• KWS says bushmeat poaching and associated crimes is common in Nakuru, Machakos, Kajiado, Nairobi, Makueni and Taita Taveta.
• The service said that human-wildlife conflict patrols and problem animal management units have been deployed.
Cases of human-wildlife conflict and bushmeat poaching are rising, the Kenya Wildlife Service has said.
KWS says bushmeat poaching and associated crimes are common in Nakuru, Machakos, Kajiado, Nairobi, Makueni and Taita Taveta.
“There is increased human-wildlife conflicts due to influx of people to the rural areas (hot spots Kajiado, Narok, Laikipia, Taita Taveta, Homa Bay and Samburu,” the report states.
KWS said that human-wildlife conflict patrols and problem animal management units have been deployed.
The service said it has jurisdiction for wildlife outside public designated protected areas, a role that comes with the additional cost.
Ten out of 23 national parks are generating 80 per cent of revenue annually from conservation fees, KWS said.
“The total conservation fees contribute 61 per cent of the total income for the service,” the report says. Security and anti-poaching operations account for over 50 per cent of the operating budget.
The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has forced KWS to suspend some of its activities. These include wildlife censuses, corporate social responsibility projects and education programmes.
Learning in its two key institutions — KWS training Institute, Naivasha and Law Enforcement Academy in Manyani — has also been suspended.
Since the enactment of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, 2013, the Government, through the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, has released Sh1,201,350,000 for human-wildlife conflict between 2014 and 2018.
The law requires Sh5 million be paid for human death, Sh3 million for injury with permanent disability and up to Sh2 million for other injuries depending on their extent.
The law puts penalties of Sh20 million fine or imprisonment for life or to both for offences against endangered species.
On January 28, 2014, a demonstration of how effective the law can be was tested.
A Chinese ivory smuggler, Tang Yong Jian, was fined Sh20 million or serve a jail term of seven years for being in possession of a tusk weighing 3.4 kgs.
On December 3, 2019, Tourism CS Najib Balala launched the Human-Wildlife Conflict Compensation Report (2014-2017) at KWS headquarters in Nairobi.
During the launch, the Tourism and Wildlife ministry gave Sh569 million to compensate victims of human-wildlife conflict.
The cash was to be shared among 4,752 out of 13,125 victims whose claims have been approved.
Over 4,700 victims claiming up to Sh1.859 billion reported cases were deferred until all documents needed were provided.
Another 3,651 cases amounting to Sh1.506 billion were thrown out.
Some of the reasons include documents without signatures and failing to report the matter to a police station. Human-wildlife victims had not been paid since 2013.
According to statistics provided by KWS, 452 human death claims were lodged between 2014 and 2017. Of the cases, 163 were approved and the families will be compensated Sh800 million.
Some 119 cases summing up to Sh595 million were deferred, while 170 claims amounting to Sh850 million were rejected.
A total of 4,555 cases of human injury claims were lodged. Only 1,711 were approved to be paid Sh549 million.
Another 1,966 cases claiming Sh948 million were deferred and 878 cases worth Sh434 million were rejected.
Other claims were on crop damage (5,073 cases), livestock predation (3,012 cases) and property destruction (33 cases).
(edited by o. owino)