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Elephant Protection Boosted

The Nation (Nairobi)

February 20, 2004

Paul Udoto
Nairobi

Mobile phone tracking system to reduce human-wildlife conflict

A project that uses the latest mobile telephone tracking equipment in elephant conservation was launched yesterday.

It is expected to drastically reduce human-wildlife conflict and elephant poaching in parts of northern Kenya.

The two-year project, estimated to cost Sh28 million, will cover Samburu, Isiolo and Laikipia.

The equipment uses mobile provider Safaricom's Global System for Mobile Communication technology. The tracking technology, jointly run by Safaricom and Save the Elephants - a local wildlife conservation organisation - will provide more accurate information on areas suitable for reintroduction of wild animals and their movements.

Speaking during the launch of the project at Hilton Hotel, Nairobi, Environment assistant minister Wangari Maathai said the new technology would secure elephants and help track other endangered species, especially birds.

She regretted that birds in most parts of the country had been endangered by food insecurity because of large scale cultivation of sugarcane, tea and coffee.

The Save the Elephants GSM Animal Tracking Project is funded by Safaricom Foundation and Vodafone and will provide more accurate information on wildlife corridors, feeding and drinking locations as well as potential high-risk zones.

Prof Maathai said 60 to 70 per cent of Kenya's wildlife was found outside protected areas where human settlement and encroachment on buffer zones threatened conservation efforts.

Dr Iain Douglas-Hamilton, the chief executive of Save the Elephants, said the new technology would make it easier to predict and respond to potential human-wildlife conflict zones.

Saboti MP Davies Nakitare asked technology experts to consider developing a microchip to be tagged on the tracked animals' ears and a remote control to prevent elephants from moving into conflict prone areas.

Safaricom's chief executive Michael Joseph regretted that Kenya's elephant population had dropped from 170,000 in 1963 to the current 16,000.(note - their anti-hunting "conservation" programme really seems to be working )

Mr Patrick Omondi, the national coordinator of elephant conservation, feared that if poachers got the tracking information, the elephant population would be at a great risk.

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