Kenya is embarking on its first national census of wildlife covering 58 national parks and reserves, private and community conservancies, and aims to be completed by the end of July. The conservation data will include a count of terrestrial and marine mammals, key birds such as ostriches and kori bustards, and endangered primates. The total cost of the census is estimated to be approximately 250m Kenyan shillings (approximately HK$17 million).

The purpose of the count is to provide an update on wildlife status and distribution. This will enable policy makers to be informed on how to implement more effective wildlife conservation and management. With the decline in rare and threatened species such as pangolins and green and hawksbill turtles, Najib Balala, the country’s tourism and wildlife cabinet secretary, stated that this census would be able to drive the policy direction to better protect these animals.

In the past, Kenya has targeted counts for endangered animals such as elephants and rhinos. However, there has been a lack of monitoring of other rare, endangered and threatened species whose numbers and range have been in significant decline. These include rare antelope species, including the sable, sitatunga, hirola and mountain bongo. The mountain bongo and hirola are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as “critically endangered”.

Key wildlife landscapes in Kenya have experienced challenges in terms of land tenure and its use, drought and the climate crisis. Najib Balala comments that:-

“It is therefore important to undertake this national survey to establish a baseline data on wildlife population status and distribution for future use, to understand wildlife population trends and shifts in their distribution. We also need to know if any given area has the carrying capacity for particular animals, and the effects climate change and increase in human population have on wildlife conservation…The count would also help mitigate rising cases of human-wildlife conflicts and reduce a mounting compensation bill, now standing at 14bn Kenyan shillings.”

As ground and aerial techniques are being used to count large mammals in the open savannah, arid and semi-arid areas; camera traps and dung counts are being used in forested ecosystems. Dr. Patrick Omondi, acting director of the Wildlife Research and Training Institute, said the government was using “internationally recognised peer-review methodologies” to extract accurate data. He remarked that:-

“Deployment of personnel and equipment depends on the size of a conservation area. For example, we deployed a team of 50 and 13 aircraft, both fixed and helicopters, in the Tsavo ecosystem, the country’s largest. Other methods include using satellite collars, especially for migratory animals, to prevent double counts. Aerial voice recorders are also being used to analyse the presence of specific animals in any given area…In forested areas, we have set up camera traps to count nocturnal animals such as pangolins. This will be the first time that an African country is counting the number of pangolins, which are currently the world’s most trafficked animals. Aerial surveys will also be used for big marine life including whales, sharks, dugongs and sea turtles.

Dr. Paula Kahumbu, head of conservation body WildlifeDirect, stated if the census was conducted smoothly, it would show the ecological emergency facing protected areas that affects both animals and the livelihoods of millions of Kenyans. However, she had reservations as to whether a census would be enough:-

“The count alone is not enough. The census should report on the status of land and habitats, which are the critical life support system for the animals. The integrity of Kenya’s protected areas is being impacted by developments like roads and railways, hotels and military camps, which affect animal movements. In addition, habitat quality, such as frequent forest and bush fires, excessive livestock grazing in parks, forest destruction, sand harvesting and destructive fishing practices reduce biodiversity, besides creating fertile grounds for the rapid spread of invasive species.”

Kahumbu said wildebeests, which were once common have plummeted up to 90% in Nairobi due to habitat loss.

The 2020-30 management plan for Nairobi national park shows the collapse of a wildebeest migration that recorded 30,000 animals in the 1960s with now only 200. The report also shows a 70% decline in warthog, waterbuck, hartebeest and gazelle populations.

According to the government report, corridors that used to link the park to the greater plains were obstructed by development, urban sprawl and subdivision, or blocked by fences. Kahumbu said:-

“Our parks, reserves, forests and conservancies are Kenya’s life-support system. They provide water, generate power, clean the air and provide resilience to the climate crisis and extreme weather conditions. Since they cannot exist as islands, urgent legislation is required to secure buffer zones, wildlife corridors and dispersal areas.”

Jagi Gakunju, a conservationist and tour operator in Masai Mara, stated that the exercise would be more successful if the government tuned into wildlife data collected by the numerous conservation bodies operating in Kenya. Further, he said that most private and community- based wildlife conservancies have been conducting their own census over the years, and their input is vital:

“Nature Kenya, for example, is the local partner of BirdLife International and has invaluable data on birdlife, and so do other conservation bodies whose statistics feed into global databases. It would be good to review such data and determine how the current way of counting wildlife differs from what has been done in the past. The current exercise ought to be a buildup of the past initiatives.”

The US-born conservationist, Cynthia Moss, whose organisation Amboseli Trust for Elephants has been conducting the world’s longest research on elephants, said her organisation was willing to share data collected over approximately 50 years. She opined that the initiative was good for conservation and that they had accumulated a lot of information over the years and would be willing to share, should the authorities require it.

Courtesy of Arial Ng

Main Source: The Guardian.