

I estimate between 35  & 40 lions in NNP all told, all descended from the 7 that remained in the park after the drought of 2005 when so many were killed after cattle-killing outside the park….

This is way above the historical average of 30 lions established by the lion researcher Judith Rudnai in the 70′s & a reflection of the changing conditions in NNP during a prolonged dry cycle.

4 adult lions move along a track in the park. Social groupings appear to consist of individual lionesses & their cubs right now, with at least 4 adult males (including the dominant male Ujonjo -perhaps the father of the whole lot!!) in the competition for mating rights. Traditionally there were 2 distinct prides in the park, but we seem to be in a confused transitional period now……

Two males investigating female urination….

And testing to see if they are in oestrus by exhibiting flehmen (below)…..

A portrait of a young pretender…….

With his coalition partner…..

Two lionesses watch a bull eland……

Below, three of a group of four cubs of a litter of four,ALL of whom survived during the recent drought, when food has been so plentiful in the park.

The NNP population of lions is very young, with all but 7 individuals being less than 5 years old & at least one more litter of young cubs recently observed…….notice the suburban backdrop, which sums up the area outside the park in 2010:certainly not suitable for big cats, though they regularly venture out at night…..

Below, 2 young lionesses of a group of 4, including a single young male photographed last weekend in the Athi Basin -these lions were nervous. Had they been out of the park the previous night & perhaps been chased out of a local cattle boma?

A lioness near Masai Gate, loking out over her fast diminishing kingdom outside the park.The day before this individual was observed to kill an adult male baboon in the Silole Sanctuary……