So beautiful Mt Elgon, you are,
You, a mountain of illusion,
But wait! You are about to cry?
As if abandoned by your Mother; the Ranger.
Every day you shake and tremble,
You shed tears as you feel, the wars and the pain of your tenants.
And I fear when you cry, the earth moves
You habitant of a Indigenous and endemic plants, trees, animals, water
Aquatic life, insects, mountain soils, culture sites
All these niches of life, your mother, the ranger keeps,
The ranger is a mother, a mother
In charge of this protected area
Who not only helps conserve the natural landscape here in
But also the wildlife that lives in you,
The ranger protects your natural resources;
The ecosystem, biodiversity,
Yes, minerals, plants, soil, water, wildlife, insects,
Yes, the ranger is a keeper, a mother.
Yes, the ranger protects, manages, conserves Wildlife,
To enable it produce species for multiplication
She ensures maintenance of diversity of species, genes, and ecosystems, as well as functions of the environment, such as nutrient cycling.
Yes, the ranger, your mother does all this,
But he lives in tears day, night, as he protects you; Mt Elgon National Park.
I hear her weep
as her charges, die at her feet,
Poachers, encroachers and illegal timber cutters
take away her freedom,
In a never-ending fight over park resources
Hunger, thirst, rain and heat,
All this she bears never admitting defeat
And yet without the ranger,
There would be no continuity of life,
The food web would be in danger
Human life would go extinct.
For many years,
mountains, valleys and waters that flow would be no more
Habitats grown to nurture all your children would be lost
by the greed of human evolution.
Without a Wildlife ranger,
Humanity’s selfishness would be insane,
And Mt Elgon cries would have turned to gloom,
Man would have already caused your downfall.
Without a Wildlife ranger,
Man’s carelessness and fears
would have taken a toll over the years.
Mt Elgon, your land would be parched and scorched
as man continues to cultivate, graze and settle on you,
Yet you know that the role played by insects;
Often under-appreciated,
And viewed by some as a nuisance,
Insects, birds perform the role of pesticides, without chemicals
Insects are “lever pullers of the world”.
Without a Wildlife ranger,
The Wildlife including rock and tree hyraxes,
Elephant, buffalo, Defassa waterbuck, oribi,
Bushbuck, duiker, forest hog, bush pig, colobus monkeys,
Leopard, civet and serval cats,
Spotted hyena; aardvark and several rodent species would be no more.
Without a Wildlife ranger
Birds only endemic to Mount Elgon;
Jackson’s Francolin and Black-collared Apalis,
The Black-shouldered Kite and Tacazze Sunbird,
The Mount Elgon endangered Lammergeyer above the caldera, would be no more
These would have all gone to hunting.
Without a Wildlife ranger,
The Insect aggregations in Mt Elgon,
The insect species Odonata, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Orthoptera,
a delight to watch that attract tourists,
Who bring foreign exchange to make our local wallets smile
Would be no more,
And I want to ask; will you get killed, maimed more in your innocence and helplessness?
and your answer is always; how can I fail Mt Elgon? How can I quit?
Few understand, fewer will admit,
Yes, I know you will get up again
And fight for Mt Elgon.
And you add
For there in the world
who else would protect and conserve Mt Elgon,
I will with word thought and deed, Shake it off and start patrolling the Park vigilant with every, life-threatening step of my feet I am Ranger, I insist am the Ranger mother to the Mt.Elgon, a mountain of illusion.
And without me,
Where would human life be? Would the numerous rivers continue to flow?’
