KWS to supply water to wildlife in counties affected by drought

NAKURU,Kenya, Oct, 16 – In a bid to mitigate the effects of drought that has seen not only human beings affected across the country but also animals, the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) is now set to supply water to affected wildlife across the country.

According to the government close to two million Kenyans have been affected by the ongoing drought nationwide with president Uhuru Kenyatta declaring it a national disaster.

Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala who was speaking during the graduation of 195 students from the newly established Wildlife Research Training Institute (WRTI) in Naivasha revealed that the exercise to supply water to various national parks and sanctuaries will be spearheaded by the recently established drought response committee.

“The current drought is due to climate change and KWS has embarked on the process of supplying water to all parks affected by the drought,” Said Balala.

At least 21 counties are under surveillance by the government after being said to have been ravaged by the effects of the drought.

Stakeholders in the tourism sector have also expressed concern over the fate of the industry calling for immediate intervention.

“The cabinet already discussed and approved water tracking targeting wildlife,” said Balala who further called on relevant authorities to conduct studies on the effects of the raging drought and its connection to climate change in the country.

Thousands of animals are said to be facing starvation as cases of human-wildlife conflict are on the rise across various regions.

“The Ministry has formed a taskforce to look into ways of forming an insurance compensation fund and already the pilot project has kicked off in some counties,” he said.

This year alone, the government has released Sh500m towards compensation against a backlog of Sh2.3 billion yet to be settled.

Even as the raging drought continuers to affect millions of Kenyans, a cash transfer system has already ben instituted to ease the burden of millions of Kenyans,