Bulletin of the EANHS 27( 1) 
Hypertcaceac 
Labiatae 
Malvaceae 
Meliaceae 
Monimiaceae 
Olcaceae 
Orchidaccac 
Papilionaceac 
F'odocarpaceac 
Primulaoeac 
Rubiaceae 
Sciopulanaceae 
Solanaocae 
Vilaceac 
PhyUanthus fischen S 
Sauvagesta erveta 
Ajuga remotu 
Leucas deJJexa 
Stda urens 
Carapa procera 
Xymalos monospora T 
Oleaafrlcana T 
Howard (1991 1 
Disa wehvltschil 
Etasoma cardifotium 
Podocorpus milanjianus T 
Eggcling& Dale (1991) 
P. gyacllor T 
Howard 1 1991) 
Lyslmochta ruhmerlana 
Psychotria megisiasltcta T 
Howard! 19vi) 
Borrenn prtneeae 
Buchnera rinvenzonensis 
Cycmum jamesn 
llyzan dies parvi flora 
Lindemta diffusa 
Sopubta inannll 
Physalis peruviana 
(exotic) 
Leea gutneenslz S 
T tree 
S shrub 
F fem 
All species recorded in this study were collected by 
AJ3 Katendc,P IpulctorE.Kabasiirac. and verified 
by A.B. Katendc 
A B. Kaicnde, Dept, of Botany & D.E Pomeroy. Institute 
of Environment and Natural Resources. Makarerc 
Univereity, PO. Box 7298, Kampala 
TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS 
In the early pan of 1 967 we fell hopeful that after wc had 
got nd or the hyena pack in 1 966. wc might make a profit 
this year. Then on Good Friday morning, one of the cattle 
hcidsmcn reported that a steer had been killed andpanly 
calen on the loner pan of the farm We had often lost 
cattle and sheep killed by leopatd and hyena or wild 
dog. but the whole 'scene ofllie crime - looked different 
this time— the steer was so big and the meal taken was 
so large! Furthermore, it was a very dull damp morning 
and the surrounding bush seemed rather quiet; as if a 
storm, or some very important person had jusl passed 
by I fiddled about a bit and coughed and poked under 
bushy gullies— and Ihen found two enormous lion prints! 
My next thought was BREAKFAST, during which I 
remembered that we had had some cattle killing by lion 
in 1 956. but nothing since I hoped that this lion would 
continue on his safari and leave our cattle alone Tltrec 
weeks later I heard him roar several miles away lale at 
night and sure enough he killed another anutial. an 
Abcrdcen-Angus heifer this time. 1 sal up over the kill 
for two nights but the lion did not return Then the 
pattern began to build up And it killed cattle on OUR 
FARM ONLY for tile next six months! None of our 
neighbours reported trouble, other than finding kills of 
wild game once or twice The whole area of about 150,000 
acres in the Central Rill Willey district near Gilgil. with 
Eburru as the "epicentre' was tanched with cattle and 
sheep, with plenty of wildlife on all five (arms. 
1 asked the Game Department to help in trapping or 
killing this lion but they either had no petrol or ammo or 
interest in my problem, but they did loan me a very large 
box trap that I set oflen. As the lion seemed either shy or 
had been shot at before, he seldom returned in tile kill 
for another feed Perhaps he just liked his food fresh 
Another beautiful heifer killed— so I prepared to sit up 
over the kill all night if necessaty To avoid lum scenting 
me I sal in the back of the Landrovcr having covered it 
with bush branches I had taken the precaution or 
chaining the carcass to a tree stump so that it was in full 
view at about 20 yards us there was small moon. I did not 
hear or see anything but realised that the carcass was 
moving!!! Then the chain rattled and with a low grunt 
the lion left — a boring cold wait until dawn. 
Failure, again., and thekdls continued at odd intervals 
Sometimes over a month went by without trouble and 
then he would return He never touched meat that had 
been poisoned He did inspect the box trap one night 
and in lus disgust sprayed' the doorframe I felt that 
somehow he knew that I did nol appreciate his life-style. 
He w as right! At that uinc each animal killed was worth 
about £50. 
The next time lie lulled 1 look the precaution or lying 
up the carcass with soil rope and again positioning 
myself in a bushy gully about 15-20 yards away, and 
covered myself w ith branches liberally sprinkled with 
viscera. It was a totally black night so I hud strapped a 
torch to my rifle and wailed— and waited and viaited and 
waited— providing a good meal for mosquitoes. He 
roared about a mile away causing my adrenali nc to whiz 
around quite a bit At last at about IO.OOPMIbeaidhini 
eating hut could not sec even an outline. At the click of 
the torch he sprang back-wards over a bush and didn't 
return Failure! And this was the seventh hciferkiUcd. In 
the morning I checked out the scene and round tliat the 
bush he cleared with his frightened backward spring 
was just less than 12 feet high* (YES twclvcfoel ) Lions 
are strong and alklelic 
Aflerafimherkill. I tried tracking him upwith a pack 
of pie-dogs from the local camp, together with our own 
The tracks seemed to wander a lot but. as wc had 
discovered previously, lie decamped for miles allcr making 
a kill I wondered if he felt guilt) or just was wise and 
cautious? The eleventh kill was on the night before lire 
full moon, so there was every chance of a shot over the 
kill the next nigllt— if he came back May little was taken 
from this carcass, so something must have disturbed 
lum I took the precaution of using rope, silting in my 
ambush with care allowing for wind and even smearing 
guts all over die Landrovcr and bushes covering me 
