Elephants break out of Tsavo West National Park, locals go into hiding
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Elephants break out of Tsavo West National Park, locals go into hiding
by Sean McLachlan (RSS feed) on May 6th 2011
More than 500 elephants strayed out of Tsavo West National Park in Kenya, destroying crops and scaring villagers before being herded back onto park property, the Nairobi Star reports.
The elephants were simply grazing and looking for water, park officials
say, but that doesn’t reassure villagers who saw their fields trampled.
The elephants wandered through five villages and there are reports that
they attacked people, although these haven’t been confirmed. Many people
hid for days indoors until Kenya’s Problem Animal Control Unit took
care of the problem.
Locals are complaining of threats to their livelihood. Many farmers live
in poverty and one ruined crop can be disastrous. Park warden Samuel
Rukaria told them they should invest in tourism businesses to cash in on
the hugely popular park in their back yard. Not bad advice for someone
with capital and a knowledge of the tourism business, but it’s
unrealistic to expect everyone in the region to be able to do this. This
story is just another example of how difficult it is to reconcile the
needs of tourists and wildlife to those of local residents. With
Africa’s expanding population putting ever more pressure on parks and
game reserves, incidents like this will only become more common.
[Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons]
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