( 4 minutes read)
· Kenya voiced concern recently over plans by an animal charity to fly a herd of elephants from a British zoo to Kenya for “rewilding”
· The Aspinall Foundation said it has plans to take the elephants on a Boeing 747 from southern England to their new home 7,000 kms. away to give them the right habitat
· The foundation said it would work with anti-poaching teams to help ensure the long-term survival of the 13 animals
Kenya voiced concern recently over plans by an animal charity to fly a herd of elephants from a British zoo to Kenya for “re-wilding”. The Aspinall Foundation said it has plans to take the elephants on a Boeing 747 from southern England to their new home 7,000 kms. away to give them the right habitat.
The foundation said it would work with anti-poaching teams to help ensure the long-term survival of the 13 animals. Among them included three babies. The foundation said that once they reach one of two sites under consideration in southern Kenya adequate protection would be ensured against poaching.
However, Kenya’s Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife said it noted with concern the reports in the British media about what the foundation has described as the first rewilding project of its kind.
The Kenyan government stated that neither them nor the Kenya Wildlife Service has been contacted or consulted on this matter. Relocation and rehabilitation of an animal from a zoo is not easy and is an expensive affair. The Kenyan authorities would be guided by specific regulations drawn up by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on the movement of animals. The IUCN warned in March that poaching and habitat destruction, particularly due to land conversion for agriculture, was devastating elephant numbers across Africa.
The population of African savanna elephants shrank by at least 60 percent in the last half century. They are now re-classified as
“endangered” species in the latest update to the IUCN’s “Red List” of threatened species. The Aspinall Foundation said the operation was planned for next year. It would be the first time a breeding herd of elephants will have been rewilded.
