10 elephants ranging near the Standard Gauge Railway will be fitted with advanced satellite
radio tracking collars in the Tsavo ecosystem to be conducted from 14th to 17th March 2016.
This is the start of a joint project initiated by
the
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) with Save the
Elephants (STE) providing technical and logistical support. It aims to inform long-term planning, and to understand the effectiveness
of wildlife crossings and their sustainability.
A 133 km section of the 483km high-speed railway
passing through the Tsavo Conservation
Area is being raised above the normal terrain levels and fenced off. The effect of this is that the largest National Park in Kenya, home to the largest population
of elephants will be cut in two, making wildlife mobility dependant on the wildlife crossing structures put in place. Elephants from
both sides of the railway will be collared to monitor scientifically
how they adapt to the
railway. The
operation
will be done
mainly
through aerial
teams,
with
a
KWS
helicopter
leading the darting operation, backed by KWS
Veterinary and Capture
staff and STE collaring
specialists.
By
generating detailed maps showing the intensity of
use of the wildlife crossing structures the
collared elephants will provide an enhanced understanding of connectivity in the Tsavo
Ecosystem, which
will in turn influence future
infrastructural
planning.
Dr. Benson Okita, STE’s Head
of Monitoring says, “This project is the first of its kind in Kenya and indeed in Africa. Beyond basic land-use planning, it seeks to understand how
elephant movements are influenced by a major infrastructural project. It is
an excellent precursor for future planning in wildlife
rich
areas where development is set to take place, such
as on the LAPSSET corridor in Northern
Kenya.”
With more than half of global population growth between 2015 and 2050 expected
to occur in Africa, infrastructural projects like this
one will become commonplace. “As the use of elephant movement data to inform
the planning process is refined, more precise spatial definition will allow
the country to proactively secure space for wildlife as the Kenyan population
grows,” says KWS Deputy Director
of Species Conservation and Management, Mr. Patrick Omondi.
In addition to the building
of the Standard Gauge Railway, new projects in the area include the
construction of the Mombasa-Nairobi dual carriage way. With human population
in these areas increasing and more farmlands appearing, the
collaring of these elephants will also assist with detection of serial crop raiding elephants and identifying the macro causes of human elephant conflict.
Water availability, forage quality and
quantity majorly determine the ranging patterns and
migratory behaviour of elephants.
Seasonal fluctuations
in forage quality/quantity and water availability depict elephant migratory behaviour. In addition to seasonality,
availability of
these resources has been affected by
land fragmentation from competing
land-uses such as
agriculture, human settlement
and infrastructure development.
To understand the effect of infrastructural development to
elephant ranging patterns,
The collaboration between government
and the private sector underscores the importance
of pooling
financial and intellectual resources to allow
conservation and development to coexist.
Incoming KWS Director General Mr. Kitili
Mbathi intimated
his interest to work closely
with
NGOs conducting research for the betterment of Kenya’s wildlife at a meeting in mid February
2016 between
KWS and conservation NGOs
in Tsavo.
The research element of
the project will be conducted
by graduate students under the joint
supervision of KWS and STE. The project
will build upon earlier research carried out by International Fund
for Animal Welfare (IFAW), which was concluded in 2012.Others
collaborating on elephant conservation include Tsavo Trust, Tsavo Conservation Group, and the David Sheldrick Wildlife
Trust.
“The Standard Gauge Railway is perhaps the most important transport project Kenya has seen
since the building of the first railway in the early 20th century,” says Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Founder of Save the Elephants. “If
research such
as
this
can help influence the way
development is carried out, then we are truly on the path
to securing a future for wildlife into perpetuity.”
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Biotechnology, Agriculture, Health, Environment, and Technology news coverage from events in, about and on Africa.
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