Baraza

Category: Kenya, Lions, Mara Triangle, Mau Forest Complex, National Parks and protected areas, conservation, national parks | Date: Aug 04 2009 | By: paula

The drought in Kenya is having terrible consequences for everyone especially in arid areas which are sending out appeals for help.

Wildlife is also at risk. Today, yet again, I came across herds of starving cattle in the Nairobi National Park.  The problem is provoking a muted response especially from KWS who seem hesitant to chase them out.  Some people think that this is the right “for humanitarian response”, and I’m hopping mad.According to the IUCN, a national park is meant to be a protected area where natural ecosystems are not materially altered by human exploitation or occupation and where the competent authority (KWS) takes steps to prevent or eliminate such impacts. National Parks are used for inspirational, educative, cultural and recreative purposes.

The KWS Vision is “To be a world leader in wildlife conservation” and it’s Mission is “To sustainably conserve and manage Kenya’s wildlife and its habitat in collaboration with stakeholders for posterity”.

SO, WHAT ARE LIVESTOCK DOING IN KENYA’S NATIONAL PARKS?

Even though Livestock is critical to our economy and contributes 12% of the GDP, the Kenyan government has failed Kenyan herders. Pastoralist occupy the ASAL areas (arid and semi arid lands) which make up two thirds of the country’s surface area. But very little has been done to help them. Historically the colonial government dispossessed land from pastoral communities, and our current government has been complacent and allows our political elite to benefit from the status quo by serving their private interests.

I believe that corruption in public institutions may be the greatest cause of Kenya’s economic decline, environmental degradation, and deepening poverty for millions of people.   It has created a humanitarian situation, for many Kenyans livestock keeping is a matter of survival.

This is why every time there are problems in the northern range lands, like droughts, conflict and disease, cattle are herded into the parks as a refuge.

KWS may in fact be powerless to stop them unless they take on a political war.

But does this effect conservation? Should we allow cattle in the parks?

I say “Hell No!! Chase them out as fast as possible!”  You may think me heartless in demanding that KWS drive the starving cattle and poor communities out of the parks. But  the long term consequence will cripple us – look at the devastating implications of corruption and impunity as a result of the destruction of the Mau forests.  Kenya’s entire economy is suffering and some 2,100 people will soon be homeless because of the greed of a few politicians.

There are also short term consequences of allowing cattle into our parks during droughts. Tourism is the backbone of this faltering economy, can we afford to ask visitors to pay $60 dollars per visit to see this?

Cattle taken into park after closing hours - Photo taken 6.20 pm last night at Nairobi National Park

Or this?

Photo taken 8.30 am this morning in Nairobi National Park despite several reports to KWS

Instead of this?

To me the answer to the cattle in the park problem is simple. Would the KWS director, or any of our ministers allow these sick starving cattle onto their personal property where their grazing would eat entire crops and destroy flower garden leaving a dust bowl and lots of parasites and diseases? Of course not!

Why is it that conservation areas are seen as opportunities to soften the devastating impacts our other failed policies? Numerous reports have concluded that the livestock ministry and related government departments, as well as our greedy political elite are  responsible for the crisis facing our cattle today. They created this problem, they must solve it.

In my opinion, letting cattle into the parks will not solve the problem any more than loosening the belt of an obese man will help him manage his weight.

What do you think? How can we send that message loud and clear that the Parks should not be used as emergency fodder for livestock during extreme droughts?

Tags: drought, human wildlife conflict, Kenya, Lions, national parks, poaching, wildlife

4 responses so far

Category: Hells Gate, Kenya, National Parks and protected areas, Snares, wildlife | Date: Jun 03 2009 | By: admin

March 29th 2009, from high above the cliff opposite the famous landmark, Fischers tower, when looking straight down, a strange tan rock like object with four, spindly and narrow branch like appendages extending from the right side lay motionless on the plain below. Could it be a carcass? The position and overall appearance of the object looked far too obscure to be one. Perhaps it is just a rock.

A couple of hours later driving in the park, my friend and I stopped the car on the track closest to a conspicuous fig tree with roots anchored between a large boulder, splitting the once complete mass into segments. The object we could see from the cliff turned out to be a hartebeest carcass, nothing unusual there except when you are standing right above it. A thick wire was wrapped several times around one horn and extended outward, the entire length of the carcass. The bizarre, contorted position of the hartebeest could now be explained by the presence of the wire. The carcass was so far decomposed, that all that was left was the hide. There was no evidence of the internal contents.

Perturbed by the sight of what looked to be a snare and the obvious neglect of the park authorities and rangers we walked closer toward the rocky outcrop facing the magnificent fig tree. Why hadn’t the park rangers taken the carcass for analysis, what was it doing lying out in plain sight of all the park tourists, right next to a track? What had happened to the hartebeest? If it was snared for bushmeat why was it still left there?

There was litter lying around on the rock, graffiti and someone had painstakingly chipped off a portion of the granite from the top. Our confusion quickly progressed into anger at careless and disrespectful tourists for defacing the park and the lack of supervision by the park authorities.

Further to the carcass lying out on the plain, I stumbled upon a tree adjacent to the rock with the graffiti, where another hartebeest carcass had been intentionally wrapped around the trunk of the tree with the same kind of wire attached to the first carcass. Frantically looking around the site for some kind of explanation I saw some used and filthy gloves anchored by a rock, acting as a weight. The gloves were on a rocky outcrop directly in front of the tree. It must have taken more than one person to accomplish securing a full size hartebeest carcass to a tree. At the base of the tree was a severed hartebeest head and it did not come from either of the two wire entangled ones, as each had the head attached. Neither of us could understand what was going on. It was most bizarre, to say the least. Was this some kind of research? What kind of research would be so twisted? Are the park authorities aware that there is something so disturbing in plain view of anyone who visits the park? What sort of an impression is this creating?

The ranger or warden at the gate could not tell us what was going on. He looked at the photos and repeatedly confirmed the location where we encountered this was the ‘green tree’. He did not know of any research groups working around that area. It was quite a miserable effort on the parks behalf to assure us that someone was going to look into it. His manner was rather nonchalant.

I asked some of my colleagues at WildlifeDirect for their interpretation of the photographs. It seems like leopard baiting is the most plausible. Whether for research conducted by scientists or poachers, it is unclear. If it were for research, how were the hartebeest carcasses obtained? Were they killed by someone for this purpose or did the hartebeest die of natural causes and their carcasses used as bait? By whom? Does KWS know? Have they consented to such research, if it is indeed the reason? I want some answers. There is no procedure I am aware off where a visitor to any Kenyan National Park can file a formal complaint that is documented and given a response to. It seems to be upon the discretion of park visitors to report any incidences witnessed inside KWS protected areas. So much information is lost that way. There were also illegal cattle grazing at the southern end of the park on the far end of buffalo circuit, something I have seen year upon year but no action seems to be taken against such activities. They have been reported informally at the gate several times.
What do you think the hartebeest scenario looks like? Some answers and/or explanations to this would be welcome.

Tags: bushmeat, Hartebeest Carcass, Hells Gate, Kenya, KWS, national parks, Snare

5 responses so far