“Hundreds of animals, including elephants and Grévy’s zebras, have died in Kenyan reserves during the worst drought in eastern Africa in decades”écrit The Saturday Standard this Saturday, November 5. The day before, as shown in this report by Citizen TVTourism and Wildlife Minister Penina Malonza echoed the long grisly tally contained in a report by the Wildlife Research Training Institute (WRTI).
205 elephants, 512 wildebeest, 430 zebras, including 49 of the endangered Grévy species, 51 buffaloes and 12 giraffes have died in the last nine months. Over the past two years, says The Saturday Standardin some parts of the country, “including those that are home to the most visited national parks”, it rained very little. And “the consequences are terrible on people and animals, including livestock”underlines the newspaper.
“Urgent interventions” are necessary to save those who can still be, pleads The Star echoing the WRTI. The institute thus calls for the distribution of water and salt licks (which provide food supplements and in particular mineral salts) in the most affected areas, particularly in the Ambolesi park in the south of the country. “We also recommend providing hay immediately to Grévy’s zebras in northern Kenya and that this operation be extended to a wider area in November and December,” is underlined in the report.
Faced with this unprecedented drought and the consequences for wildlife, President William Ruto released initial emergency aid of 200 million shillings (1.7 million euros). the Star also hope that when “countries from all over the world come to Egypt to participate in COP27”and Kenya, qui “continues to suffer the devastating effects of climate change”will not be forgotten.