Kenya Wildlife Service rangers hold an impala at the Shimba Hills National Reserve yesterday. Twenty impalas were transferred to the reserve to enhance biodiversity and promote tourism.  [PHOTO: COURTESY]

By PHILIP MWAKIO

Kwale County, Coast: The 19,000-hectare Shimba Hills National Reserve in Kwale County is now home to an additional 20 impalas relocated from Naivasha by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).

The breeding herd of impalas has been introduced in the Shimba Hills ecosystem to enhance biodiversity and promote tourism.

It is part of a sponsored programme by the Kenya Coastal Development Project (KCDP) and World Bank/Global Environmental Facility, in conjunction with the KWS. The project is hosted by Kenya Marine & Fisheries Research Institute.

KWS Senior Research Scientist Dr Mohamed Omar told The Standard that the KWS Capture Unit was engaged in the planning and execution of the transfer exercise from Naivasha, in an area that is threatened with land use changes and loss of habitat, to Shimba Hills.

Transfer funded

“The process culminated in the translocation of a bachelor herd of five adult males and a breeding herd consisting of 10 adult females and two sub-adult males,” Dr Omar said.

He added that the translocation was funded by KCDP at the cost of about Sh340,000.

In 2009, a total of 49 impalas were moved to Shimba Hills, where only one female was surviving. These included 47 females and two males.

“This translocation is not only expected to enhance species diversity through enhanced breeding but also to indirectly promote tourist visitation in the reserve, thereby increasing revenue collection and financial sustainability of the Shimba Hills National Reserve,” he said.