FAUNA OF EAS'L' AFUICA. O 



(Lnvn to the sea noi'tli of Kiliii ami lias spent a inontli or so 

 ^van(leling■ about and fee<liiig in the tlioi'n Imsli near Maliiidi. 

 The herd may be the one I'eferred to from Kilimanjaro, or it may 

 •come from the INIiddle Tana or even from the Lorian. 



Every year a, herd of elephants was wont to descend from the 

 Aberdare range to the Kift Valley between Naivasha and Longonot 

 Mt. ; this herd has, I think, been obliterated. Other lines 

 •of migration were across Soutli Laikipia from the Aberdares 

 to Kenya and then north-east towards Lorian*. Still other herds 

 migrated from the Al^erdares northwards, passing east of Baringo 

 towaixls Mount Nyiro. 



Elephants from the Man forests also yearly come down to the 

 high grass country in the Lower Nyando Valley, and others 

 annually frequented a swampy valley at the foot of Gwasi Mount. 



The main routes of these migrants were so well marked, and 

 they followed practically the same roads year after year and 

 about the same month, that a native hunter's task was easy. 



These elephant roads are in certain places striking features ; on 

 the east side of 01 Bolossat Lake they can be seen climbing 

 ■diagonally up the flank of the escarpment, and form uniformly 

 graded roads about 8 ieet wide. On the summit of Mau there 

 are other roads originally elephant tracks but later on Avidened 

 out and deepened by mobs of J\L\sai cattle, and about which some 

 imaginative people have tried to force the opinion that they are 

 the relics of an ancient highway from Egypt to Zimba,bwe. 



Hearing that considerable stocks of old ivory were in possession 

 of the natives, some years ago the local government instituted the 

 practice of buying in ivory at half the market value; this resulted 

 in the production of a large amount of old ivoiy but also of a 

 large number of tusks mostly derived from immature beasts. 

 Recently most of the ivory brought in has been obviously obtained 

 from animals killeil fairly recently, but often camouflaged to 

 resemble old ivozy. 



It is very noticeable, however, that during the last ten years, in 

 •consignments of confiscated or purchased ivory, the average weight 

 per tusk has decreased, and old l^ig tuskers are now, I believe, very 

 scarce. The future of the elephant may therefoi'e be said to be 

 precarious— he will not stay in any reserve ; the inherited instinct 

 Avitli which he makes his annual migrations will, I fear, cause his 

 disappearance, although there may for many years to come be 

 vast areas Avherein he could live in reasonable safety. 



Lion. — A few words regarding the lion. This beast is in no 

 danger of extinction. As is well known, cats are very prolific, and 



* From the Lorian swamp tlie migrant herds pass N.W. to Marsabit and then 

 southwards back to the Aberdares, a round trip of well-nigh -lOO miles. The 

 well-known hunter naturalist Mr. E. J. Cuningliame informs me that this journey 

 from the Aberdares hack to the Aberdares is believed to take three years, for herds 

 liave been identified leaving the forests on the above mountains without calves and 

 returning to the same place three years later with calves of about a year old. The 

 favourite breeding place is said to be Marsabit forest. 



