The government is planning to construct a one of a kind wildlife overpass along the Moi North lake road in Nakuru County.
The overpass which will be built with the help of a local conservation Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) has been estimated at KSh 200 million.
This follows the increase of deaths of wild animals while moving between the Eburu forest and lake Naivasha in search of food and water.
“There is a lot of wildlife killed on the road where the animals have a small corridor to walk on. I have many pictures of the killed animals
“What we want is an overpass. The animals that we have killed here include leopards, zebras, impalas, and jackals,” said Ronaldo Retielf Chairperson of the Eburu Committee.
The overpass which will be about 50 meters wide was designed in 2016 but it is yet to be constructed.
Over the years, efforts have been made in a bid to protect the wildlife from accessing arrears such as roads where they endanger their lives.
“The fencing of Eburu Forest was a great idea and we can see the improvement. However, after fencing, we realised that there was also a need for wildlife to use a corridor and get to Lake Naivasha to access water,” Joseph Motongu, a member of the NGO said.
Addressing human-wildlife conflict has been a problem in Kenya for years due to a rapidly expanding population that has encroached on wildlife sanctuaries and migratory corridors.
In 2021, a report by The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) warns that human-wildlife conflict is the main threat to the long-term survival of some of the world’s most emblematic species.
The report showed that while it’s not possible to completely eradicate human-wildlife conflict, there are approaches that involve the full participation of local communities that can help reduce it.
The top five counties that have had the highest reported incidents of HWC include Taita Taveta, Narok, Lamu, Kajiado and Laikipia.
The top 10 species of wildlife that are responsible for the most HWC incidents are elephants, buffaloes, hyenas, hippos, leopards, baboons, monkeys, snakes and crocodiles.
Wildlife faces numerous threats, among them, effects of climate change, loss of habitat from deforestation, illegal wildlife trade, infrastructure and conflict with humans.
These are factors that have led to a significant decline of wildlife species and to the possible extinction of species whose numbers were really low already.
