According to Kenya’s tourism minister, more than 200 elephants, as well as hundreds of zebras and gnus, have died in the country’s worst drought in four decades.
The crisis has affected nearly half of Kenya’s regions, affecting at least four million of the country’s 50 million people.
“The drought has caused mortality of wildlife, mostly herbivore species,” Tourism Minister Peninah Malonza told a press conference in Nairobi on Friday, adding that 14 species had been identified as badly hit.
“The mortalities have arisen because of depletion of food resources as well as water shortages.”
Officials recorded the deaths of 205 elephants, 512 gnus, 381 zebras, 12 giraffes, and 51 buffalo between February and October, she said.
“Elephants in (the) Amboseli and Laikipia-Samburu regions are worst affected by the drought, as the ecosystems (there) have recorded more than 70 elephant deaths,” Malonza said.
She stated that the authorities are delivering hay to the animals.
According to tourism ministry estimates, the country had 36,000 elephants last year.
Four consecutive rainy seasons have failed in Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia, driving millions into extreme hunger across the Horn of Africa. In Kenya alone, over 1.5 million cattle have died.
