The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) drove some 80 elephants from the Vitengeni area of Kilifi County into the adjacent Tsavo East National Park.
In a video shared by KWS, the wildlife body said it used one of its choppers to scare the majestic animals from the villages while having other wildlife officers coordinating the exercise on the ground.
The jumbos have been a nuisance in Kilifi County where large swathes of farms have been destroyed.
“A total of 80 elephants were expertly guided to Tsavo East National Park, a strategic relocation aimed at safeguarding both the local communities and the tuskers,” KWS said in a statement.
Similarly, some villagers have lost their lives in the conflict between them and the marauding elephants.
“This initiative exemplifies KWS’s commitment to fostering harmonious coexistence between humans and wildlife, ensuring the preservation of these iconic creatures for posterity,” KWS added.
In 2020, the Kenya Wildlife Service developed an elaborate plan to drive the jumbos into Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks.
In the plan, the wildlife body planned to use choppers as opposed to using vehicles and armed officers to drive the elephants from the villages.
Elephants-human conflict
During such drives, the officers require residents to stay indoors as the jumbos may feel threatened and attack indiscriminately.
At one point, a similar exercise was halted after the aerial team spotted charcoal burners along the path where the jumbos were to go through.
Human-wildlife conflict has been a recurring issue in conservancy circles with deaths and serious injuries being reported from regions that border the game parks.
In May 2024, a lioness scaled the walls of a home in Ongata-Rongai’s Maasai Lodge area and snatched a dog away.
Before that, two students from Multimedia University were seriously injured by a stray hyena which attacked them along the ole Kasasi area.
During the rescue mission conducted by the KWS special unit for escaped wildlife, human remains of an individual were retrieved.
“Unfortunately, another team of Problem Animal Management Unit (PAMU) remaining on patrol discovered part of human remains at the scene, which were taken by the police. The remains have been confirmed, and the family has been notified,” the KWS statement said.
Students at the university would later take to the streets to protest the human-wildlife conflict that has become rampant near the school.
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