The month of January has sadly been a record breaker in terms of primate fatalities.
16 monkeys (Vervet: 2, Sykes: 7, Colobus: 6, Baboons: 1) have been lost in the 26 days January has so far seen. Not only is this a 533% increase on the 3 lost in the whole of December, but it is also a considerable proportion of Diani’s ever-dwindling primate populations. If this rate continues we will be looking at a complete population collapse within primates, over the next decade or less.
The majority of deaths occurred under the wheels of speeding vehicles, with 10 monkeys (Vervet: 2, Sykes: 7, Colobus: 1) being claimed by the road that cuts their habitat in half. A further 6 monkeys (Colobus: 5, Baboons: 1) have been electrocuted to death on the insinuated power lines and transformers that occur through Diani Forest. These two elements of habitat disturbance are unsurprisingly, the biggest threat to Diani’s primates.
Below is a picture of a Colobus we cared for after he was hit by a speeding car, as you can see his jaw was broken meaning he could only eat Bougainvillea porridge.
This notable increase in fatalities, when compared to last month’s figures, is sadly an explainable trend and mankind is irrefutably guilty. Although it has not been statistically proven, it is hypothesised to occur because of two factors. Firstly, the increased human traffic that occurs during this peak of the tourist season. This leads to an increase in not just road traffic, but the pedestrian traffic also makes monkeys more unlikely of coming to the ground. Thus leading them to come into contact with power lines more frequently. The second factor is caused by the current climate. We are in the middle of the “dry season” and therefore monkeys are moving further in search of food and water. These lead monkeys to pass more frequently through areas of conflict. Therefore explaining why our electrocution and road traffic accident hotspots claim even more lives at this time of year. People argue that man is not to blame for this, but reckless drivers and a failure to insulate power lines proves to the contrary.
This knowledge should serve as a brutal reminder to us all. We are facing a very real and imminent future where irresponsible tourism and development will cause the demise of this once glorious forest. Rest assured, the reality is bleak, but The Colobus Trust and its allies will continue the fight to save Diani’s monkeys from the future they currently face, but we need your help and support. Some of our readers will remember the days when Diani was a pioneering beach resort buried deep in the coastal rainforest. Now all that is left of this forest is confined to privately owned patches within hotels and peoples gardens. It is these vulnerable forests that make Diani such a popular tourist destination and something that only takes a little compromise to protect. Something that we should all recognise as our duty. If you need any advice on how to act responsibly please ask our advice. But for a start, simple things such as providing water dishes will make a difference.
Let us hope that, as in previous years, the death toll falls. However the many horrible sites witnessed by members of the Colobus Trust Animal Rescue Unit will stay with us for a long time. Those of you who have stopped for a dead monkey lying on the side of the road will know what we mean and feel our pain.
The Colobus Trust will continue its work with core projects such as Colobridge maintenance and Animal Rescue Unit as well as continuing with novel ideas. One of these will to push forward with our primate electrocution hotspot insulation project. This week we are hosting 9 Camp Kenya students, pictured above learning about the forest and undertaking a population check of Kaya Kinondo Forest. This will add to the team as we prepare the insulation material. On Thursday the 29th of January we will be insulating our second hotspot by Zawama. We will then move on to insulate more hotspots. We aim to complete one every two weeks!
Best wishes,
The Colobus Team
Donations made here are
Mar 2nd Susan B USD 11.00
3 Comments
A sad post indeed…I wish you the very best of luck with the insulation project and hope that this will completely reduce those sorts of fatalities…as for man and cars, I don’t don’t what the solution is…in my own community deer, foxes, etc… are mowed down every day by cars and people gripe about the animals!! How about this…slow down and be a thoughtful and watchful driver…the animals only do what they do…we should know better.
Hi
Its a couple of years since I was out there with you guys, but the stories don’t change. I’m glad that the original idea for insulation via tubing is proving useful, and hopefully this will gradually make a difference to the death rates from electrocution. Have you considered wooden boxes over the switches/terminals – which I know are also a particular problem.
On the RTA situation, the ‘obvious’ solution would be a series of road humps to slow the local traffic. After all we suffer them back home in the UK for the sake of children playing in the road etc, so should be equally applicable to protecting monkeys
)
I wondered if the local authorities would be interested in developing Diani as a wildlife destination – using the CT as a focus – ‘Come to Diani, the home of the Colobus Trust’ etc etc. This would be beneficial to the local hotels (in competition with the resorts to the North of Mombasa) and of course would help you guys. The Shimba Hills reserve nearby should also be interested as of course they do lose out to the big name parks – Tsavo, Amboseli and the Mara – and the idea of generating a more complete experience of Beach + Reserves would help them I’m sure.
The council could provide the road humps, the hotels, reserve (and tourism board) provide the publicity, and you guys provide the materials and activities to educate and entertain (!) the tourists.
Just thinking aloud, but welcome the debate.
Good luck
Charles
Thanks for your continued interest and support for the Trust. We have been able to campaign for a number of speed humps along the main Diani road however it is still not enough.
Signs requesting drivers to keep their speed to 50KPH are constantly ignored by tourists and residents alike and drivers slow for the humps then speed off again. Some even honk at the monkeys and expect them to understand and move.
(A camel was actually killed on this road in January and if you can’t avoid a camel, well, words fail me!)
Unfortunately the council are less responsive here than they may be in the UK for a perceived human threat but the Trust keep working towards reducing the conflict between humans and the Diani primates. Any suggestions are most welcome.