CNN
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Hundreds of elephants, wildebeests and zebras have died across Kenya during the longest drought in decades.
“Kenya Wildlife Service rangers, community scouts and research teams have counted the deaths of 205 elephants, 512 wildebeests, 381 common zebras, 51 buffaloes, 49 zebras and 12 giraffes in the past nine months. ,” the country’s tourism ministry said.
“Drought is having a negative impact on herbivore populations, especially wildebeest and zebras.”
About 18 million people in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya have been affected by food insecurity after prolonged droughts in the Horn of Africa during the last four consecutive rainy seasons, the World Food Program reports.
The United Nations World Meteorological Organization said the drought was the longest in the region in 40 years.
A series of below-average rainfall events in Kenya have dried up riverbeds and destroyed grasslands in wildlife sanctuaries, according to the Ministry of Tourism.
“The worst-affected ecosystems are home to Kenya’s most-visited national parks, reserves and reserves, including the Amboseli, Tsavo and Laikipia-Samburu regions,” the report said.
In launching the report, Kenya’s Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage, Penina Maronza, said steps were being taken to save the lives of the animals.
“The drought has caused the death of wildlife, mostly herbivores,” Maronza said.
“Deadlines are occurring due to depletion of food resources and lack of water,” she added. Only 36,000 elephants were left in Kenya last year, according to the ministry.
In an interview with the BBC in July, Kenya’s former wildlife and tourism minister Najib Balala said climate change is now killing 20 times more elephants than poaching.
