Kenya intervening to save wildlife amid drought

Kenya’s wildlife authorities say they have had to intervene to save some wild animals affected by a prolonged drought in parks and other areas in the country.

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) says it has been drilling boreholes and filling water pans after water sources, including seasonal rivers, dried up.

It has also been providing wild animals with food supplements such as hay in some parks.

Veterinary doctors have been moving around the parks to identify sick and weak animals to treat them, as well as conducting post-mortem on carcasses, KWS says.

It however says that the “significant rainfall” in Kenya over the last few days will be a relief for many herbivores that have been affected by lack of water and foliage.

For months now, wild animals have been dying in their hundreds and herders have reported many losses of their livestock from the biting drought that has hit countries across East Africa and Horn of Africa states.

The UN’s World Food Programme on Tuesday said parts of Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya have been experiencing the driest season in 40years.

This article originally appeared in BBC News

Photo: KWS