Kenya conducts 1st wildlife census in battle to protect threatened species
ISIOLO, KENYA: The flimsy planes tethered to metal drums to prevent them from accidentally becoming airborne are unlikely weapons in Kenya’s fight to protect threatened species as it conducts its first national wildlife census.
Decades of unbridled poaching, expanding human settlements and the climate crisis have taken a heavy toll on the global wildlife population, and central Kenya is no exception.
African savanna elephants have been particularly hard-hit, with their numbers plunging by at least 60% during the last halfcentury, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
So the pilots preparing their aircraft at the tiny airport at Isiolo know they are on the front lines of a battle with far-reaching consequences.
“Elephants are the key animals, but when you are able to locate (any) endangered species, you feel like the census is on the right track,” pilot Chris Cheruiyot tells AFP as he fastens the safety belt of his passenger, Julius Kabete.
A camera and audio recorder dangling from his neck, Kabete will spend the next few hours counting Somali giraffes, Grevy’s zebras, oryxes and other animals as the pair cruise the windy skies and refuel their Aviat Husky aircraft at specially set up stations in the forest.
The ambitious exercise, which kicked off in May, covers major species in more than 50 of Kenya’s national parks and reserves as well as private and community conservancies, and includes marine life.
Much of the existing data on the country’s wildlife population are gathered individually by local advocacy groups or international conservationists, contributing to a scattershot approach to animal protection.
Furthermore, training spotters is often both time-consuming and expensive.
The result is that many scientists prefer to use models to map wildlife instead of tracking animals in the flesh, says zoologist Iain Douglas-Hamilton of Save the Elephants. That makes this maiden census especially important. Its information will help the East African nation map a long-term strategy to save a cherished asset that is also a major tourist draw.