Monitoring and Research

The Mara Raptor Project

The Mara Raptor Project, managed by Stratton Hatfield, is a project run in partnership with the Peregrine Fund, Wageningen University and Research, the University of Kentucky, the Narok County Council, and the National Museums of Kenya.
 

The Mara Raptor Project is based out of Olderikesi Conservancy in the Mara and has partnered with Cottars Wildlife and Conservation Trust.  

A crucial part of the Mara Raptor Project work entails the monitoring of 200+ raptor nests across the Mara, including the placement of cameras in nests to find out the productivity, diet, parental roles, and chick development, along with many other innovative data collection ideas.

A wild African Hawk Eagle (Hieraeetus spilogaster) and chick.

Lemein Parmuntoro is the Project Coordinator who has been trained and equipped to conduct an intensive standardized nest survey in the Mara. This has been a huge success and we are extremely excited to share some results.

Kipeto Energy Project

The Kenya Bird of Prey Trust is working with key partners to mitigate raptor losses due to the recent construction of the Kipeto Wind Farm in the path of the largest vulture colony n southern Kenya. Our work with the Peregrine Fund and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) reveals that vultures are not limited to one region of Kenya but travel across the country at regular intervals, returning to a familiar base regular. Referring to a flight path example below one readily accepts that vultures in Tsavo, Mara, Laikipia and indeed northern Tanzania and southern Ethiopia travel through the Kipeto Wind Farm enroute to their colony 20km away in the rift Valley.