By JOE KIARIE
Kenya’s celebrated status as a one-stop shop for wildlife viewing is now under serious threat as her wildlife population continues to decline sharply.
While the highly-targeted elephants have dominated conservation debates in recent days, data from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) shows a worrying drop in animal numbers across species, some which are on the verge of extinction.
Currently 107 wildlife species in Kenya are listed as threatened. Of these, 16 are classified as critically endangered, 34 as endangered and 55 as vulnerable. Among the critically endangered is the black rhino, the adder’s duiker, the bongo and hirola antelopes. Others are birds such as the bearded vulture and reptiles like the hawksbill and leatherback turtles.
After years of concerted restoration efforts, Kenya’s black rhino population now stands at a paltry 700. The giant mammals have reduced from 20,000 in the 1960s to less than 300 by mid 1980s, mainly as a result of trophy hunting. There are slightly over 300 white rhinos, bringing their total number to just over 1,000.
Critical threats
Yet this is not the only endangered of the Big Five animals. Kenya is today home to just 2,000 lions, down from 15,000 a decade and a half ago. The fierce predators, most of which are now restricted to the Maasai Mara and Tsavo ecosystems, were reduced to 2,700 in 2002 and 2,400 in 2007 down to the current figure. High demand for ivory has equally seen the number of elephants alarmingly wane from a peak of 167,000 in the 1970s to just more than 30,000 today.
The other two big five animals, leopards and buffalos, are not believed to face critical threats.
“Over the years, we have seen very wide threats facing wildlife species,” states Dr Charles Musyoki, the KWS Senior Scientist in charge of Endangered Species. “The main causal factors include habitat loss, poaching, human-wildlife conflict, decline of herbivores, fragmentation, diseases and misconceptions, all which affect survival and reproductions.”
Musyoki says while leopard numbers are stable due to the fact that they are highly adaptable animals who can occupy diverse habitats, they also face serious risks due to habitat loss.
There is, however, no national estimates for leopards due to the challenges encountered surveying nocturnal species. Buffalos, on their part, have healthy numbers as a result of adaptability to various vegetation types, a regular breeding pattern and a sharp drop in the number of their main predator; the lion. The same cannot however be said of the famous cheetahs.
Easy to tame
They face a serious threat, with only 1,160 individuals remaining in the country. “Cheetahs are easy to tame and this has always encouraged pet trade involving the sale of their cubs abroad,” said Musyoki.
He attributes the problem to habitat loss. “Cheetahs have gone through difficult times. They used to occur everywhere there was suitable habitat but now occupy just 23 per cent of their historical range. Eighty per cent of the animals live outside protected areas, exposing them to more danger,” he says, noting that 50 per cent of the current cheetah population is trans-boundary, shifting between Kenya’s Maasai Mara and Tanzania’s Serengeti national park.
Kenya’s wild dog population has also suffered a shocking drop. The country is now home to approximately 845 of these animals.
Not even the much-maligned hyenas are safe. According to the KWS, their population has, suffered due to killings of cubs, habitat loss and retaliatory attacks.
Striped hyenas are now 1,000. While spotted hyenas are between 2,000 and 4,000.
