Kenya on May 7, 2021, launched its first-ever National Wildlife Census covering both land and aquatic wildlife.
The two-month exercise which is fully funded by the Government of Kenya will be executed by the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, Kenya Wildlife Service and the newly created Wildlife Research Training Institute. The exercise will be carried out in Kenya’s Conservation areas and key wildlife-rich counties.
Presiding over the official launch at Shimba Hills National Reserve in Kwale County, the Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife, Hon Najib Balala said the information generated during the census will support the implementation of the Government of Kenya conservation and tourism policies and support tools for adaptive management.
Since the number and distribution of rare and threatened species listed in Schedule six of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, 2013 require regular monitoring using standards methods, Hon Balala noted that Kenya has never undertaken a one-off national survey to establish a baseline of the wildlife status and distribution in the country. He stressed on the need to undertake the exercise so as to establish baseline data on wildlife status and distribution for future use to be able to understand wildlife population trends and shifts in their distribution.
