- Human-wildlife conflicts have risen to the highest levels in the last month due to the scarcity of water and grazing resources.
- Wild animals are found trapped in water holes and human habitation areas on wire fences.
Image: KURGAT MARINDANY.
Kenya's world famous wildlife is being decimated by drought.
As of Friday morning, the death toll stood at 246 wildebeests, 195 zebras, 11 elephants, 10 buffaloes and one hippo in a period of four weeks.
Efforts to verify these figures from the Kenya Wildlife Service headquarters were futile as the service referred us to the National Drought Management Authority.
"All the inquiries about the fatalities as a result of the ongoing drought are to be sought from NDMA," a senior official at KWS headquarters said.
Our efforts to reach NDMA failed as our calls and text messages went unanswered.
The regional KWS boss, Lenkishon Kenana, in a telephone interview with the Star, however, said: "The situation is dire. Not very nice for the country's wildlife in the Amboseli National Park. The daily mortalities due to the drought are scary."
"We are talking about the Amboseli National Park alone, and what we have counted are only those that have come out of the bushes. This means we are talking about the least mortality numbers."
Konene is in charge of Kajiado, Nairobi, parts of Kiambu, Machakos and Makueni.
He said that, in reality, there may be more wildlife dying than those reported and the worry is that if the drought persists, there is going to be more deaths in the Amboseli ecosystem.
"Although we have not arrived at the mortality figures of the 2008 - 2009 drought, all indications are if the drought persists it may be more fatal than that period," Konene said.
Wildlife researcher Dr David Western in his reports said in the 2008 - 2009 drought in Amboseli 325 wildebeests alone died.
On Friday, Konene said that in the larger ecosystem, human-wildlife conflicts have risen to the highest levels in the last month due to the scarcity of water and grazing resources.
"Behaviour change among our wild animals is motivated by the current situation. It is no longer unique to find zebras visiting homes in search of water. In such situations, the predators in the national parks also tend to follow their prey out," Konene said.
He said the behaviour change has been noted in Kiambu, Machakos, Makueni and many parts of Kajiado where wild animals are found trapped in water holes and human habitation areas on wire fences.