Nairobi — The Kenya government is translocating 400 elephants from the Shimba Hills National Reserve to Tsavo East National Park in Taita Taveta district, to reduce human-wildlife conflict and save Kwale's biodiversity from destruction, writes Philip Ngunjiri

RESIDENTS OF KWALE DISTRICT of Kenya have reason to feel relief as the translocation of 400 elephants from the Shimba Hills National Reserve to Tsavo East National Park gets underway.

But ranchers and farmers near the Tsavo East National Park are concerned that Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is merely transferring the elephant problem to them. They are demanding assurances that their ranches and farms are protected from elephant intrusions.

Already, several jumbo families have been hauled in huge trucks through Kinango, Samburu, Manyani and Lugard Falls to Ithumba in Northern Tsavo under a Ksh246.4 million ($3.2 million) project that is part of the national elephant conservation and management strategy funded by the government. Kwale is 30km west of Mombasa while Tsavo is 350 km to the north.

The project will reduce the population of elephants in the Shimba Hills National Reserve from 600 to 200.

Tsavo East lost most of its elephant population to poachers during the 1970s and 1980s.

According to Patrick Omondi, a KWS senior scientist and the co-ordinator of the National Elephant Conservation Programme, the relocation will save Shimba Hills - classified by IUCN as one of the world's leading biodiversity hotspots - from impending ruin.

"The Shimba Hills ecosystem is a vital water catchment area for the coast region and home to over 1,000 species of plants. Nineteen of these plants are endemic, or so rare that the only place they exist in the world is Shimba Hills.

"But the pressure on the habitat, occasioned by large elephant numbers, threatens these plants with destruction and extinction," says Mr Omondi. The scientist estimates that the park's carrying capacity for elephants is only 200 elephants.

The current relocation, he adds, is therefore planned to ease pressure on the habitat, enhance biodiversity conservation and reduce the incidence of human-elephant conflict, which has risen dramatically in recent years.

As a bonus, the translocation will restore elephants to their former range in northern Tsavo and help to relaunch tourist activities in the undeveloped northern sector of the park.

KWS director Julius Kipng'etich says security for the elephants is now assured.

"We deployed 83 ranger recruits to Tsavo East last month; the sub-headquarters at Ithumba is fully operational, with an aircraft for aerial patrols. We have sensitised the local community on the elephant translocation and they are supportive. If the poachers come, they will find us ready," he says.

Mr Kipng'etich says KWS has taken measures to ensure the relocated elephants do not become a menace to their new neighbours. "We have dug five watering holes to discourage elephants from wandering onto community farms and erected a 41-km electric fence along the most vulnerable spots on the park boundary.

"We have also radio-collard six matriarchs (old female elephants who lead the family herds) and will be monitoring their movements using the global positioning system (GPS) so that our rangers can drive them away before they reach private farms. We want to be pro-active in our management of the elephants," he says.

The population of elephants in Kenya fell drastically from an estimated 167,000 in 1973 to 16,000 in 1989 as a result of poaching. The KWS, however, has reversed the trend and today, the population stands at 28,000 elephants.

Mr Omondi says the KWS Elephant Programme, based on the Elephant Conservation Plan - Kenya of 1991, lays emphasis on elephant protection, monitoring of illegal trade in ivory and the status and trends of elephant population.

"It also calls for basic and applied research and effective management of elephants in parks and reserves to ensure optimal use of available habitats and the reduction of crop damage outside parks," he says.

Unlike many African countries, Kenya's elephants are not restricted to fenced national parks and reserves. They range across large areas outside the network of protected areas, making them vulnerable to poaching.

On the other hand, human settlements on the elephants' traditional migratory routes and dispersal areas have restricted elephant movements over the past decade, making human-elephant conflict and habitat destruction by elephants issues of national concern.