Officials believe that villagers killed an adult elephant with a spear because of human-wildlife conflict near the Masai Mara Game reserve.
Investigations are underway.
The elephant was found dead August 21 on an escarpment near the world-famous reserve in Transmara West subcounty of Narok county.
The Kenya Wildlife Service conducted a postmortem examination and removed a spear completely embedded inside the body of the jumbo.
Transmara West subcounty commissioner Mohammed Noor said they believe people bordering the park killed elephant as a result of human-wildlife conflicts.
“The elephant might have invaded their farms that’s why they killed it because both tusks were found intact,” Noor told the Star on the phone on Wednesday.
He said they are working closely with the police and KWS to ensure that those behind the killing of the jumbo are arrested.
“It is against the law to kill wild animals. You should report the problem to authorities," the commissioner said.
Noor said that the country is earning billions of shillings in foreign exchange and all wild animals inside the park and private conservancies should be protected by all means.
Nicholas Murero, a coordinator of Narok Wildlife Environment Forum, deplored the killing and said the government should move swiftly to end human-wildlife conflicts that are rampant in the region.
“If unchecked, these killings have has the potential to kill tourism,” Murero said.
Last year, tourism contributed Sh157.4 billion to the country’s economy due to a 37 per cent increase in the number of visitors. In Narok county, the local administration collected Sh2.73 billion from the Masai Mara Game reserve in 2018.
(Edited by V. Graham)
