On 10 May 2012 Julius Kipng'etich, Dirctor of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said conflict with people has affected wildlife population and distribution, with one of the biggest wildebeest migrations in the world being compromised.

Kipng'etich said the wildebeest migration from and into the Nairobi National Park has been affected due to land use changes on the Athi-Kapiti plains. "The upcoming development of Konza city has also compromised the migration and distribution of numerous plains game species," he said.

Director Kipng'etich went on to say, "KWS is now looking into the possibility of easements with the proposed Wildlife Bill. Land owners will be educated on the value of the land inclusive of the wildlife on it. The government will then lease this land as wildlife space from the landowners, thereby enhancing its potential".

This Land Leasing promotion by KWS is most welcome.

Maasai Demonstrate for Land-Use Master Plan

On 26 Aug.2011 hundreds of the Maasai community residents demonstrated their support for strong enforcement of the recently passed Land Use Master Plan (LUMP) for the private grazing lands South of Nairobi National Park. This locally driven law is the first ever land use plan adopted outside of any city in Kenya. Ogeli Ole Makui and David Ole Nkedianye (Photos by Ed Loosli) are to be given much of the credit over the last two years for getting this most important law passed. The Master Plan calls for a livestock and wildlife land-use policy and most importantly, it mandates that the smallest parcel size in the open lands is 60 acres. If enforced, this new Master Plan should greatly help in curtailing land subdivisions and land speculation.

Other beautiful cats of Nairobi Nat. Park

Lions are the most famous of Nairobi Nat. Park's cats and their increasing numbers now are a refreshing change from the declines in lion numbers in other parts of East Africa. There are now over 30 lions in the Nairobi NP ecosystem and at the same time there are other, more elusive cats that frequent the Park and its environs. Ned Knocker took this wonderful photo of a serval cat in June. Also, caracal, civet and African wild-cats are present, but equally hard to spot. So many lions now inhabit the Park, that cheetahs have largely been pushed out of the Park into the open pastoral lands in the Park's wildlife dispersal area --- another good reason for protecting these vital private lands.

Rains bring lushness

......................This huge Cape Buffalo is in his element (mud) since brief rains have fallen. Zebra graze contentedly in the valley of the Empakasi River along the open southern boundary of Nairobi National Park. The zebra population in the ecosystem is still equal to numbers recorded in the 1970s. In the Nairobi NP wildlife dispersal area to the south, another successful set of Lease payment gatherings just took place, and now 43,000 savanna acres are under the protection of the Wildlife Conservation Lease Programme thanks to the co-operation of the local Maasai private land owners. Photos by Will Knocker.

Kate Maughling took this terrific photo (right) last week in Nairobi National Park. Leopards are numorous in the Nairobi National Park ecosystem, but how numorous is a good question (possibly between 10 and 20) as leopards are extremely stealthy and often hunt only at night. What is known by a KWS study, however, is that lions often get blamed for the livestock kills actually made by leopards at night out in the important Nairobi National Park wildlife dispersal area, that is privately owned by Maasai pastoralists.

Lions on the Increase

Thanks to the photo by Dave McKelvie (right) we are able to see one of Nairobi National Park's prime attractions. While lion numbers are declining in many areas of East Africa, the lions here continue to increase their numbers in the ecosystem thanks to excellent co-operation with the local Maasai community, who are directly benefitting from the wildlife living on their land from the Wildlife Conservation Lease Programme. There are now approximately 30 lions in the Nairobi National Park ecosystem, up from only 7 in year 2003.

Rhinos thriving in Nairobi National Park

To the right, in the distance, a cow rhino & calf graze on the plain below Impala Observation Point showing the spectacular rhino habit of Nairobi National Park. Will Knocker tells us that there are now at least 40 Black rhinos in NNP and 11 Northern White rhinos that have been translocated in from Lake Nakuru Park. Despite some bad news coming out of South Africa and stories of an upsurge in rhino poaching in other parts of Kenya, here in the Nairobi Nat. Park, a long-time sanctuary for the East African sub-species of Black (Browse) rhino -micheallii- things are going very well. The rhino calf pictured in this beautiful photo by Patrick Bourgeix is just one of many in the park, spelling out a bright future for this wondrous species.