Oxbow lake threatened by deforestation and farming
Lake Kamnarok Game Reserve in Bairngo County.
What you need to know:
- The oxbow lake was gazetted as a reserve in 1983.
- It was once famous for being the second largest ecosystem in Africa after Lake Chad.
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has raised concern of diminishing population of animals at Lake Kamnarok Game Reserve due to land degradation.
The oxbow lake, gazetted as a reserve in 1983, was once famous for being the second largest ecosystem in Africa with the biggest number of animals after Lake Chad. It had a population of more than 10,000 white crocodiles, 400 elephants, 13 species of other mammals and a variety of rare bird species.
Following scramble for limited resources with human beings and receding water levels at the lake, the animals either perished or fled to the nearby Rimoi Game Reserve in Elgeyo-Marakwet County while others migrated to South Turkana, dealing a blow to the local tourism sector in the region.
The existence of the reserve has also been threatened by the rampant human activities like wanton cutting down of trees for charcoal burning and farming activities. Siltation is also cited as one of the major threats. The former world famous lake is almost drying up.
Human-wildlife conflict
Baringo County KWS senior warden Peter Lekeren said in Baringo North Sub-County was receding at an alarming rate.
The warden said there was need to fence off the reserve. “There have been increased cases of human-wildlife conflict in Kerio Valley especially elephants roaming the villages. They move out of the reserve after being displaced from their natural habitats,” he added.
He appealed to locals to avoid encroaching on water bodies and cultivation upstream.
A row is now brewing among more than 7,000 locals living in the disputed Kamnarok Game Reserve, the Baringo County government KWS. Residents are demanding to be given the findings of a task force constituted six years ago to solve a boundary issue in the area.
The locals under the umbrella Kamnarok Farmers Group, led by their chairman, Joseph Kiptalla want answers.
Baringo Governor Stanley Kiptis promised the findings will be released soon to allow for the relocation of the affected locals so as to embark on developing the reserve.
