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| Destructive feeding habits. |
To minimise conflict with humans in their new homes, careful consideration goes into the selection of the release sites. These have to be far from any farming communities and with enough space, food and water, so that the elephants have no inclination to wander out of the park. The elephants are also fitted with radio-collars to closely monitor their movements on a daily basis, enabling rangers to intervene in time and forestall impending conflicts.
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| A damaged acacia. |
Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks have a combined elephant population of 7,000. In the 1970s, a total of 45,000 elephants were counted in the two parks. Recent findings reveal that the population could have been as high as 60,000. By 1989, poaching had reduced the population to 6,200 animals. The reduction of elephant numbers resulted in reduced biological diversity due to increased bushland.
The translocation from Mwea to Tsavo is expected to help restore the balance in both areas, and to enhance Tsavo's tourist appeal.
Research identified a family of 26 in Mwea. If all are translocated as a group, disruption will be minimised.
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| One of the trucks used during translocations. |
Every member of the capture team is an experienced specialist in his or her field: pilots, marksmen, vets, winch operators, drivers, armed rangers etc. They must know the terrain and the target animals, and must be familiar with the whole process.
The equipment used is specifically built for the exercise. For example, the translocating truck must be robust enough to drive right up to where the darted animal falls irrespective of the terrain. It has to be able to lower, manoeuvre, tilt and lift a huge crate gently and with precision. It has to be able to re-cross rough terrain with a full load, and move swiftly and smoothly along the roads to the release site.
The operation is planned in such a way that it can be aborted at any stage: To revive and release the animals, and then back off!
Six were initially captured but released after developing complications, including stiff neck, exhaustion and difficulties in breathing. However, they were re-darted a few days later and successfully translocated.
The main risks involved in the capture and translocation of giraffes, include the following:
Between May 24 - 25, this year, four male and four female black rhinos (Diceros bicornis michaeli) were moved from Nairobi National Park to Tsavo East National Park. In Kenya (and the rest of Africa), the black rhino population is under tight management to save it from extinction. Current estimates put its population in Kenya at 433 animals. Small groups are widely distributed within KWS sanctuaries, national reserves and private ranches.
The rhinos are being translocated mainly to check overstocking in the sanctuaries and to re-establish them in their natural habitats. Secondly, capture operations are carried out in the event of inadequate security, disease or lack of breeding mates.
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| A radio collar enables KWS to monitor the animals for four years. |
A darted rhino wanders for a few minutes before succumbing to the drug. Rhinos are quite heavy. When a darted one runs into a forest or falls into a gulley, it becomes very cumbersome to walk it into the translocating crate after it is partially revived.
KWS intends to move a group of the hunter's hartebeest (Damaliscus hunteri), commonly known as the Hirola antelope, to Tsavo where they can be assured of security, hoping this will help rebuild its population to stable levels.
The hirola is threatened with extinction. There are only about 300 animals left in the world, all in Garissa District, in Kenya's North Eastern Province. It is not clear why the antelope has such stringent habitat preferences, being almost unable to establish itself elsewhere.
One of the reasons advanced for its dwindling numbers is stiff competition for food from domestic livestock, whose population has grown steadily over the past 10 years. Besides that, the persistent civil strife in Somalia has made guns easily available in the region, taking its toll on the animal through poaching. Between 1977 and 1983, there were about 7,000 animals, but the 1984 drought decimated the population by more than 80 per cent.
By a Safarimate Correspondent