KWS puts measures in place to protect wildlife during drought

Kenya Wildlife Service has put several measures in place to protect wildlife during the drought season.

The mitigation measures include drilling more boreholes and using water bowers to re-fill water pans.

Tourism and Wildlife CS Najib Balala in a statement on Tuesday said they are also providing food supplements in a number of our parks, reserves and sanctuaries, with hay or Lucerne being dropped in strategic locations for wildlife to eat.

“Over the last few days, many parts of Kenya have experienced significant rainfall, which is good news for many of our herbivorous wildlife, who has been adversely affected by lack of foliage and water,” Balala said.

Further, he said the current drought in many parts of the country has adversely affected wildlife, with many water pans, grasslands and seasonal rivers drying up.

The prolonged drought has affected wildlife in parks, reserves, sanctuaries and even unprotected areas.

“KWS veterinary doctors are conducting patrols to treat sick and weak wildlife as intervention measures to save wildlife,” the CS said.

“The veterinary doctors are also carrying out postmortems on wildlife that die within parks to ascertain there is no disease outbreak that could be infectious,” he added.

Balala said KWS will continue to carry out surveillance in all areas to mitigate the adverse effects of the drought.

The prolonged drought in the country has not only affected wildlife but also forced people in arid and semi-arid areas to travel long distances in search of water and food for themselves and their livestock.

National Drought Management Authority said the drought is worsening in 16 of the 23 arid and semi-arid counties.

This means that the number of Kenyans likely to go to bed on an empty stomach could rise.

Already, 3.5 million Kenyans are in dire need of food.

The authority in its latest update said seven counties are in alarm drought phase. They are Marsabit, Mandera, Wajir, Samburu, Isiolo, Baringo and Turkana.

Another nine are in alert phase. They are Garissa, Kilifi, Kitui, Kwale, Laikipia, Lamu, Meru (North), Nyeri (Kieni) and West Pokot.

“The remaining six counties including Kajiado, Narok, Makueni, Taita Taveta, and Embu (Mbeere) and Tana River are in normal drought phase,” the update indicated.

NDMA said two subcounties–Wajir (Wajir East), Mandera (Mandera East)–are in extreme vegetation deficit and in need of humanitarian assistance.

Four counties–Mandera, Laikipia, Samburu and Wajir-are in severe vegetation deficit.

The report said five counties, including Baringo, Isiolo, Kwale, Marsabit, and West Pokot, are in moderate vegetation deficit.

This is attributed to the poor performance of the 2021 short rains and late onset of the 2022 long rains season.