KWS organised game count in NNP on 4th October. Do bear in mind that these numbers are MINIMUMS!
Herewith are the results (scrubbed by a faulty internet commection yesterday…)
Buffalo -250. I think this is well under half of the number of buff we have in NNP.
Bushbuck -16. Ditto -bushbuck are common in the park, especially in the Langata forest.
Dikdik -3. I wonder where these were counted as I’ve never seen one IN the park.In the Silole Sanctuary we have several pairs (just outside the park!)
Eland -45.There are many more eland than this in NNP, with a breeding herd of cows & calves which must number close to 100 individuals!
Grant’s gazelle -58. These gazelle are slowly coming back to the park after many years. But where is their main predator -the cheetah?
Thompson’s gazelle -116. As above. Now that much of the NNP is a short grass plain habitat, this sp. should do well!
Masai giraffe -120. Difficult to miss these huge animals!
Coke’s hartebeest (kongoni) -377. Kongoni ar doing well in the park BUT as outside the park, where they are in major decline owing to competition with cattle, illegal grazing by cattle in NNP threatens this last population on the Athi Plains….
Reedbuck -3. KWS mean Bohor reedbuck in this case, currently easily visible thanks to illegal grazing which has led to the denudation of vegetation in the park. We also have 10-20 Chandler’s Mountain reedbuck in the park, which occur on either side of the Sosian Gorge….
Suni (dwarf antelope) -2. This sp. is common in the Langata forest.
Waterbuck -9. This sp.has been badly hit by the drought…..
Wildebeest -517. This is a respectable number, but in the last count there were 900 or so. Where are the missing 400? Owing to the onset of the Rains,this sp. is currently on the move out of the park, but TO WHERE?????
Warthog -32.In the nineties this sp. suffered major declines from rinderpest & then from pressure from lion predation, but are now bouncing back!
Impala -269. A resilient & adaptable species.
Black rhino -5. I estimate 35 of this sp. in the park, KWS 65. We also have 11 White rhinoes.
Plains zebra -2103. A respectable number but we know we have at least 3,000 zebra in & around NNP (from previous counts).
Baboon -78.
Vervet monkey-90. We also have Sykes monkeys in the Langata forest & Greater galagoes too.
African hare -1. A noctournal species.
Rock hyrax -1.
Spotted hyena -3. This sp. has dome very well in the dought with the plethora of carcasses on the plains & in the park:mostly cattle……
Silver backed jackal -9. This is a FANTASTIC number as jackal numbers got very low in the last few years. Let’s hope this sp. will build up it’s numbers!
Lion -2. Of an estimated 25-30 lions in NNP in total.
Slender mongoose -1. This is the commonest sp. in the park though we also have White-tailed mongooses & Ichneumons in the park.
Crocodile-3. The 3 beasts often seen at Athi Dam appear to have migrated to the Athi/Empakasi river owing to the drought…..
Ostrich -107. NNP is reputed to harbour the densest wild population anywhere!
Kori bustard -4. These birds have come into the NNP from the Kapiti Plains now it offers short grass plain habitat. Let us hope they breed this year!
This morning I saw an aardwolf in the park…….
Not counted were the hundreds of illegal livestock in the park which have changed the habitat so dramatically in the last few years………….
One Comment
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