After a prolonged drought since 2016 and erratic rains, Meru National Park is now a wilderness of green!  

As in other parts of Kenya, Meru is experiencing heavy downpours. We have had 100mm of rain – the highest amount of rainfall recorded in the last 10 years. The dry plains, empty rivers and dusty roads are a thing of the past. At least for a while!

With the rains come blessings and challenges. Currently, water and pasture is in abundance. Elephants, hippos and buffaloes splash in the swamps and pools, and there is plenty of prey for the predators. Water is flowing again in most of the 13 rivers that make their way through Meru and are home to more than 50 hippos and hundreds of crocodiles. In early February, only about four of the rivers had flowing water. Today, Mulika river, arguably the smallest of them, has burst its banks.

Conflict between communities and wildlife has also reduced drastically with the pastoralist community moving back to their grazing lands.

However, the rains have hindered some of our work, such as lion monitoring and desnaring. Because rivers have burst their banks and there is massive surface run-off, most of the feeder roads have been rendered impassable, making some areas inaccessible. This also poses a great danger to the wildlife – chances of illegal human activities are likely to rise. That said, we have still sighted some of the lion prides, albeit with difficulty, in the last month.

Despite these challenges, wildlife has to be protected and we have devised ways to adapt to get the job done. Where our vehicles can’t access, our boots get firmly on the ground!

All in all, the green is a welcome change for all in Meru and we hope the water will sustain the wildlife and communities in the coming months after the rains subside.