The Colobus Trust
works to develop and implement innovative conservation solutions in
five areas of human/wildlife conflict. these conflict areas are:
Habitat loss, Primates as pests, Vehicular collisions,
Electrocutions, Poaching. Click on conflict area to see some of the
solutions that the Trust has developed to create a win-win situation
for the primates and for the community.
COLOBRIDGES
A Solution for
Road Traffic Accidents
Decreasing injury & mortality by placing colobridges, aerial ladders
spanning the road
When the Trust was
founded, one of the main threats to Diani's colobus monkeys was
death caused by road traffic accidents. The home ranges of these
arboreal primates have been bisected by a major road, Diani Beach
Highway, and they are subsequently very prone to road injuries and
death whilst crossing through their ranges.
Solutions:
The Colobus Trust designed a cable, rubber and PVC bridge that
straddles the Diani Beach highway. Currently, there are 28 'Colobridges'
crossing the highway. A preliminary study has shown that per year,
there are approximately 150,000 primate crossings - crossings that
most likely would have happened on the road had it not been for the
bridges.
In addition to the initial bridge-building activities, we also go
out to inspect and repair any damaged Colobridges weekly.
We have created speed-limit signs along Diani Beach Highway
reminding drivers to go no faster than 50KMH.
In the event that a primate is injured but not killed, the Colobus
Trust has a working veterinary clinic to treat these injured
monkeys.
You can sponsor a Colobridge in Diani Beach that will have your name
on it! Click
here for more information!
Solution for Habitat Loss
Protecting the last fragments of primary forest in Diani
The coastal forests of Kenya form part of the Coastal Forests of
East Africa global 'biodiversity hotspot' as identified by
Conservation International . Hotspots are identified by the high
number of endemic species that they contain, and the high level of
threat to biodiversity that exists in the area. Within the Coastal
Forests of East Africa hotspot, there are found at least 64 globally
threatened species (6 mammals, 3 birds, 2 amphibians, 53 plants).
One primate species that is endemic to these forests and is under
extreme pressure from human development is Colobus angolensis
palliatus, the Angolan black and white colobus monkey. This monkey
is extremely rare with fewer than 13,000 individuals globally - less
than that of gorillas. In and around the resort town of Diani, there
are c. 270 individuals. This constitutes the second largest
population in Kenya with the Diani Forest as the stronghold for the
species as it is the last primary forest patch in the area. This
makes Diani an important area for conservation and securing the
Diani Forest critical.
The Diani Forest is one of three patches of coral rag forest
remaining. The forest is only 89 hectares in size. Continuous
expansion of development for tourism over the past 40 years has had
a staggering increase of over 1700% growth. While this is a
tremendous success for businesses, it has contributed massively to
deforestation to the point that the success of tourism will affect
its own ability to do business in the future.
How so? The forest and wildlife are undervalued assets in spite of
‘ecotourism’ and 'ecotourists' having become an increasingly
important branch of foreign travel. Promotion of “natural areas” for
tourists who have an interest in and awareness of environmental
issues cannot be underestimated, especially in future trends
planning. In fact, the Colobus Trust carried out a tourist survey
and found that 85% of the tourists surveyed in Diani felt that the
local natural environment was important in their choice of holiday
destination.
In essence, land use planning has not kept pace with the needs of
the natural environment. This is surprising considering that tourism
is recognized as a major industry of the country and indeed one of
the largest sources of foreign exchange earnings in Kenya. Through
conservation of the forest, Diani’s appeal as a destination would
not only be linked to a beach holiday, but also linked to forest and
primate ecotourism giving greater long term sustainability to the
area.
Solutions:
The Trust is looking to purchase 3.9 hectares of Diani Forest. You
can help save the Diani Forest by donating to the fund to try to
purchase this piece of critical land. Any donation of any size is
gratefully accepted.
Weekly tree planting in a local sacred forest Kaya Ukunda which
includes clearing away weeds and underbrush, planting trees, keeping
them watered and protected from insects.
Maintenance of an indigenous tree nursery at the Colobus Trust to
use for planting trees in and around Diani.
Solution for Primates as
Pests
Decreasing the frequency of primate pest behaviour
Many hotels and local area homes on Diani Beach experience issues
with monkeys as pests on their premises. Efficient running of the
hotels is impeded by theft of food and damage to property; risk of
injury to guests can, and has, led to potentially
damaging law-suits. Monkeys also steal food from homes and spread
rubbish around while searching for food. The root cause of monkey
pest issues (as with other types of pest issues such as rats and
cockroaches) is easy access to food sources.
Solutions:
We offer training to hotel staff to teach them ways to minimise
monkey pest issues. This includes use of water pistols, catapults
with non-harmful ammunition such as twigs, protection of rubbish and
informing guests to not feed the monkeys or leave food lying around.
Teaching local people to protect their rubbish bins and to guard
crops or food for sale to prevent monkeys from stealing food.
Teaching tourists and locals to not feed monkeys voluntarily.
Children from local schools come on a weekly basis to learn about
primates and how to live harmoniously with them.
Solution for Electrocutions
Reducing injury & mortality by electrocution
Uninsulated power lines are numerous in Diani. As tree branches
often come into contact with the power lines, primates, and
particularly the Angolan colobus who are almost exclusively
arboreal, use the power lines as an easy way of crossing from one
area to another.
Almost all of the main lines in Diani of 22,000 volts are
uninsulated. As a result, many primates are killed instantly when
crossing between lines. The domestic lines of 240 volts often injure
an animal through serious burns or loss of limb, leading to a high
number of secondary fatalities caused by infection.
Solutions:
A collaboration between Colobus Trust and the Kenya Power and
Lighting Company (KPLC) has been formed to carry out weekly
tree-trimming around power lines. Tree trimming involves cutting
back vegetation from power lines and transformers so that the
monkeys have reduced contact with them. We perform tree trimming on
a weekly basis.
We urge local hotels and businesses to insulate their power lines.
Not only is it better for Diani primates, every time a monkey is
electrocuted it knocks out power to most or all of Diani for
sometimes days at a time.
Occasionally a primate will be electrocuted but not killed - our
veterinary clinic rescues these monkeys and treats them. Most often
the limb that has been electrocuted will have to be amputated.
Solution for
Pet-trade
Rehabilitation of ex-captive monkeys
Vervet and Sykes monkeys are often captured illegally from the wild
and kept as pets. As these monkeys grow to adulthood, they often
become unruly and difficult to take care of. Sometimes these monkeys
are then surrendered to the KSPCA, or are caged until they are
confiscated by KSPCA. Sometimes monkeys are also used by locals
using them as "beach" monkeys for tourists to get their pictures
taken with.
Solutions:
We currently have a rehabilitation program to help re-teach these
primates to live in the wild. The program involves teaching them to
have a natural fear of humans, how to forage and find natural food
sources, and how to live in a troop setting.
This program typically takes 12-18 months for each primate. Once we
have enough primates to form a working troop and they appear to be
able to take care of themselves without human interference, we
release them into the wild and monitor their progress.
Solution for Poaching
De-snaring of forests
Snares set to catch Suni antelope and other small mammals in the
forests around Diani pose a threat to primates and other local
wildlife. Monkey species such as Vervets, Sykes, and Baboons all
forage for food on the ground and all too often become the victims
of these home made devices. The snares are usually constructed from
rope or wire which catch the animal by its limbs or sometimes around
its neck. The animal then struggles to escape, tightening the snare
and often causing terrible injuries. If its wounds do not kill it
quickly it will often survive in agony for several days before
succumbing to dehydration and starvation. If the animal manages to
struggle free with the snare still wrapped around it, it often
slowly constricts and may become embedded in the flesh of the
animal, causing suffering for months.
Solutions:
We weekly patrol local forest patches searching for and destroying
snares.
Students come to the Trust on a weekly basis to learn about our work
and why poaching wild bush meat is a problem for primates and other
animals in Diani.
If someone sees a primate with a snare embedded in its flesh, they
will call the Colobus Trust to come out and capture it. We then
treat it in our veterinary clinic for infection, dehydration,
starvation, and other problems that arise from the snares.
the flesh of the
animal, causing suffering for months.
