100 elephants dead as drought ravages animals in the Tsavo - KWS

According to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Director General Retired Brigadier John Waweru, 120 wild animals have died with elephants being the most affected.

Waweru spoke at the Ashnil Aruba Lodge in Tsavo East National Park where he convened an emergency meeting with Taita Taveta local leaders led by Governor Andrew Mwadime and local ranchers aimed at mitigating the effects of drought on wildlife.

Despite the climatic challenges, the locals are continuing to face human-wildlife conflict due to the adverse effects of drought.

The DG thus called upon the local leaders to work closely with the national government to ensure peaceful coexistence between humans and wildlife.

Moreover, Taita Taveta Governor Andrew Mwadime has requested the national government to source more funds to allow KWS put up infrastructure that will aid in reducing human-wildlife conflict after the DG admitted that their budget has been cut to Ksh.500 million.

This comes after KWS recently paused their exercise of putting up electric fences in areas where human-wildlife conflict is on the rise in TaitaTaveta.

At the moment, more than 20 water points in the Tsavo ecosystem have all dried up with KWS continuing to use water bowsers and available boreholes in the park to supply water to the animals.