The elephant population in Tsavo National Park has increased by 14.7 per cent in three years, according to the latest survey.
Speaking during the release of the findings at the Kenya Wildlife Service headquarters in Lang’ata, director general Kitili Mbathi said the increase represents a 4.9 per cent annual rise.
The census also established that there was an increase in human activities within and around the protected areas, compared to the situation in the previous years.
“Incidents of charcoal burning are on the rise, as well as the number of livestock in the ecosystem, both of which pose a threat to wildlife and their habitat,” Mbathi said.
KWS plans to investigate elephant poaching threat levels to take corrective measures in Galana Ranch and the Tsavo East National Park northern side, where a high carcass ratio was found.
Mbathi said 12,866 elephants were counted during the census; 12,843 in the Tsavo ecosystem and 23 in Mkomazi National Park. The Tsavo-Mkomazi ecosystem forms the largest conservation area in Kenya, covering 49,611.4 square kilometres.
The 2017 dry season aerial census was carried out between February 12 and 21. Mbathi said 1,167 carcasses were recorded during the survey.
“The very old elephant carcasses had the highest proportion, with more than 53.4 per cent {623} of the total carcasses, followed by old carcasses at 44.0 per cent {514},” he said.
He said only three and 27 fresh and recent carcasses respectively were encountered during the survey. Overall, there was an 8.3 per cent carcass ratio for the Tsavo-Mkomazi ecosystem, he said. The study also aimed to understand the distribution of elephants in relation to distribution of water and human activities.
The population of buffalo counted in the Tsavo-Mkomazi ecosystem during the February 2017 census was 8,623, which is an about 46 per cent increase compared to 5,912 buffalo recorded in the same ecosystem in 2014.
The 2017 census indicated that the ecosystem supports a large number of giraffes, totalling 4,323, compared to 2,891 giraffes counted in the 2014 census. Group sizes of up to 80 individuals were recorded in 2017.
This represents an increase of 49.5 per cent, which is an excellent result, considering the threat giraffes are under due to poaching for meat.
In March, poaching in the Tsavo National Park escalated after illegal grazers with thousands of livestock invaded the area.
The poachers disguised themselves as herders to kill elephants. Kenya Wildlife Service personnel killed four armed poachers at Koito in Galana within the Tsavo East National Park.
During the sting operation, a senior KWS officer was shot dead and another sustained injuries in a fierce shootout.