• Balala said out of the four species of the animal, three are found in Kenya.
• These are the reticulated giraffe also known as the Somali giraffe (15,524), Rothschild’s giraffe (609) and the Masai giraffe (12,717).
The government will use all means to protect its giraffes and allow their population to grow, Tourism CS Najib Balala has said.
Balala said out of the four species of the animal, three are found in Kenya.
These are the reticulated giraffe also known as the Somali giraffe (15,524), Rothschild’s giraffe (609) and the Masai giraffe (12,717).
“This animal is beautiful. Unfortunately, we have slightly above 100,000 giraffes in the world. In Kenya, we have about 29,000 giraffes,” he said.
The CS spoke at Nairobi National Park on Sunday evening during the commemoration of World Giraffe Day.
The World Giraffe Day is celebrated annually on June 21 to create awareness on the challenges giraffes face in the wild.
The species' specimens are traded internationally and have declined by 36 to 40 per cent over the past three decades due to habitat loss and other pressures.
Giraffes are also killed for bushmeat, body parts and hides for the domestic and international markets.
On August 22 last year, the species was given more protection under laws protecting iconic species.
The enhanced protection was among resolutions passed at the 18th Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES CoP 18).
Giraffe is now listed on CITES Appendix II.
The appendix includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled to avoid excessive utilisation.
In 2018, a giraffe recovery plan was launched with the aim of addressing some of the challenges facing the species.
Balala said the government last year made a spirited effort by giving the giraffe more protection. He said almost 112 giraffes are hosted at Nairobi National Park.
“NNP has become very attractive to Kenyans because of this pandemic; we have seen a number of visitors coming to the park. KWS is investing to make sure that everything works,” he said in reference to the proposed facelift that has been rejected by nature lovers and conservationists.
Balala said the proposed facelift at the park seeks to have in place seamless way of ticketing. He said those visiting the park will buy tickets online.
“It is not just about infrastructure, it is about the biodiversity and ecosystem of Nairobi National Park. NNP as you see we have quite a bit of the animals but sometimes you come on a bad day and you do not see any animal,” he said.
KWS said the park is faced with habitat loss and fragmentation in the dispersal areas, a decline in wildlife population, poaching, human-wildlife conflicts, alien and invasive species, pollution, mining and quarries.
Other challenges are climate change, low park visitation, increased urbanisation, settlement threats on the sheep and goats ranch, and infrastructure development.
KWS intends to cure some of these problems through proposals contained in its draft management plan.
The plan will also be scaled down to 10 national parks, in a move KWS bosses believe will improve their attractiveness.
KWS says a lot of work is lined up for the park. These include fencing, putting up a high-end eco-lodge, improvement of infrastructure, development of KWS Club House restaurant (Orpul Place), designing and establishment of adventure activity concessions and facilitation of alternative activities to traditional game-viewing.
The service is considering improving park habitat, coupled with progressively fencing willing landowners in the park’s buffer zone.
It proposes an integrated land use management in the park's buffer zone and wildlife dispersal areas to achieve the park’s management objectives.
Balala said the grass will either be burned or mowed so that the animals can have fresh grass and be able to be maintained inside the park.
The CS said objective comments from the public will be taken on board.
“I will be ready by the end of this month to gazette that management plan so that we can stop land grabbing at Nairobi National Park…so that nobody can touch the boundary and improve biodiversity and the experience of our visitors,” he said.
Balala said he will visit Meru on Friday to present a Sh142 million cheque as the last payment for human-wildlife conflict for this financial year.
(edited by o. owino)