Kenya's wildlife threatened by drought

Serious threat to elephants as rivers dry up and grasslands shrivel in parched game reserves
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 10 September 2009 13.27 BST
A drought in Kenya has become so bad that the country's famed elephants are dying, as rivers dry up and grasslands shrivel in parched game reserves.
The drought has killed hundreds of cattle and many hectares of crops, threatening the lives of the people who depend on them for food. There is no human death toll for the drought, but the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has said that 3.8 million Kenyans are at risk and in need of emergency food aid.
The zoologist Iain Douglas-Hamilton, who founded Save the Elephants, said the drought is the worst he has seen in 12 years and poses a serious threat to the animals, whose presence in Kenya's broad savannah help draw a million tourists each year.
"It may be related to climate change, and the effect is elephants, particularly the young and the old, have began to die," he told AP Television News. "When they do not have enough food they also seem to be vulnerable to disease, their immune system weakens and they catch all sorts of diseases."
Elephants, which have no predators, must roam widely to get their daily ration of as much as 52 gallons (200 litres) of water and about 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of grass, leaves and twigs. But the water is disappearing and the grass is all but gone.
In the past two months, over 40 elephants have died in Laikipia, Isiolo and Samburu districts, the Daily Nation newspaper reported. It was initially thought to be a disease outbreak but laboratory tests failed to detect disease. The only probable reason the animals are dying is drought, Moses Litoloh, a senior scientist with the Kenya Wildlife Service, told the newspaper.
"Preliminary investigations reveal that the elephants have not been getting enough fodder, especially the young ones," he said. "Young elephants are unable to keep up the pace with their mothers while grazing. They are also not able to browse tall trees which are the only source of food left."
The species is hardly at the brink of extinction: there are 23,000 elephants in Kenya and fewer than 100 have died from the drought but wildlife experts say they are concerned.
Making matters worse, herders are driving their livestock into the elephants' domain in search of fresh pasture and competing for forage.
The prime minister, Raila Odinga, last month warned of a "catastrophe" if seasonal rains don't come in October and November. Kenya's grain harvest is expected to be 28% lower. Food prices have jumped by as much as 130%.
The WFP has called for $230m (£138m) in donations to feed hungry Kenyans.