Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
We were very privileged to have an invite to stay at Lewa Downs, a private game ranch that has become a leading light within eco-tourism circles. On 10 Aug, Rory Bremner (the British comedian), a long time supporter of Lewa, wrote a very positive article for the Daily Telegraph travel supplement, extolling the Lewa community projects and the wildlife protection at Lewa. We can only echo Rory's fine words, for within the first 5-10 minutes of our game drive, we had seen both black and white rhino, elephant, scores of ungulates, including the Grevy's zebra and Masai giraffe. Within the swamp area, we saw our first sitatunga.
The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy (LWC) was set up in 1995, by the Craig family. In order to protect the wildlife, the 45,000 acre area has a perimeter fence, with one monitored entrance to allow for seasonal migratory movements to the northern frontier regions. The LWC has more than 25% of the world population of Grevy's zebra, 32 black rhino and 34 white rhino, which are monitored on a daily basis. There are various animal research projects taking place, and the information gained from these will influence future animal management throughout Kenya. LWC is also supporting community development projects where profits are returned to the community. In order to control poaching, LWC works together with the Kenya Wildlife Service. It aims to develop the preservation of wildlife together with the local communities, integrating conservation with the prosperity of these communities, and educating the people in the preservation of indigenous wild animals. Lewa has an excellent website at www.lewa.org.
