Another rhino has died at Tsavo East National Park bringing the number of the recent deaths to nine.
Tourism CS Najib Balala said senior officials from CID, tourism ministry, University of Nairobi Veterinary department and ministry of Agriculture are carrying out a probe on the deaths.
He said senior veterinary pathologist Peter Gathumbi, a researcher at the University of Nairobi collected samples on July 12, days after KWS confirmed the deaths.
Balala has also sought input from Markus Hoffmeyer, a wildlife conservationist, rhino veterinarian and translocation expert from South Africa.
Preliminary investigations have
shown they died of saline water.
The CS said samples of feeds that had been provided are also set to be investigated.
He
said he is convinced that the course was not negligence as KWS has the right capacity in terms of veterinary officers and process as well as protocols that had been followed.
“Between 2005 and 2017, 149 rhinos have been translocated with eight mortalities, excluding the current deaths in Tsavo East National Park - 11 translocated with eight fatalities,” his statement read.
He stated that between July 2017 and February this year, 74 rhinos were immobilised for ear-notching and only one mortality was reported.
Several tens have also been successfully immobilized for clinical intervention.
Balala said the capture and movement was done on June 26, in a move that saw two females and one male relocated from Nairobi park.
The second capture was done June 29 where three more rhinos-two females and a male-were moved.
On July 2, a male and a female were captured.
They were followed by another two males and a female on July 5.
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