Beginnings

In early 2006 my wife, Kerry Glen and I purchased a 3000 acre property in Laikipia adjacent to the Ewaso Nyiro River. The ranch, which we named Tumaren (dragonfly in Masai), is now dedicated exclusively to the conservation of wildlife.  Since June, with the help of six rangers that we have hired, we have been patrolling the property, removing snares, and counting game.

Tumaren, like the larger Ewaso eco-system is rich in game.  We have large populations of Gerenuk, Impala, Steinbuck, Common Zebra, Grevy's Zebra, Elephant, Grant's Gazelle and Dikdiks and smaller populations of Lesser Kudu, Thompson Gazelle, Eland, Hyena, Bat-eared Fox, Reticulated Giraffe, Hartebeest, Leopard, Cheetah, Lion and Wilddog. The Laikipia Plateau is a spectacular part of Northern Kenya where visitors can experience a great diversity of wild animals and landscapes.  With the highest diversity of large mammals in Kenya, the second largest population of elephant in Kenya, most of the worlds Grevy's Zebra, and 50 percent of all the Rhinos in the country; it is an understatement to say that Laikipia is of a great conservation significance.  This ecological value as well as the fact  that Laikipia is an unprotected area, predominantly in private ownership was the impetus for me to begin this blog.  I intend to focus the musings of this blog on Tumaren and the conservation challenges that the area is confronted with but I would also like to include natural history notes and bits and bobs of ecological interest.   We are always looking for knowledgeable people when it comes to the identification of insects and obscure plants and I invite participation when it comes to deciphering the ecology as well as the conservation of our little part of Africa.