Kenya says wildlife threatened by climate change, invasive species

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Extreme weather events including droughts and floods alongside invasive species pose new threat to survival of Kenyan wildlife, officials said on Thursday. weather stations
Acting Director General of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) William Kiprono said in Nairobi that climatic shocks have decimated iconic wildlife species and their natural habitat.
“The threats to our wildlife are both natural and human induced. Harsh climatic conditions have led to loss of wildlife species while population growth has worsened the shrinking of their Habitat,” Kiprono told Xinhua during a briefing.
He revealed that prolonged drought cycles have fuelled human wildlife conflicts in the Kenyan rangelands.
“This year alone, we lost many elephants due to human wildlife conflict as drought worsened. Herders attacked the big mammals during competition for water in the wells,” said Kiprono.
He noted that pastoralists have encroached into game parks in search of water and pasture during the dry season.
Kenya’s wildlife agency has partnered with conservation groups to implement climate change mitigation programs in the rangelands.
Kiprono said that construction of dams and water pans inside the parks has insulated wildlife species from impacts of severe drought.
“We have also initiated projects to promote climate resilience among herders and minimize competition for water and pasture with wild animals,” Kiprono said.
Scientists have raised alarm over spread of invasive species inside Kenyan wildlife sanctuaries.
Patrick Omondi, KWS’s head of species conservation and management revealed that lethal invasive species have spread in several game parks.
“Invasive species like cacti have spread in Laikipia, Tsavo and Lake Nakuru National parks. We must strengthen our phytosanitary standards to protect our wildlife from invasive species,”Omondi said.
He revealed that Kenya is losing critical wildlife species like the Roan Antelope due to illegal hunting and environmental stress. Enditem

Source: Xinhua

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