Warthogs hit hardest by Nairobi Park encroachment

 

Buffalos at Nairobi National Park. FILE PHOTO | NMG

By ELIZABETH KIVUVA
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SUMMARY

• The park has 40 warthogs and 22 waterbucks left.
• It covers about 117 square kilometres and has animal population of 4,956 including giraffe, buffalo, zebra, white and black rhino, crocodile and baboons.

Warthogs, waterbucks, hartebeests and gazelles are among animals whose population is declining due to construction of roads, offices and residential houses close to Nairobi National Park .

A newly published National Wildlife Census 2021 report by the Tourism and Wildlife ministry shows the populations of these animals have declined by about 70 percent amid pressure from infrastructure development, real estate and pollution in bordering residential areas such as Kitengela and the Athi-Kapiti plains.

‘’Because of the park’s proximity to Nairobi city, impacts of national infrastructural developments, expanding human populations and associated land sub-divisions into commercial and residential plots, have all diminished land wildlife,” Tourism ministry said.

“These changes have made the wildebeest migration that had over 30,000 animals in the 1960s to completely collapse due to blockage of their migratory routes.’’

The park has 40 warthogs and 22 waterbucks left.

It covers about 117 square kilometres and has animal population of 4,956 including giraffe, buffalo, zebra, white and black rhino, crocodile and baboons.

The proximity of the park to residential areas and illegal settlements (slums) has also fuelled the decline in the wildlife population because it makes them vulnerable to poaching.

Human encroachment is at its all-time high posing the biggest threat to a park whose revenues more than doubled in the six-year period to 2018.

The park received 208,200 visitors in 2019, compared to 196,700 in 2018.

Its popularity especially among local visitors increased last year with restriction of international travel.

Besides human settlements, other humans activities that threaten the park’s survival include completion of Southern By-pass that has led to subdividing and development commercial properties leading to noise and waste pollution.

In 2018, construction of a 4-kilomtre road connecting Nairobi Inland Container Depot to Southern By-pass saw encroachment of the park disrupting the ecosystem