The orphanage is still used at time as what the name is supposed to be for - however it is now mainly a Zoo....
Strange that KWS has not answered Pippa....???? I usually get one answer out of 10 questions with them via e mail. Sysrtem always down.

Yes, that has been my experience too Nico. I have contacted them about their accommodation and about a couple of other things this year, and either the reply is prompt or there is no reply. It's not only KWS either. A lot of places in Kenya seem to have similar problems from time to time.

And, another thing.... as someone responsible for overseeing the company Web site (which gets a fairly large volume of mail) I've noticed that if the person assigned to perform Webmaster duties does not have it included in their job description or you leave it to the "techies", there's always the unspoken assumption that responding to emails religiously is not a priority - management rarely, if ever, check this sort of thing. I've found if you start an email with "I am wondering why I did not receive a response to my email of (date). Perhaps there were some technical issues which you are resulted in you not receiving it." your response rate jumps significantly because they (i) know you are not going to 'go way' and (ii) are thankful to you for presenting them with a feasible excuse. If there are two email addresses, cc the other one.... it is probably not the same person looking after both.

And Pippa, I don't know if the Nature Walk has space (I will check next week if I have the chance!) but I do think the KWS has budget issues. Did you read my post on Fodor's? It's a bit rambling but I mentioned the fate of the Grevy's zebra in Meru National Park. If you didn't see the excellent but very slow-moving doumentary series on the "regeneration" of Meru NP, some Grevy's zebra were moved from Lewa Downs to the park to set up a viable population there. There was a herd of 20 (my understanding is that there were supposed to be more but unfortunately the second or third lot of zebra were transported after heavy rains and the truck got stuck before it reached the park - or at least before it reached the area where the other zebra were - and they had to release them there and then because the animals were becoming extremely agitated - it was not the first time they'd been stuck in the mud onthe journey) but lions have now reduced their numbers to only 8 and have recently killed the last stallion (I learned this from Elsa's Kopje's news bulletin, by the way). However KWS has no plans to restock because it is "not a priority". Given the amount of money and effort put into regenerating Meru NP, and the amount of good publicity it generated for KWS, it seems amazing that KWS should take this stance and so the chance of them making the care of the orphan animals a priority may be assumed to be slim.

Hopefully I will be surprised and of course this is all based on incomplete information.

go way = go away

Oh, my typing

Original von kimburu
Yes, that has been my experience too Nico. I have contacted them about their accommodation and about a couple of other things this year, and either the reply is prompt or there is no reply. It's not only KWS either. A lot of places in Kenya seem to have similar problems from time to time.

And, another thing.... as someone responsible for overseeing the company Web site (which gets a fairly large volume of mail) I've noticed that if the person assigned to perform Webmaster duties does not have it included in their job description or you leave it to the "techies", there's always the unspoken assumption that responding to emails religiously is not a priority - management rarely, if ever, check this sort of thing. I've found if you start an email with "I am wondering why I did not receive a response to my email of (date). Perhaps there were some technical issues which you are resulted in you not receiving it." your response rate jumps significantly because they (i) know you are not going to 'go way' and (ii) are thankful to you for presenting them with a feasible excuse. If there are two email addresses, cc the other one.... it is probably not the same person looking after both.

And Pippa, I don't know if the Nature Walk has space (I will check next week if I have the chance!) but I do think the KWS has budget issues. Did you read my post on Fodor's? It's a bit rambling but I mentioned the fate of the Grevy's zebra in Meru National Park. If you didn't see the excellent but very slow-moving doumentary series on the "regeneration" of Meru NP, some Grevy's zebra were moved from Lewa Downs to the park to set up a viable population there. There was a herd of 20 (my understanding is that there were supposed to be more but unfortunately the second or third lot of zebra were transported after heavy rains and the truck got stuck before it reached the park - or at least before it reached the area where the other zebra were - and they had to release them there and then because the animals were becoming extremely agitated - it was not the first time they'd been stuck in the mud onthe journey) but lions have now reduced their numbers to only 8 and have recently killed the last stallion (I learned this from Elsa's Kopje's news bulletin, by the way). However KWS has no plans to restock because it is "not a priority". Given the amount of money and effort put into regenerating Meru NP, and the amount of good publicity it generated for KWS, it seems amazing that KWS should take this stance and so the chance of them making the care of the orphan animals a priority may be assumed to be slim.

Hopefully I will be surprised and of course this is all based on incomplete information.

dear kimburu
due to lack of time i have to respond later on!
i hope i will think of it................
don't worry if you won't here from me till jan.
pippa

Nico:

If you get a chance to talk with Julius Kipngetich at KWS please beg him to create a safe donation page on the KWS website. There are many of us who would be glad to donate to help with situations such as the orphange. I have raised this point with him for two years and nothing has been done.

If they were to connect with PayPal or WorldPay, people could donate with a credit card and it would be deposited directly into KWS coffers, enabling them to do more for wildlife (and at the same time would be safe for the donor). The donor could also print up a receipt of their donation. They might also list choices so the donors could select where they want their money to go; i.e. animal orphange NNP, antipoaching team; anti-bushmeat and desnaring teams; translocation team.

If we don't talk before, good luck in Nairobi. I'll hope and pray you'll have some good news on your return