Elephants enjoy nightly maize feasts as KWS looks on (Kenya)
The East African
November 16, 2006

The govt compensates death and injury caused by wild animals, but not loss of crops, writes JOHN MBARIA

IT IS LATE AT NIGHT IN Kiandege, four kilometres from Nyahururu town in Kenya's Central Province. Suddenly, women can be heard screaming.

Men rush out of their houses armed with various weapons and congregate at a junction about a kilometre from the commotion. I join the men who are on a mission to drive away a herd of elephants that have been terrorising local residents.

Earlier in the day, I had listened to harrowing tales from several farmers who had lost all their maize crops to the animals. A fully grown elephant is able to feed continuously over 18 hours. The elephants of Kiandege are consuming tonnes of food crops daily.

"It is painful because, though we had earlier taken our grievances to the local Kenya Wildlife Service personnel and the District Commissioner, the victims have not been compensated," said Kariuki Munyororo, a local farmer.

The head of communication at KWS, Connie Maina, said the wildlife body does not handle compensation matters and its officers only participate as members of district compensation committees.

"The committees only handle compensation related to death. Relatives are paid Ksh30,000 ($417) for loved ones killed or injuries, but not for loss of crops," she said.

According to her, the government used to compensate farmers who lost their crops to wild animals but this was stopped after the programme was abused.

As we headed to the area where the screams were coming from, I and the 15 or so men who had volunteered to chase the elephants away talked about what each of us should to do if the elephants charged the group. Some said KWS seems keener to protect elephants than human life and property. Said one, "They are of no use to us and should be killed." But no sooner had one of the men voiced this than he was reminded by the rest that killing any of the elephants would invite severe punishment from KWS rangers.

Our torches soon revealed several elephants feeding on the dry maize. We started beating drums and flashing our torches at the animals. The elephants continued feeding but finally, irritated by the noise, they walked off into the nearby bush.

The elephants, I was told, have become a nightmare for the villagers over the past couple of weeks. KWS personnel have not offered much help.

"Even when they respond, they merely drive the elephants to the highly degraded Uaso Narok forest," Munyororo told me, adding, "Almost always, the elephants come back to continue eating our maize."

Seemingly, the elephants prefer the sweet-tasting maize to the disappearing forage in the forest that features the famous Thomson Falls. As the animals satisfy their hunger, the people of Kiandege continue to suffer, wondering what they will eat if all their foodcrops become food for elephants.

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