Mount Kenya Bush Drums December 2006

"Bwana Don" Hunt, Co-founder of the Mount Kenya Game Ranch and Wildlife Conservancy celebrated his 75th year this last October.

In a ceremony honouring their leader, staff and members of the Conservancy hosted a surprise party among the animals at the Orphanage.

A touched Don said that "The best is yet to come," when he reflected on his 45 years of conservation work in Africa. Word had just come that trackers think they may have located signs of the survival of a very small group of Bongo in the almost impenetrable thickets of the eastern Mount Kenya Forest. If proven correct this is fantastic news indeed after no sign of any Bongo there for more than 10 years.

Don Hunt started the conservation of the mountain bongo with his capture for captive breeding program more than 30 years ago. Today the Conservancy's bongo rehabilitation program is well along with multiple bongo births every year. A small group of mature animals are now roaming free in the yet supervised wilderness of the large forest bomas bordering the National Park . The news of the existing isolated wild group of…animals could not have come at a better time.

Your help is needed now more than ever to make this program come to fruition with the first release of captive bred animals on Mount Kenya. The next step includes fitting transmitters prior to the release in order to track the groups' movements.

The Conservancy is grateful for your help in this unique project to save not only the magnificent Mountain Bongo but also the ecosystem that is Mount Kenya for generations to come.

A special new wall of tiles at the animal Orphanage was started in honor of our youngest supporters.

For a one time $50 donation a tile bearing the name of the young animal lover is permanently placed at the animal orphanage's wall of "Bush baby" sponsors. (For the larger "group" tile a donation of $200 is expected.)

An ideal opportunity to show a child the way to participate in conservation and learn how he/she can make a difference.

Meanwhile our wall of tiles is growing but there is still a space for your name to be placed among our:

Paul Ndungu, a founder/Trustee of the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy was recently awarded a very special honor by Kenya's President Kibaki who bestowed upon him the order of the...

Paul Ndungu received the award in recognition of his service to Kenya in regulating the just distribution of land, and in particular protecting forest land from destruction to preserve vital water levels in rivers and the great lakes of the Rift Valley.

As our long time lawyer and personal friend we are especially proud to have Paul on our team. His work for Kenya and her people does much to preserve their rich natural heritage for the future citizens of this world.

They traveled from all corners of Kenya as far away as Eldoret in western Kenya and Taveta in the south. A record total of 9600 Kenyan students were invited to visit and learn from our conservation programs this year.

They toured the Conservancy and had their first ever glimpse of rhinos, marveled at the zebra and watched the hippo bathe. Most of the kids had only heard about the mighty buffalo and majestic eland from the stories their grandfathers told. None of them had ever dreamed they would be able to touch a bongo or feed a bushbuck. They learned how the different kinds of primates play a vital part in our ecology. And how it is possible to co-exist with lions and cheetahs.

Ranging in ages from 6 to 20 our young students enjoyed touching and feeding the orphaned animals.

"An experience I will never forget," remarked Stella Kaimiu and she spoke for most of the students when she later wrote: "It has helped us realize how important it is to conserve the environment and the wildlife."

Catherine Osoro celebrated "The True Beauty of Kenya" in a poem she wrote after her visit.

Founded by Stefanie Powers, Don and Iris Hunt and Julian McKeand, the center is funded entirely by international donations. Stefanie works tirelessly to fund and organize the various educational and outreach programs offered. She is also a loyal supporter of our own work with wildlife and visits us and the students as often as she can.

Finally, Margaret Muthee, on a recent student-visit celebrated the bongo antelope as "A real Beauty" and ended her poem like this:

Her journey so long
To the place she belongs
Forever we shall cherish
Our promise we'll keep - to make
Her flourish,
For she is a beauty!

David McConnell, administrator, spoke for us all when he said:
"It is indeed very satisfying to receive letters showing so much appreciation of our work that has left a lasting impression on these young minds."

In 1971 we rescued the last two surviving white Zebras from poachers.

Due to an intensive breeding program of 35 years, the M.K.W.C. has successfully saved these animals from extinction.

After an absence of over 50 years, the rare White Zebra have now been re-established to the wilds of Mount Kenya. This is their story...

In 1899, early British explorers recorded ghost-like pure white zebras living on the Leroghi Plateau in the north of Kenya. There were four of these stunning white equines living among thousands of the black and white common or Burchell's zebras on the plateau. Meanwhile, hundreds of miles to the south, settlers 'discovered' a couple more of these outstanding animals on the slopes of Mount Kenya.

The British government was quick to declare these rare animals "Royal Game" which gave them the protection of the British Crown.

The Kenya Colony Game Department with their colorful mounted patrols insured the safety of these very rare animals not ever seen before.

All the same, no more than 4 were ever reported to have been sighted at any one time on the plateau, and only two on Mount Kenya.

Over the years, zoologists from all over the world came to Kenya to study these unusual animals. They were claimed to be "Albinistic Sports". Their eyes were not typically pink as would have been expected in true albinos, but amber gold. But their muzzle and belly skin was pink and their manes white.

When Kenya became an independent country under President Jomo Kenyatta, he took pride to declare the white zebras to be Presidential Game and with that the divisional Game Warden Maralal, Dennis Zaphiro was entrusted to safe guard their survival.

In the ensuing years Don Hunt and his capture unit were commissioned by the President to translocate some of the game from the overgrazed northern areas of Kenya to other regions in Nigeria on the other side of the continent where game had already become sparse. During these capture and translocation operations the team often had chance to observe and admire the protected white zebra.

Then, without warning the terrible poaching of Kenya's wildlife began. The Leroghi plateau especially was overrun by poachers from a neighboring country. By the thousands Kenya's wild animals were being slaughtered by bands of armed and dangerous poachers. The battle began with Game Warden Dennis Zaphiro and his brave rangers in the forefront risking their lives fighting superior armed hordes of poachers.

Concern for the survival of the white Zebra became urgent. Dennis reported that miraculously the small herd remained at 4 animals but he could not be sure how much longer they would be safe. He dispatched an urgent signal to the President for permission to have the animals moved to safety.

On hearing the news President Kenyatta moved swiftly to detail the Hunt capture unit to save the last 4 white zebra. It was high time. The Mount Kenya white zebra had already disappeared. The heavily armed Hunt capture team consisted of William Holden, Julian McKeand, Don and Iris Hunt and 20 trained animal handlers.

By the time the team reached the area, they found 2 of the 4 white zebra already slaughtered by the poachers. Now only two of Kenya's rare white zebra remained. They were hastily lassoed and taken to camp where bomas had been prepared to temporarily house them.

A report was made to President Kenyatta that the remaining two had been saved. One was a very young little stallion, the other an older female. The animals were kept under armed guard at the remote Hunt safari camp for several weeks, awaiting word from the President as to their future.

On the advice on his senior Game Wardens, President Kenyatta then gave the animals under license to The Mount Kenya Game Ranch with the request that they be cared for, bred if possible, in the hopes that one day some of their offspring could be returned to the wild if the poaching problem could be solved.

Dr. Warren Thomas of the Los Angeles Zoo assisted The Mount Kenya Game Ranch in setting up a breeding program for Kenya's last two white zebra using the herds of black and white zebra that had come to the Game Ranch from the same area as the whites.

In the year 2004, some 33 years after the white zebra rescue operation, our ongoing efforts to save the white Zebra have resulted in one of the most successful breeding programs in the history of African wildlife conservation.

The guesstimate of the total numbers of the white Zebra in the wild never exceeded 8 animals since they were first recorded and protected.

In 2004, 81 of these rare and valuable animals now existed at the Mount Kenya Game Ranch.

Small groups now totaling 50 of these rare animals have to date been successfully released on the foothills of Mount Kenya. More will follow. A keen eye is kept on their welfare in the Mount Kenya National Park. Whilst the stock animals often return to the outskirts of the Ranch (now the Conservancy) that they were born on, it is believed that their offspring will prove more adventurous and eventually lead the herd into the vast mountain wilderness areas. Already we have recorded two births since their release earlier this year!

The next phase will be a safari to the Leroghi Plateau to attempt safe release of more of these unique animals into Samburu country.

Many of the real heroes of saving the white zebra are no longer here to enjoy the sight of the white Zebra roaming free on Mount Kenya.

On behalf of their combined efforts we are grateful to the JL Foundation, USA who funded the return of white zebra to the wild and honored us with their trust.

Our very special thank you for their recent generous donations goes to:

Dr. Terry Gibbs
Sonya West and Karen Dickerson
Ms. Doreen M Cahoon, USA
Ms. Teresa Bassett, USA
The Columbus Zoological Park Association
The Cape May County Zoo, AAZK Chapter
The Sigma-Aldrich Family 2006
Jacky Ryan and Bonnie Park
Hu Jing, for the Shanghai World Expo 2010

And not least our extended family of friends from all corners of the globe: your donations and interest in our work is our guiding light. Together we shall succeed in saving those creatures whose survival depends on us.