CNN
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Hundreds of elephants, wildebeest and zebras have died across central Kenya The country’s longest drought in decades.
“Kenya Wildlife Service rangers, community scouts and research teams have counted the deaths of 205 elephants, 512 wildebeest, 381 common zebras, 51 buffaloes, 49 Grevy’s zebras, and 12 giraffes in the past nine months,” a report released Friday by She said. The country’s Ministry of Tourism.
“The drought has negatively affected herbivores, especially wildebeest and zebra.”
prolonged drought Across the Horn of Africa over the past four consecutive rainy seasons, about 18 million people have been affected by food shortages in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, according to reports from the World Food Program.
The United Nations World Meteorological Organization said the drought was the longest in the region in four decades.
In Kenya, successive seasons with below-average rainfall have dried up riverbeds and destroyed grasslands in game reserves, according to the Tourism Ministry.
“The worst affected ecosystems are home to some of Kenya’s most visited national parks, reserves and reserves, including the Amboseli, Tsavo and Laikipia-Samburu regions,” the report states.
Launching the report, Kenya’s Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage, Benina Malunza, said steps had been taken to save the animals’ lives – including drilling wells and bringing water to dry water basins and dams.
“The drought has caused the death of wildlife, mostly herbivorous species,” Malonza said.
“The deaths arose due to the depletion of food resources and the lack of water,” she added. According to the ministry, there were only 36,000 elephants left in Kenya last year.
In an interview with the BBC in July, Kenya’s former Cabinet Secretary for Wildlife and Tourism, Najib Balala, said climate change was now killing 20 times as many elephants as poaching.
