Meet Our Partners

We collaborate with Kenya Birds of Prey Trust to conduct training for Vulture Liaison Officers, scouts and rangers based in conservancies around the Masai Mara and Amboseli. Together with Kenya Bird of Prey Trust and other partners, we rescue, rehabilitate and release back to the wild injured or poisoned vultures and other raptors. The Trust is also an important research partner and provides expertise and mentorship for the capture and tagging for raptors.

KWS conserves and manages Kenya’s wildlife for the Kenyan people and the world. As such, they are a key stakeholder and partner in our work to conserve raptors in Kenya. We work in partnership on staff development and training particularly with regards to tackling wildlife poisoning, developing veterinary capacity with raptors, and creating and implementing species management plans.   

In 2018 we began the Coexistence Co-op, a collaborative project with Lion Landscapes to reduce poisoning and the human-carnivore conflict that triggers it. We conduct community-based coexistence trainings to raise awareness about the dangers of poisoning and to teach communities how to build predator-proof livestock corrals, or ‘bomas’. The Co-op also provides a network for the coordinated management of lions and carnivore conflicts in Laikipia.

With the Mara Raptor Project we have initiated in-depth studies on the foraging ecology and movements of eagles in the Masai Mara. Currently GSM-GPS tracking of 32 resident Martial Eagles, 16 Tawny Eagles, and 3 African Hawk Eagles is underway. In 2020 we also initiated a tracking study of Endangered Steppe Eagles, which breed in central Asia and visit East Africa during their non-breeding season. All of these eagles are threatened by power lines, persecution and poisoning, and we aim to examine where mortality happens in order to address threats wherever possible.

National Museums of Kenya is our longest established partner in Kenya. Some of our staff are also Research Associates in the ornithology section of NMK. Our long-standing collaboration includes research partnerships, staff development, hosting international workshops and trainings, and initiatives to tackle threats and raise public awareness. 

Nature Kenya is the local BirdLife partner. Together, we are heavily engaged in vulture conservation. We also work closely with Nature Kenya to address threats to raptors & birds by providing expertise through their Bird Committee and recommendations on policy statements and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs). We collaborate on IBA development and assessment related to raptors, national species management plans, and capacity development and training. 

We currently collaborate on implementing vulture research and conservation activities, the latter focusing on the Coexistence Co-op in northern Kenya. The zoo represents our partnership and projects within AZA’s SAFE committee for African Vultures. We also collaborate to support mentorship and educational opportunities for African post-graduate students.

This initiative by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) is a partnership between organizations working to conserve Africa’s vultures and US-based zoos and aquariums. We collaborate on a number of regional conservation initiatives aimed at reducing threats, monitoring populations, increasing scientific knowledge, building capacity through training and mentorship, and sharing knowledge and expertise amongst our partners.

We have partnered with the zoo since 2016 and work collaboratively to deliver professional training and mentorship opportunities, conduct research on raptors and their threats, and implement our Coexistence Co-op project in northern Kenya. The Wildlife Alliance also provides technical and networking support for our programs.

A working group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Vulture Specialist Group is dedicated to the study and conservation of vultures. Our Africa Project Director, Darcy Ogada, is regional co-chair for this group in Africa. We collaborate with them on research, training, and educational activities in the region.

WRTI collects and manages all wildlife data in Kenya and informs national wildlife policy. As Kenya’s research institute for wildlife, WRTI is both a key stakeholder and partner in our projects. We collaborate on projects involving scientific research, conservation initiatives such as the Coexistence Co-op, and by providing expertise as a member of their Bird Committee.

We have a long-standing partnership with EWT that spans across decades, raptor species, and their threats. We currently collaborate on the African Wildlife Poisoning Database, capacity building and training initiatives related to vultures and poisoning, and scientific research on African raptors.

We work with BirdLife on initiatives involving the conservation of African vultures, sharing data and information to assess species for the IUCN Red List, and mitigating development threats to raptors such as wind farms. We work with BirdLife’s global network to raise awareness on raptor declines and key threats facing raptors.