What do hundreds of dead Wildebeest in the Mara River look like?

Like this...

More Pictures from Paul's Wedding

The Bride and Groom

 This is what the "6k", two-hour long walk back to the Land Rover looked like...in the rain...

The seating area...

New Agreement to Help Manage the Mara

Great job by the Lake Victoria Basin Commission.  It appears they just secured an agreement to help "enhance governance and promote integrated natural and water resources management in the Mara River Basin" from the different county councils in Kenya and Tanzania.

Read more about it below....
Councils in a joint project to save Mara

Paul's Wedding - Final Video - The Flower Girl and Steppin' Boys

A Big Croc...

We were doing some sampling of water above and below hippo pools in the Mara River and ended up surprising a large crocodile as were looking for a place to get into the river.  This footage was taken with a GoPro.  Those big crocs can sure move FAST.

Paul's Wedding - Video 4 - Dancing Ogiek Mama

Paul's Wedding - Video 3 - The Blessing

Paul's Wedding - Video 2

The Wedding

At the end of our field season, our field assistant, Paul Geemi, got married.  Here is some video from his wedding...

Bad Year for the Wildebeest, Good Year for Scientists Studying Dead Wildebeest

David arrived in the Mara about 2 weeks after the big wildebeest die-off event in which nearly 5,000 perished, but he was still able to see the remnant carcasses piled up in the river. However, near the end of his stay, another fairly large die-off occurred in the river, which gave him the opportunity to see this event firsthand. After receiving notice about the event from Brian Heath, Director of the Mara Conservancy, we headed immediately to the location to conduct a carcass count.

David counting wildebeest carcasses

 They were much easier to count fresh, although it's still difficult to keep track of individuals in the mass of bodies washed up on the rocks. 

Wildebeest carcasses in the Mara

It's very helpful to have two observers present, as well as a hand-held counter! During this event, we counted 590 carcasses.

David and Amanda counting wildebeest carcasses

Since this event, observations from us and others suggest that nearly 1,000 more have died in the river, with several months of river crossings remaining. Much of our research this summer focused on determining the effects these kinds of events have on the river. Some of our data supported our hypotheses, while others just raised more questions. 

I'm so fortunate that David was able to visit this summer and spend so much time in the field, observing the river and helping with research. Despite the long hours and challenging conditions, he absolutely overflowed with ideas and questions and thoughts for future research throughout his whole visit. We are really excited about pursuing all these ideas, and we can't wait for David's next visit to the Mara. Thanks David!