Conservation is as much about the people living alongside the wildlife, as it is about the animals themselves. Ol Pejeta spends a significant amount of time ensuring that relationships with the surrounding communities remain strong, and a major part of this is helping to mitigate human-wildlife conflict. On 6th February, a joint collaboration between Ol Pejeta, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and the Kenya Wildlife Service(KWS) was launched to try and push wildlife away from community areas and back into Ol Pejeta.
In Kenya, the average wage in the agricultural sector in just $2 a day. Whether its maize or cattle; the loss of crops or livestock can be devastating for rural families, who often have no other source of income. Encroachment of wildlife onto community farms brings about inevitable conflict – crops are destroyed by elephants, or lost to grazing herbivores. Predators such as lion and leopard pick off valuable livestock too. Historically, retaliation killings of wildlife were commonplace in rural Kenya, as farmers did what they could to try and protect their livelihoods.
The communities around Ol Pejeta now have a different way of dealing with problem wildlife. An excellent relationship with Ol Pejeta, as well as an increasing awareness about the value of wildlife to Laikipia, means that instead of taking matters into their own hands, community members now call on the Ol Pejeta wildlife teams. However, constant call-outs take their toll on the Conservancy’s resources, so earlier this month, in partnership with Lewa and KWS, a big game push was undertaken to try and drive as many animals away from the Conservancy boundary, as deep into Ol Pejeta as possible.
The push took place in the Sirima area of Ol Pejeta, which lies on the border of the Conservancy close to community farms. This is a section in the Conservancy devoted to intensive cattle use, as part of Ol Pejeta’s livestock programme. It is also a favourable breeding habitat for species like the Jackson’s hartebeest – which are locally threatened. The grazing management here has, over the years, attracted large populations of species such as zebra, elands and gazelles. Last year’s census results indicated roughly 560 herbivores resident here, 60% of which were zebra.
Using helicopters and a team of rangers on the ground, over 60 zebras were driven back into the conservancy, as well as a number of other antelope. It is hoped that this will lessen the burden on the Ol Pejeta’s wildlife response teams – one of which includes a specialised Night Problem Animal Team – as well as the potential conflict for the community.
Protecting farmers from elephants requires further measures. Elephants have huge ranges; migratory routes their herds have been travelling for centuries. Increasingly, these routes are blocked by farm fences and crop fields. Ol Pejeta frequently collaborates with Space for Giantsand KWS in the collaring of ‘problem elephants’ (notorious fence breakers or crop-raiders) so as to understand and map their movements. If an elephant is likely to cause injury to a member of the community, or continually causes damage to property, it is usually trans-located to another area where it will be safe from human conflict.