Introduction
Excuse the pun but our partners at the Watamu Raptor Centre are off to a flying start with another Southern Banded Snake Eagle rescue last week. For such a rare, endangered and unknown species of snake eagle that is confined to declining coastal forests, it’s both interesting and concerning that two of these eagles have needed assistance over recent months. It is also telling of the need for the new Watamu Raptor Centre to provide raptor rescue, rehabilitation and research at the coast.
Late in the afternoon of March 27th, Leslie Kadane of Primate Global (the same person who alerted us to the prior snake eagle’s predicament) reached out to Roy Bealey from the Watamu Raptor Centre to share that another unwell raptor was being held for collection at the KWS office in the Arabuko Sokoke Forest. He rushed over to collect the bird and was stunned to see another Southern Banded Snake Eagle in need of help. He quickly noted with relief that this eagle did not have an identifying ring or tracker attached, reassuring him that this was not a case of the recently released snake eagle, Ngala, getting himself into trouble again already. Mr Salim Makomba, Warden of Arabuko Sokoke Forest Reserve and National Park, had kindly stayed after hours to ensure the eagle was safely retrieved and assisted Roy in his initial checks of the bird’s condition.
The eagle was picked up after some KWS rangers had noticed it behaving strangely during their patrols, firstly being stood on the road and then repeatedly flying only a few meters before again landing on the ground when approached. Mr. Timothy Baya Mweri, a researcher in attendance who works for Friends of Arabuko Sokoke Forest, was able to capture the eagle, which they provided with some water before returning to the KWS office. The eagle vomited en-route and the Warden informed Roy that it was weak and drooling on arrival. It did seem dazed on collection but by the time Roy had returned home and given the eagle some energising glucose fluids it was looking strong, ready for a fight and highly unimpressed about receiving so much human attention.
With technical guidance from the Kenya Bird of Prey Trust team, a full assessment of the eagles’ condition was conducted, and nothing was found to be clearly wrong anymore. A night of rest under ICU conditions gave the eagle a chance to rehydrate and recover from the prior day’s ordeal, and it was then relocated to one of the brand new Watamu Raptor Centre pens. After three days of observation, with no further signs of weakness, injury or illness and in fact being very fat, strong and grumpy about being retained, the decision was made to return this eagle to where it belongs the following morning. While any raptor that can be captured by hand is usually in a critical condition, and we’ll probably never fully solve the mystery of what initially brought this eagle to the ground, with the recent start of rains at the coast we were also acutely aware that this eagle may have a mate, chicks and various domestic duties to attend to in the forest. There was no clear reason to retain it in captivity any longer. Due to the timing over Easter Weekend, Bea Anderson Schipper, who generously financed construction of the brand new Watamu Raptor Centre on her property, aptly named this beautiful eagle Magdalena.
The recent start of rains in Watamu may provide a clue as to what might have happened to this eagle, however. With the first heavy rains following a dry spell, many amphibians become much more active, including toads. Toads contain bufotoxins, which, if eaten can lead to illness, drooling and animals behaving intoxicated. Intoxication can last for a relatively short period of time before a full recovery, but these toxins can also be deadly, so vomiting en-route to the KWS office may have actually saved Magdalena’s life.
Warden Makomba was kept updated about the eagles’ condition throughout its time at the Watamu Raptor Centre and showed great concern for its wellbeing. After placing an identifying ring on Magdalena’s left leg, opposite leg to Ngala so we can differentiate them from a distance or photos, we congregated together with various concerned KWS rangers, the Arabuko’s Head Forester, and members of the Arocha Kenya and Primate Global teams who had also helped save Ngala, the prior snake eagle. We convened at the beautiful and newly refurbished Nyari Viewpoint which closely overlooks the site where Magdalena had originally been collected. Warden Makomba swiftly released the eagle and in a flash it rocketed off back to its freedom within the stunning Arabuko Sokoke Forest. We hope that by now it has reunited with its potential mate and settled back into its rightful home, perhaps also a bit less inclined to snack on toads in future
KWS Warden Salim Makomba releasing Magdalena (left) and the team of concerned citizens, Head Forester Truphena Njaka, and other concerned citizens that attended the early morning release at the beautiful Nyari Viewpoint (right).
The receptiveness, collaborative spirit and genuine concern shown not only by officials of KWS and other authorities, but also by a great diversity of regular people living along the coast has been very encouraging and inspires all who love raptors to continue expanding upon recent successes at the coast. We take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to everyone involved, including a special new mention of Kenchick who have now generously started donating young chickens to the Watamu Raptor Centre on a weekly basis to provide an important food source for raptors in their care. It would be remiss of us to not add that, thanks to the satellite tracker kindly donated by The Peregrine Fund, we know the previously released southern banded snake eagle, Ngala, has been on the move and is currently also in the main Arabuko Sokoke forest after spending a few days in the forest surrounding the Gede National Monument immediately following release. He may have even been spotted by local birder extraordinaire Jonathan Baya near the Arabuko Sokoke Forest swamp last week. You can read more about his remarkable journey back to freedom here and, who knows – he and Magdalena may become a pair one day.