Kajiado — Kajiado residents have been urged to form conservancies as an option to mitigate human wildlife conflicts which have been rampant in most parts of the county.

Speaking to KNA in his office, Kenya Wildlife Service Senior warden in Kajiado Vitalis Ochola said though residents have been coexisting with wildlife since time immemorial but due to population growth, people have settled in migratory corridors for wildlife leading to increased human- wildlife conflicts.

"Having conservancies will ensure that the conflicts between people and wildlife are mitigated. This is possible for the residents in wildlife attack prone areas like Ngatataek, Maili Tisa, Mosiro and Masimba as the people living there are pastoralists hence conservancies will not change their way of life," says Ochola.

He reiterated that once conservancies are formed, the communities will benefit from more jobs such as scouts and safari guides.

"Money that will be made from the conservancies will also be shared among the members thus improving the community's standard of living.

Livestock will benefit too as one part of the land is set aside for grazing the other ones will be unused for a while allowing them to regenerate. The unused part will come in handy especially during drought unlike when the livestock are spread out grazing in all parts," said Ochola.

Ochola revealed that KWS has employed 67 community scouts from every sub county in Kajiado who report any information concerning wildlife within the county.

He adds that the scouts have been deployed in strategic areas which are rife with human wildlife conflict so that they can report first hand in case they sight wildlife outside their designated areas.

KWS has also been providing fuel for pumping the community boreholes which provide the people, livestock and wildlife with water especially now that rivers and dams have dried up due to the ongoing drought.

Ochola revealed that 1,174 claims relating to human wildlife conflict in Kajiado are being processed awaiting compensation.

The claims include compensation relating to human injuries, human deaths, crop destruction, livestock deaths and property damage. - Kna