Kenya - GCF Resource Library

Wildlife utilization: use it or lose it- a Kenyan perspective

The history, present status, plans for the future and constraints of consumptive utilization of wildlife in Kenya are discussed. Such utilization is considered to be a viable development option and has positive aspects for conservation of the environment and animals. It is proposed that illegal consumptive utilization is at such a level in the country that if it is not brought under control the wildlife population will decline catastrophically. There are numerous constraints of a legal and infrastructural nature which

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Rinderpest epidemic in wild ruminants in Kenya 1993-97

A severe epidemic of rinderpest, affecting mainly wild ruminants, occurred between 1993 and 1997 in East Africa. Buffalo (Suncerus caffer), eland (Taurotragus oryx) and lesser kudu (Tragelaphus imberbis) were highly susceptible. The histopathological changes, notable individual epithelial cell necrosis with syncytia formation, were consistent with an infection with an epitheliotrophic virus. Serology, the polymerase chain reaction, and virus isolation confirmed the diagnosis and provided epidemiological information. The virus was related to a strain which was prevalent in Kenya in the

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Post-release monitoring of Rothschild giraffe and impala in Ruko Community Wildlife Conservancy

In February 2011, 8 Rothschild’s giraffe were translocated from Soysambu Farm to Ruko Conservancy as the first step in the re-establishment of a population that was once endemic to the Lake Baringo region. Prior to this move, a herd of 33 impala were also taken to the conservancy to boost wildlife populations, attract visitors to the area and generate tourism revenue for the local community. With high water levels in Lake Baringo currently the sanctuary set aside by the community

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Experimental evidence that effects of megaherbivores on mesoherbivore space use are influenced by species’ traits

1. The extinction of 80% of megaherbivore (>1,000 kg) species towards the end of the Pleistocene altered vegetation structure, fire dynamics and nutrient cycling world-wide. Ecologists have proposed (re)introducing megaherbivores or their ecological analogues to restore lost ecosystem functions and reinforce extant but declining megaherbivore populations. However, the effects of megaherbivores on smaller herbivores are poorly understood. 2. We used long-term exclusion experiments and multispecies hierarchical models fitted to dung counts to test (a) the effect of megaherbivores (elephant and

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Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus Infection at the Wildlife–Livestock Interface in the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem, 2015–2019

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a viral disease of goats and sheep that occurs in Africa, the Middle East and Asia with a severe impact on livelihoods and livestock trade. Many wild artiodactyls are susceptible to PPR virus (PPRV) infection, and some outbreaks have threatened endangered wild populations. The role of wild species in PPRV epidemiology is unclear, which is a knowledge gap for the Global Strategy for the Control and Eradication of PPR. These studies aimed to investigate

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Medicine in the Wild: Strategies towards Healthy and Breeding Wildlife Populations in Kenya

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has a Veterinary and Capture Services Department at its headquarters in Nairobi, and four satellite clinics strategically located in key conservation areas to ensure quick response and effective monitoring of diseases in wildlife. The department was established in 1990 and has grown from a rudimentary unit to a fully fledged department that is regularly consulted on matters of wildlife health in the eastern Africa region and beyond. It has a staff of 48, comprising 12

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Bucking the dismal decline in wildlife: Amboseli numbers are going up

Amboseli Conservation Program’s five decades of continuous monitoring the Amboseli region shows an astonishing turnaround for wildlife after years of decline. Many species are now more abundant than forty-five years ago, a remarkable contrast to the rapid losses across Africa and around the world. What explains this small point of light in a gloomy outlook for wildlife? What lessons does Amboseli offer conservation? And how can the success be kept up as the space for wildlife shrinks? As scientists patch

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Large herbivore loss has complex effects on mosquito ecology and vector-borne disease risk

Loss of biodiversity can affect transmission of infectious diseases in at least two ways: by altering host and vector abundance or by influencing host and vector behavior. We used a large herbivore exclusion experiment to investigate the effects of wildlife loss on the abundance and feeding behavior of mosquito vectors and to explore consequences for vector-borne disease transmission. Large herbivore loss affected both mosquito abundance and blood-feeding behavior. For Aedes mcintoshi, the dominant mosquito species in our study and a

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Use of Specialized Questioning Techniques to Detect Decline in Giraffe Meat Consumption

Biodiversity conservation depends on influencing human behaviors, but when activities are illegal or otherwise sensitive, actors can be hesitant to admit engagement with illicit behaviors. We applied Specialized Questioning Techniques (SQT) to estimate and compare behavioral prevalence of giraffe meat consumption between direct questioning and two SQTs, Randomized Response Technique (RRT) and Unmatched Count Technique (UCT), from 2017 to 2019. Comparisons between the two samples yielded significant differences across all three methods, with confidence intervals distinctly divergent between years. The

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Herbivore dung stoichiometry drives competition between savanna trees and grasses

The balance between trees and grasses is a key aspect of savanna ecosystem functioning, and so far, believed to be regulated by resource availability, fire frequency and consumption by mammalian herbivores. Herbivores, however, also impact plant communities through the deposition of growth-limiting nutrients in their dung and urine. Little attention has been paid to the fact that savanna herbivores produce dung containing different concentrations of nutrients and it remains unknown what the effect of this variation is on tree-grass interactions.

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