Many people might think I am going nuts by suggesting that the gate fees at Kenya’s wildlife parks be saved for wildlife as emergency care during the drought season.
It is essentially their money. They have earned it by being the stars of the show in safari tours. Nobody goes to watch a show in a theatre and expect the managers to spend all the money at the expense of the artistes. The cost of tickets for concerts and cinemas is equally shared out with the main actors. The same rights should go to wildlife. If it were underage children put to work and parents spent the money instead, there would be hue and cry.
The shocking images of wildlife carcases strewn all over Kenya were beamed across the world recently. The drought, like in many other parts of the Horn of Africa, has affected human and animal populations, domestic and wild. But the focus has been on supporting the human population.
Although that is a humane gesture, it is also time we looked at long-term solutions to ensure that wildlife populations survive droughts. The surest way of doing that is saving the fees collected at our national parks as an emergency fund for wildlife during the drought season. The fund could then be used to provide them with food and water during drought.
Watering sites
The BBC featured a documentary in 2020 on a temporary watering hole for wildlife during the dry season. The oasis attracted wildlife of all kinds. If similar schemes for food and water were established across Kenya during the drought seasons, animals are bound to find them. They can share the human-made oasis with domestic animals too.
The most important reason of establishing feeding and watering sites for wildlife is to minimise human and wildlife conflict. Animals are cutting across the jungle and even getting closer to the main cities in search of food and water. This proximity is bound to put both humans and wildlife at risk. Just like humans, animals are forced to move in search of greener pasture. Herbivorous animals are the most affected as they need foliage to eat. Carnivorous animals are the passive victims of drought if all herbivores perish.
Safari tour is the most attractive part of holidaying in Kenya. There are many other countries with even more beautiful beaches and resorts but lack the unique aspect of safari holidays. The stars of safari holiday are the wildlife and, therefore, they deserve to be looked after well both during the better and worst times. We must remember that tourism revenues also include what the safari tours contribute. Without wildlife, we may as well forget about the Magical Kenya campaigns.
Best ambassadors
Wildlife in Kenya are the best ambassadors for the country, followed closely by our athletes. However, instead of focusing to build on these two brands, we spend a ridiculous amount of the national revenue hiring spent politicians into government. Most politicians in Kenya are a drain on the public purse and offer no value for money—unlike the wildlife.
Our animals have brought us pride from far and wide. The least we could do is to show our appreciation by not abandoning them when they struggle during drought. We must appreciate their contribution of bringing tourists into the country by making sure that they get food and water when there is scarcity of it.
It might be too much to ask of governments that do not care for their own citizens during drought, but both humans and wildlife in Kenya deserve our support as rivers and the lands dry up.
I am not suggesting that everything that we collect from tourism must go into a savings account for the wildlife, but a reasonable percentage should be spared for them to be used during the drier and difficult years. Yes, I see no reason either why it should not be part of the national budget. Wildlife is our very important natural resource and revenue earner. It is, therefore, important that it is protected, preserved and nourished during drought too.
Drought is not something that will be going away any time soon as long as we have a desert in the north and climate change knocking on the door. This year is not the first time rains failed in the country and it won’t be the last either. It is, therefore, imperative that the state works out a modality where emergency funds are set aside to alleviate the death of people and animals during drought.
Protection of humans suffering from drought effects and wildlife management is wrongly outsourced to aid communities and animal conservationists. The government must play a bigger role first and draw up long-term plans for drought mitigation and only turn to the international community as a last resort.
Taming corruption is useful for wildlife, too, and the best place to start. For now, let us feed and water our wildlife to survive the drought while working out long-term replenishable human-designed oases. BY DAILY NATION