The Kenya Wildlife Service has launched an operation aimed at moving out over 200 elephants that have been terrorizing residents of Ganze in Kilifi County.
KWS dispatched a chopper and a team of rangers who will be pushing out the Elephants from the area inhabited by thousands of residents who have been living in fear for the past weeks.
The Chopper will be doing aerial surveillance while the ground team will be moving the elephants toward Tsavo East National park.
Area leaders have lauded the government for the operation but called for fencing of the Tsavo national park to provide a permanent solution to the problem.
Ganze Deputy County Commissioner Louis Rono said they had done sensitization programs so as to make sure they move out of the forest to pave way for the smooth operation.
Speaking in Mwahera after a Baraza the operation will continue until the elephants reach Tsavo East national park.
“We have been telling them to move out for the last one month but surprisingly others still remain in the forest while others shout at them, some climb on top of trees and stone the elephants so as to take photos with their phones,” he said.
He ordered all the locals to move out of the forest as the elephants were dangerous and it will be difficult for the operation to kick off.
Rono said they have called for KWS rangers from Lamu and other areas to help in pushing the elephants out of the area and will be assisted by the plane.
“There is no food or Water in Tsavo that’s why the elephants came to this direction, elephants are like humans they are also looking for water for drinking and food to eat,” he said.
Ganze MP Teddy Mwambire on his part said even though the national government had bigger plans for relocating the elephants there was a need to get a permanent solution to the human-wildlife conflicts which would only be resolved by fencing the Tsavo East national park.
He said they are in touch with the four counties neighbouring the park including Taita Taveta, Kwale, Tanariver, and Kilifi to see if they can partner with the National government and other stakeholders to get a permanent solution.
“We want to be supported to ensure an electric fence is installed around Tsavo so as to prevent the animals from moving out of the park to separate the wildlife and human beings,” he said.
Currently, he said Ganze residents will suffer double tragedy as there were no rains and in the few areas which received rainfall, the crops were destroyed by the rogue elephants.
The legislator said the residents will require three times the normal relief food that they receive from the national government because of the disaster of drought and the elephants.
Mwambire who spoke in Jila secondary school after officially opening a girls’ dormitory said he is also in talks with fellow MPs to see if they could allocate NG-CFD funds to also help in the electric fencing but unfortunately they are going for the election which will slow down the process.
Ganze Sub County Director of Education Rashid Mjimba said installing an electric fence was the only solution to the human-wildlife conflict in the area.
He said the elephants are terrorizing residents including school children who are affected during this time due to the fear of being attacked.
Mjimba said there is a need also to come up with water projects in Ganze including drilling boreholes as the area has a major challenge.
“Water pans are being dug but there are no rains in this area the only long-term solutions are drilling of boreholes,” he said.
Jila Secondary School principal Mary Kenga said fencing the Park was better because elephants were dangerous to the community school children and teachers included.
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