Bailey and Batten: huntsmen helping out in Kenya
catherine.austen@futurenet.com
USUALLY a week of hard frost instigates rogue behaviour from hunting fanatics – a quick dash to the Alps or a day’s visiting in a “softer”, less windswept country ensues. The Covid pandemic stopped all hunting activities last season and left two young huntsmen frustrated and bored.
However, a call for help came from 51 Degrees, a training delivery outfit for wildlife rangers specifically focused on antipoaching of ivory and rhino horn in Kenya. It was running a basic training and patrol medics course and needed some external consultancy support.
Well, Batten and Bailey provided the perfect duo, Nicko with his previous military experience (Major in the Royal Marines) and Henry with his in-depth background in mammal management (foxhounds, the handling and breeding of, and an incipient career as an amateur jockey). So with the shoes whipped off the horses for the season, we got out of the UK.
Fortune struck twice; on arrival in Nairobi we were able to witness the first-ever East African all-female polo tournament. If
