One man is nursing injuries following an attack by an elephant in Isiolo.
In a statement via Twitter, the Kenya Wildlife Service said two elephants strayed from Isiolo Town to Buffalo Springs National Reserve and found their way to the residential area.
According to KWS, the man was going about his business when he was attacked by the elephant.
"KWS Isiolo team was able to rescue and rushed him to hospital where he is recuperating," the Service said.
The pair of rogue elephants have since been driven back to the reserve.
"Meanwhile the Service has enhanced measures to monitor the movement of elephants within the region to avert straying into residential area," the Service said.
It’s believed that the elephants were displaced due to the ongoing drought in the region and the invasion of livestock into the reserve.
Extreme weather conditions are said to push elephants to stray to farms in search of water and pasture.
In Tsavo, farmers have now found a way to repel elephants.
Over the years, farmers watched helplessly as stray elephants cleared their crops, leaving them to rely on relief food. Their efforts to fend off errant elephants by beating iron-made drums whenever the wild animals invaded farms did not work.
Their fortunes changed when they registered under the Kajire farmers’ community-based organisation, which harnesses the power of beekeeping to ward off elephants. Jumbos have an inherent avoidance of bees.
“Initially we could not harvest anything from the farm. Elephants would have cleared all the crops before maturity,” Mwakima, whose farm is in Kajire village, Voi subcounty, says as he inspects his chain of hives.
The beehive project, supported by Save the Elephants, has helped them increase their agricultural productivity.
The innovative solution to the human-elephant conflict was initiated by zoologist Dr Lucy King. Now an award-winning project, it has widely been used globally to reduce damage from crop-raiding elephants.
Further, it has created a social and economic boost to poverty-stricken rural communities through the sustainable harvesting of honey. Each hive has the potential to produce 15kg of honey worth Sh6,000.
