Anne K Taylor Fund

Anne K Taylor Fund (aktf) thanks to generous support from national geographic's big cat initiative, eden wildlife trust, masai mara wildlife conservancies association, mara angama lodge, and many private donors, the aktf boma team constructs and fortifies predator-resistant stockades for maasai herders around the mara. These stockades, called bomas, protect valuable livestock from wild predators like lions, leopards and hyenas. Because losses of livestock mean loss of potential revenue for the maasai, fortified bomas directly reduce the need for herders to protect their assets by hunting and killing predators.the maasai's traditional bomas are made with wooden posts and thorns. These structures deteriorate quickly and are meant to be reconstructed every few years. Now that the maasai are not as nomadic as they used to be, there is a need for sturdier fences that can stand for longer. Aktf constructs chain link bomas wrapped around pressure treated wood posts and steel corner posts. These structures can withstand predator attacks better than traditional bomas, and they are also easier on the environment, as they use less of the mara's scarce wood.since 2014 we have built 170 of these metal corner bomas, including the 15 we constructed to meet our project goals in 2019. In total, we have built or refurbished 845 bomas since 2008, protecting an estimated 183,040 head of livestock.in all, aktf's metal corner bomas have been 99% effective at averting predation on livestock. Compared to traditional bomas, aktf-fortified bomas-both metal corner bomas and bomas fortified just with chain link fencing combined-reduce losses from 13.6 animals per year to 0.3 on average, which is a 98% improvement.in addition to building new bomas, aktf also visits bomas we fortified prior to developing the metal corner method to make any necessary repairs. This keeps these bomas in working order and maintains strong, positive relationships with maasai partners and beneficiaries. After all, we could not do this work without the support of the maasai themselves, and we rely on their cooperation and financial partnership to successfully protect the mara's wildlife.

Empowering local children is the key to a healthy future for maasai mara. However, most of the schools in the area are underfunded and lack even proper facilities for holding classes. As part of our mission, aktf engages in building facilities, training teachers and promoting hygiene at local schools. At oliashire primary school, aktf built a kitchen and helped parents to initiate a feeding programme. Feeding students at school is critical to their academic success because most of them walk miles and miles to school each morning with only a cup of tea in their stomachs. Nutritious meals at school not only encourage attendance, but they also help energize students to pay attention and soak up their lessons. At oliashire and oloolmongi, we completed eight new pit latrines for the students in each school. These private, clean facilities will help improve the health of the student body by reducing disease transmission in the environment.at nailepu junior academy, upon completion of new classrooms, we were proud to join nailepu families, teachers, and administrators in honoring larry and susan patrick, the generous donors who have made the construction of nailepu possible. We also built temporary housing for teachers so they wouldn't have to walk miles home in the dark each night. This will help the school attract teachers from farther away who might otherwise not be able to work so far from home. In 2019, 34 students graduated to grade 1; this is the first class to have completed their entire education at nailepu.at oloolmongi, we continue with our school lunch programme, feeding almost 500 students a day with assistance from the parents. We also completed an administrative building, giving teachers there a warm and dry place to quietly prepare their lessons and grade papers. This office space will help oloolmongi attract and retain high quality teachers.we installed rainwater harvesting tanks and filtration systems at oliashire, nailepu and oloolmongi in partnership with a&k philanthropy and lifestraw, making safe drinking water accessible to over 800 students and teachers. Each school received two filters plus training for staff and students on how to properly use and maintain the equipment.on top of providing the big picture support to schools in masai mara (facilities, field trips, text books, sports equipment and hygiene), we have also noticed the small things that make studying that much easier. For example, this year we started manufacturing large desks that are longer lasting, more comfortable, and have more space on which to work than the tiny wooden predecessors that have traditionally been used in classrooms. With frames made out of steel, these desks will stand up better to the eager energy of young students.

In 1999, aktf's very first projects were anti-poaching patrols and wildlife rescues before the mara conservancy took over management of the mara triangle. The primary responsibilities of the aktf and mara conservancy rangers currently involved in the project include patrolling key poaching hotspots around the reserve, removing snares set by poachers, and helping the kenya wildlife service/david sheldrick wildlife trust veterinarians to rescue animals with human-induced injuries. The team also collaborates with national geographic big cats initiative, eden wildlife trust, mara north conservancy, mara conservancy, oloisukut conservancy, mara elephant project, wwf, kenya forestry service - as well as many local community members - to fulfill its mission. Our work to save kenya's wildlife for future generations could not be possible without the help of these organizations, and we are extremely grateful for their collaboration.elias kamande leads, manages, and transports the anti-poaching team. The other permanent members of the aktf anti-poaching team are ole kilonga, ole saitoti, ole sirere, and oloito kinanda, all of whom are local maasai community members. We are grateful to mara conservancy wardens francis pengo, daniel tunai, dominic naikuta, julius tierewa, konchela, and bet, rangers anthony kangethe, nayioma, kennedy kitmai, ochieng, julius seme, topisia kirelai, and koyiaki as well as mara conservancy (mc) director brian heath, for their support this year on this project along with the mc rangers who accompany our team.in our area of work, the bush meat trade largely drives poaching activity although trophies like ivory and rhino horns also play a role. Though many poachers actually come from neighboring communities, their presence in the mara is only possible with permission from the maasai. To combat this side of poaching, our team regularly arrests poachers caught in the act and communicates with locals about the destructive effects of wildlife population declines on the economy of masai mara.poachers' weapons of choice to catch animals for bushmeat are metal nooses, called snares, attached to trees near wildlife trails. These snares tighten as the animal walks through and keeps them there until the poachers can come to kill them. Usually, poachers set more snares than necessary in order to ensure a bountiful hunt. As a result, even animals that are not killed and harvested are left to die in the wires. The patrol team removes the snares and releases the animals that are caught in them whenever possible. In the event that animals are wounded by the snares, we call in the david sheldrick wildlife trust/kws veterinarians to help treat the injuries. The patrol team removed approximately 140 snares in 2019 and rescued 4 live animals. Since 2009, we have removed 7,140 snares from the mara (in addition to the several thousand more we removed before we began counting)-representing many thousands of animals saved from death.