Short rains have killed scores of Kenya’s famed wildlife herds in the Rift Valley region, amid a searing drought that had already decimated livestock and wild animals across the East African region, officials said on Sunday.
Wildlife officials in Hell’s Gate National Park in the Rift Valley province said weakened animals ate too much vegetation after recent rains in isolated areas in the country.
Charles Muthui, the park’s chief warden said, a long-running drought had decimated several wildlife, but now the animals are also dying because of bloating.
”Once the grass sprouted, the animals fed excessively and many died owing to bloat that is caused by dew,” Muthui at the park in Naivasha, about 90km northwest of the capital.
”The most affected are grass-eating animals because the area was turned into green vegetation,” he added.
He explained at least 100 animals — mostly gazelles, zebra and buffaloes — had died after the recent rains.
As government and relief agencies scramble to save human populations from starvation, wildlife authorities last month warned that poachers are targeting weakened wildlife that are also dying in droves amid increased drought-related competition for scarce food and water.
And drought-induced deadly anthrax has killed scores of endangered Grevy’s zebras in northern Kenya while reduced water levels also killed nearly 100 hippos in the country, officials say.
At least 40 people have died in northern Kenya and livestock are also dying at an alarming rate amid acute food shortages that are threatening at least 11-million people across the East and Horn of Africa regions.
The United Nations has warned that many more will die if donors delay delivery of much-needed support. – Sapa-AFP