Campo, Kenyy – While nations mark World Wildlife Day DayConservationists in Kenya warn about the reduction of wildlife spaces in the country of East Africa that generates substantial income from wildlife.
While conservation efforts in the last two decades have led to the recovery of many threatened species, animals are losing wide habitat stripes due to threats derived from climate change and destructive human behavior, activists warn.
But they also cite an opportunity in what is known as wildlife runners: strips of land connection areas that would otherwise be separated by human activities. By allowing the free movement of animals and reducing the incidents of the conflict of human life, such corridors support the growth of wildlife populations.
A conservation group that is trying to create such runners is Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, which is about 260 kilometers (160 miles) north of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Lewa is owned by a non -profit organization that has acquired more lands in recent years in an attempt to connect the Mount Kenya Forest Reserve to pastures in northern Kenya. The sanctuary is the home of 14% of Kenya’s remaining black rhinos, in addition to other mammalian species ranging from lions to zebras.
An annual wildlife census was being carried out when the AP visited Lewa, where the number of animals has been climbing over the years. The census involved the manual count of each animal, with the rangers and air teams that participated in the effort of the days.
“All this is an effort to ensure that we assume the responsibility of counting every species in Lewa, especially the most critically in danger of extinction and threatened,” said Dominic Maringa, chief of conservation and wildlife in Lewa. “We make sure it is a complete census.”
The Lewa elephant population increased from 350 individuals in 2014 to more than 450 in 2024, according to the figures provided by conservation. Similar growth was observed among white and black rhinoceros, a great attraction for visitors.
But wildlife populations are shown by ecosystems and should be paired by stronger efforts to protect habitats and create new runners, Maringa said.
“As conservationists, you must be looking at these tendencies, relate them to climate change, relate them to human-wildlife conflicts and conflicts,” he said. “Maybe you are enjoying seeing many elephants or buffalo. But at the end of the day, what does that mean? You have to make sure you think before the population.”
Kenya’s authorities report growth trends of the wildlife population throughout the country. The figures of the Wildlife Authority show that the number of elephants has grown from around 16,000 to the end of the 1980s to almost 37,000 in 2024. The black rhinoceros have increased from less than 400 in the 1990s to more than 1,000 today. Grevy zebras in critical danger now add up to more than 2,000, while lions have grown to approximately 2,600.
But that success is threatened in some areas for the growth of human populations: the population of Kenya has grown from 22 million in 1989 to more than 55 million in 2025.
Keny’s Wildlife Service, or KWS, is encouraging conservations such as Lewa and private owners to open wildlife runners for the movement of free animals, with Translocation efforts also underway Redistribute animals From crowded ecosystems in less populated areas.
KWS, in a recent statement, cited the Tsavo-Amboseli ecosystem, an expansive protected area in southern Kenya that houses key elephant migration routes, as “more and more under pressure due to human activities that affect the free circulation of wildlife.”
Similarly, the wild life corridor known as Kitongela, which connects the Nairobi National Park with the pastures of southern Kenya, has faced fragmentation due to human settlements and the development of infrastructure.
In addition to climate change, rapid urbanization driven by population growth is an important factor in reducing wildlife, according to KWS.
There is also the additional problem of forest fires, with Kenya’s forest service informing more than 180 forest fires that have damaged more than 1,358 hectares of vegetation throughout the country since the beginning of this year.
