- The audit will also establish the effects of the drought and mitigation measures meant to rescue thousands of wild animals.
- Already, tens of wildebeests in Amboseli National Park in Kajiado county have died due to the dry spell that has also displaced hundreds of wild animals.
The Wildlife Training and Research Institute has embarked on a mortality audit to assess the effects of the ongoing drought on national parks and reserves.
Initial reports indicate that the Amboseli ecosystem is the hardest hit by the drought, leaving tens of animals, mainly the wildebeest, dead.
The audit will also establish the effects of the drought and mitigation measures meant to rescue thousands of wild animals.
Already, tens of wildebeests in Amboseli National Park in Kajiado county have died due to the dry spell that has also displaced hundreds of wild animals.
According to the institute director Dr Patrick Omondi, the drought has taken its toll on nearly all the game parks and reserves in the country.
Omondi added that they were working with stakeholders to compile the report on the effects of the drought, which would guide the government in decision-making.
“Initial reports indicate that the Amboseli ecosystem is the hardest hit by the drought despite the availability of water from Mt Kilimanjaro,” he said on Thursday in Naivasha.
Omondi said mortality data would help come up with mitigation measures like water supply and provision of supplements for affected species.
“The Wildlife Training and Research Institute which deals with wildlife data will come with all the available interventions so that we can rescue the starving animals,” he said.
The director also said the country had 486 Grevy's zebras, the highest number in the region, followed by Ethiopia at 150.
Omondi said the institute had recommended supplements for the rare species as one way of maintaining their numbers against the drought.
“We have lost some rare species like the Grevy’s, Somali giraffes and the old and young elephants to the drought and hence the proposals for provision of supplements,” he said.
Speaking last month, Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Zeinab Hussein said the government had identified various mitigation measures to address the effects of the drought.
She said the ministry was currently digging several water pans in Tsavo as one way of addressing the issue of water shortage in the popular park.
“We have so far lost 78 elephants to drought which has had a negative impact on wildlife in our national parks,” Zeinab said.
The PS, however, said the ministry was doing everything possible to make sure that no more animals died from the drought.
“Currently, we are ferrying water using bowsers to several parks in the country as one way of making sure that no animal dies from the drought,” she said.
(edited by Amol Awuor)