Kenya plans massive elephant translocation to ease human-wildlife conflict

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2004

NAIROBI (AFP) — The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) announced it planned to move about 400 elephants from a reserve in the coastal region where they have been straying into human settlements and destroying crops.

"KWS intends to translocate 400 jumbos from the Shimba Hills National Reserve to Tsavo East National Park's northern sector from around July, when they will be darted with tranquilizers for transportation," a KWS official, who requested anonymity, told AFP by telephone.

"An intense human-wildlife conflict and severe habitat degradation in the Shimba ecosystem have necessitated the intended relocation of the elephants to resolve human-wildlife conflict and to restore environmental degradation," the official said.

"This is in line with KWS Elephant...