Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy Driving Animals Away from Humans

In Laikipia, Kenyan rangers are driving game farther into a 36,000 hectare conservancy to protect the animals from conflict with encroaching humans. Wildlife officials use trucks and helicopters in the Ol Pejeta conservancy to protect game from being killed by locals either for food or protection.

Deep in the heart of the conservancy in Laikipia, rangers conduct a coordinated foot patrol. Ol Pejeta is East Africa’s Largest Black Rhino Sanctuary; it also borders 18 human communities.

To stop rising incidents of conflict between animals and the people living in the area, the rangers are herding game from the edges of the conservancy back into the expansive range.

Samuel Mutisya is part of the team coordinating this exercise - using foot patrols, 4x4s and a helicopter.

“We conduct game drives in such places where the fence is not high profile enough to prevent the animals from getting into the communities. And so basically we do this to drive animals from possible areas of conflict into the conservancy,” said Mutisya.

Surrounding local communities have been expanding into wildlife habitats. That means animals are being displaced from their natural territory and end up looking for food in populated areas.

As a result, locals lose crops, livestock and, sometimes, their lives. In 2013, 106 people were killed in the country by wild animals while 520 others were injured.

The animals are often killed in retaliation.

Willy Okoth commands 45 rangers at Ol Pejeta -- where he’s served for 15 years. He said a prolonged dry period this year has intensified animal-human conflict.

“At the moment there’s drought and it’s quite dry. This is the reason why the animals go off the conservancy and invade farms. So we conduct game drives so as to limit the number of animals that breach the boundaries and keep them in so as to maintain good relations with locals,” said Okoth.

The Kenyan government has an economic interest in protecting its wildlife, which attracts tourists and creates jobs.

Last year the government passed a law that compensates victims for loss of life or injury, as well as property damage caused by wildlife.

But as long as animals and people live side by side, conflict will remain a fact of life.

在肯尼亚莱基皮亚的3万6千公顷野生动物保护区里，工作人员设法把动物赶到保护区深处，以免它们受到偷猎者的伤害。奥佩杰塔自然保护区设法保护野生动物不被当地人作为食物猎杀或者为了保护自己而打死。

在莱基皮亚自然保护区深处，工作人员正在进行协调好的徒步巡逻。奥佩杰塔是东非最大的黑犀牛保护区，周围有18个居民区。

为止制止动物和当地人发生冲突，工作人员正在把保护区边缘的动物赶往保护区深处。

塞缪尔·穆迪西亚是这个活动的协调小组成员，他们4人一组在一架直升机的配合下徒步巡逻。

他说，“我们把动物从围栏不够醒目的地区赶走，防止它们进入居民区，总的来说，我们把动物赶出可能和人类发生冲突的地区。”

保护区周围的社区不断扩展到野生动物栖息地，这就意味着动物失去了它们的自然领地，导致它们到居民区寻找食物。

结果，当地人失去庄稼、牲口，有时甚至生命。2013年，肯尼亚有106人被野生动物咬死，520人受伤。

而动物也因此遭到报复性屠杀。

在奥佩杰塔保护区，维利·奥科斯领导着45名工作人员，他说，今年旱季延长，加剧了动物和人类之间的矛盾。

“目前是旱季，非常干燥，因此动物会到保护区外侵害农田。我们驱赶动物，限制逃出保护区的动物的数量，把它们留在里面，和当地居民保持友好关系。”

保护野生动物给肯尼亚政府带来经济利益，吸引游客，并且创造就业。

去年，肯尼亚政府通过一条法律，给因为野生动物攻击而死亡、受伤和财产损失的人提供补偿。

可是只要动物和人类共存，冲突将继续是现实的一部份。