The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy works as a catalyst for the conservation of wildlife and its habitat.
It does this through the protection and management of species, the initiation and support of community conservation and development programmes, and the education of neighbouring areas in the value of wildlife.
Wilderness of the black rhinos – Osar Lemmuny This story is written by Edward Paya - Head of Il
Ngwesi Security
Omni, the two year old black rhino, trod to
‘Osar Lemmuny’ making him the first rhino back
to the ‘wilderness of the black rhinos’ for nearly
30 years. This land, which is part of the 16,500 hectare Il
Ngwesi group ranch, was once a heaven for professional trophy
hunters and infamous for poaching activities which wiped out
the predecessors of Omni out of this land.
Although this land retained its name ‘Osar
Lemmuny’ it is a dream come true for the community group
ranch members who have dedicated their land towards conserving
the wildlife within the ranch. Omni is the jewel in the crown
for the Il Ngwesi community; for in just one decade their
efforts in conservation have made them build an award winning
lodge ad reduce poaching activities within the ranch and its
surrounding areas to zero.
In terms of latitude Omni is the most northern black rhino
in Kenya and the only in a community reserve.
March 11th 2002 marks a new beginning for the Il Ngwesi
group ranch community. It is a dream come true with the advent
of Omni the diversity of wildlife has increased and the responsibilities
bring a lot of pride in the hearts of many.
The Il Ngwesi community is more grateful to all organizing
parties that contributed towards the success of Omni’s
translocation to Il Ngwesi. The young black rhino is now under
management of Il Ngwesi community and security provided by
the 8 enrolled armed community scouts.”
A year and a half later Omni was joined by two white rhinos,
Marriot and Hima.
The Marathon breaks Records! The Safaricom Marathon was run on Lewa on Saturday 23 June. The event broke many records and was a great success....more
Mawingo gives birth to another calf Mawingo (meaning cloud in Swahili) is a 18 year old black rhino female. She has given birth to a total of six calves in her life at Lewa....more
Unseasonal rain Lewa is experiencing very unseasonal rain (over 22inches since the beginning of November) with no prospect of any improvement....more
Christmas greeting from Ian Craig 13 rhino born within Lewa in 2006; no rhino lost to poaching; 640 elephant counted last week in the previously conflict torn but now protected Sera Community Conservation area; all the birds are nesting, wonderful rain across all of Kenya especially on L...more
Lewa's floods. Kenya is experiencing the most extraordinary rain right across the country....more
Finally the long awaited rains have arrived on Lewa and the North! In the last week we have had lost and lots of rain and it looks like it will continue for some time. We all are very relieved about this and we hope that the communities up north will be able to recover quickly from the recent drought. ...more
Anthrax update An outbreak of anthrax 100 km north of Lewa in the Wamba area that began in December 2005 appeared to be disproportionately killing equids and, in particular, Grevy's zebras....more
British High Commission - "Next Generation" At last years Safaricom Marathon the British High Commission kindly donated a prize to the first two boys and girls, in the Fun Run for kids, to travel to London in early 2006....more
Another hand-reared rhino calf on Lewa! On 10th of October Mawingo, our 15 year old partially blind black rhino mother gave birth again to a baby boy, a mere 18 months after she calved Tula...more
Rain and rhino calves. Our rhino population has increased by one more taking the number of black to 40 and with our white population at 36 so we are now 76 in all....more
Community Development The May month was pretty busy being almost the half way of the year. Most communities were evaluating what they had achieved in the year 2003/2004. There was a Wildlife Policy Development Workshop held in Mombasa that focused on formulation...more
Lord Deedes Visits Lewa As part of the London Daily Telegraph Christmas Appeal Lord Deedes has just finished a 6 day visit to the Conservancy, Il Ngwesi and Namunyak....more
