Kenya gives elephants more room

2006-09-29 21:46

Nairobi - Kenyan wildlife authorities resumed on Friday the relocation of hundreds of elephants from an overcrowded reserve in Kenya's coastal region to a more spacious park further inland, said officials.

The second phase of the relocation from the Shimba Hills National Reserve to Tsavo East National Park, about 300km southeast of the capital, will target about 250 elephants, said Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) spokesperson Connie Maina.

"The exercise may last up to end of October or even early November."

During the first phase, about 150 elephants were transferred in the exercise that was billed "the single largest translocation of animals ever undertaken since Noah's Ark", that is expected to cost about $3.3m.

Shimba Hills, which is about 200 Square Kilometres, is now home to about 550 elephants, but has a capacity of at most 500, while Tsavo East is about 14 000 Square Kilometres, according to the agency.

Animals to be moved in family groups

"There's a lot of human-wildlife conflict as well as environmental degradation so if we manage to reduce the number to that level then we shall have a manageable ecosystem in that reserve," added Maina.

The two parks are about 140km apart and officials said the animals would be moved in family groups over a period to ease the stress of the relocation.

Although poaching has reduced the number of elephants in Kenya from nearly 50 000 in 1965 to about 10 600, officials say the population is growing and coming into increasing conflict with expanding human activity.

In 2004, KWS relocated 400 elephants from Shimba Hills to Tsavo East after locals complained they were straying into human settlements and destroying crops.

The relocation is part of an ongoing KWS elephant population management strategy, which is aimed at resolving such conflicts, restoring biodiversity, re-stocking depleted ranges and promoting tourism.

- AFP