Three giraffes electrocuted in Kenya’s Soysambu Conservancy

Three giraffes have been electrocuted in Kenya’s Soysambu Conservancy, bringing the number that has been killed so far to 11.

On Friday morning, two males of Roths’ child species were electrocuted. On Saturday, one more died at the same point where the first two died.

On Sunday, a source said the third one to be electrocuted had gone to the same spot where the first two had died. “We believe it went to that spot after getting a smell of blood,” a source said.

She revealed that the two first carcasses had been moved away from power lines to avoid vultures and other giraffes coming to the spot to mourn. The source said the dead giraffes had been moved to a safe spot.

“We have been urging the Kenya Power team from Gilgil to come and address the power issues but they have not,” she said.

The source said 150 of the endangered species are in the conservancy representing 10 percent in the whole world.

There are four species of the animal, three are found in Kenya.

These are the reticulated giraffe also known as the Somali giraffe (15,524), Rothschild’s giraffe (609), and the Masai giraffe (12,717).

The deaths of the species come even as the government last year announced that it will use all means to protect them and allow their population to grow.

When reached for comment, KPLC Corporate Communications Manager Kevin Sang said he was looking for information.

“I’m trying to get information from the ground and there is an engineer who will provide,” Sang said.

During World Giraffe day last year, Tourism CS Najib Balala made the pledge to protect them.

Balala said, “This animal is beautiful. Unfortunately, we have slightly above 100,000 giraffes in the world. In Kenya, we have about 29,000 giraffes,” he said.

World Giraffe Day is celebrated annually on June 21 to create awareness of the challenges giraffes face in the wild.

The species’ specimens are traded internationally and have declined by 36 to 40 percent over the past three decades due to habitat loss and other pressures.

Giraffes are also killed for bush meat, body parts, and hides for the domestic and international markets.

On August 22, 2019, the species was given more protection under laws protecting iconic species.

The enhanced protection was among resolutions passed at the 18th Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES CoP 18).

Giraffe is now listed on CITES Appendix II. The appendix includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled to avoid excessive utilization.

In 2018, a giraffe recovery plan was launched with the aim of addressing some of the challenges facing the species.

Balala said the government in 2019 made a spirited effort by giving the giraffe more protection. He said almost 112 giraffes are hosted at Nairobi National Park.

Source: star.co.ke