My name is Kyalo John Mwanzia and I work as a raptor technician at Soysambu Raptor Centre. Over the last few weeks we have released some birds such as a White-backed vulture that was brought in with KWS permission from Ol Pejeta Laikipia after being poisoned. It was delivered by a helicopter to our entrance by Toby Dunn, a neighbour. This was the first time I saw a helicopter up close. Dr Florence Kengethe at Ol Pejeta had done the poisoning treatment and we only needed to look after it for nearly a month to be sure it was ok for release.
Then we needed to release the Lappet-faced vulture who came in young and didn't know how to fly properly. So we let him go with a GPS backpack as well as a VHF radio transmitter and follow him wherever he goes. Stephen Githenya and I took turns up on the summit of a hill near the centre to look after the Lappet. We looked at the view and watched the animals and the birds of prey. The Lappet flew down the hill and we had to collect him. When I went to fly the Fish Eagle the Lappet flew away again and Simon and my father Mwanzia had to go and collect him and take him back to the centre as the next day was a Sunday and we went into town 14km away.
There are many buffalo and some lions on Soysambu conservancy and sometimes you have to walk around them to avoid coming too close. On the morning of 17 June I volunteered to take the first watch over the Lappet-faced vulture. On this day we did not release the vulture on the summit but below it on the hill “saddle”. Simon and Mwanzia left me alone to return home in the car. Some 15 minutes later Simon phoned and asked if the lions were coming my way as he and my father had been watching a male and a female below the hill. Many zebra had been frightened and they ran past me. It was possible that the lions were coming up the hill. Simon and my father drove back to see if we were ok.
We watched the lions go exactly to the place where we had released the vulture a few days ago and where I fly the Fish Eagle each day (see photo below). They were mating and when they do they can be unpredictable and charge even cars. The Lappet sat on the ground and before we knew it the lions were walking rapidly towards us and towards where the Lappet had walked into the bush. Suddenly we had a serious problem and we all had to get in the car and drive to where we thought the Lappet went. But when we got there the Lappet could not be seen. Cautiously we got out of the car and looked about but Mwanzia was the first to hear the lions’ rumbling growl…only metres away. We got back in the car as the lions were less than a few metres.
We thought that the Lappet may even have been killed as it is a good meal for lions and he isn’t very good at flying, especially taking off in thick cover or long grass. In seconds, what had been a nice morning sitting with a vulture had turned into a real emergency.
Fortunately the VHF transmitter on the vulture worked well but the transmitters on the lions did not work at all. So it was impossible to know if the lions and the vulture were together. We drove quickly down the hill and Simon went into the forest alone with the VHF receiver while Mwanzia and I checked the hills with the binoculars. Half an hour later Simon came back saying he found the Lappet in the forest and and put him back in his enclosure. So the Lappet does know how to get away from lions and danger after all! This is all part of his training for being in the wild.
Meanwhile my father had tracked the lions that had followed the path of the vulture (and Simon) down the hill and into the forest around the centre. We all came back with stories to tell.
As a young man in Kenya today I feel very fortunate to be working in a wildlife area saving raptors and witnessing adventure and excitement. Many people of my age never see eagles, vultures or lions and never will. Most never want to and I fear them asking “what value are they?” To me they have great value. People tell us they maintain a balance of various herbivores, rodents, reptiles and bird species. But that is a very bad way to reason about saving magnificent animals that share our earth. We are all citizens of the earth and for them the world is now very small and very threatened.
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Love your heartfelt sharing. The work you guys do is really meaningful
Thank you for sharing your experience with raptors (and lions!)