Drought crisis in Nairobi National Park exacerbated by grazing

The only winners in this situation are the scavengers, who are doing extremely well. Credit W Knocker.

Drought worsens and cattle devastating the little grazing that is left. 
Courtesy of Will Knocker - Silole Sanctuary

August 2009. Nairobi National Park has been invaded by thousands of head of hungry cattle from the overgrazed and drought stricken rangelands to the south.

Cattle competing with zebra, wildebeest, eland, rhinos giraffe and buffalo
What are the effects of this? Firstly, the grass resource of the park, which includes the last remaining pristine corner of the Athi Kapiti Ecosystem, one of the richest grassland habitats in the world, has been grazed to the point of degradation by hordes of cattle. At this time of the year & in these exceptional dry conditions, all of the grazers in the ecosystem are also in the park: about 3,000 zebra, 1,000 wildebeest, 800 hartebeest & 600 eland, not to mention the resident rhinos (35), buffaloes (1000) giraffe & the many different species of antelope (12 species in total.)

Dense population of ostrich - But no nests
All of these creatures have suffered from this cattle invasion. Ostrich (NNP has the densest population of wild ostrich anywhere) have not nested this year; presumably displaced by the thousands of head of cattle grazing illegally at night.

2 rhino have died
2 rhinos are reported as having died due to "anthrax" -unlikely for a browsing species-much more probable is that these were males killed by territorial fighting as the rhinos have been squeezed into the areas of the park un-grazed by cattle, such as in the Langata forest.

Tourists in the battered tourist industry (wholly dependent on the network of "protected" areas "managed" by Kenya Wildlife Service) are paying $40 a time to see sites such as this & forlorn herds of abandoned cattle in the overgrazed, cowpat littered park.

The body of a dead impala -In the river

More serious is the health risk posed by carcasses of cattle left on riverbanks such as the Empakasi River, whose toxic juices drain into a water source used by thirsty people downstream at a time of acute water stress.

Anthrax & other diseases
Anthrax, foot & mouth disease and East Coast Fever, are all reported in the herds of cattle coming to graze in the park, not all of which belong to suffering pastoralists, who are in crisis in this horrible year. It is reported by Kenya Wildlife Service that many of these cattle belong to rich folk: prominent Kenyans & politicians...

Many parts of the park stink with many carcasses of starved/diseased cattle littering the dusty plains. Litter is never collected in the park by those who manage it, who concentrate on revenue collection......this cattle has been eating plastic, which is an eye sore & a major health risk to the grazing animals in the park.

Whilst most illegal grazing happens at night, in the eastern part of the park close to Athi River, hundreds of cattle graze openly on the plains. Notice the Athi Dam, which threatens to dry up completely this season.....

Rhinos moved into the park - Why?

On Wednesday 26th August, KWS moved in 4 white rhino into Nairobi National Park from Nakuru National Park, and 6 more are to be translocated in during the coming weeks, to make a total of 10. Is this sensible when 2 Black rhinos have possibly died of anthrax, a bacteria which lives in the ground & is dispersed in dry conditions?

White rhinos are of course grazing animals, making them very susceptible to anthrax spores.

KWS seem unwilling or unable to keep cattle out of the park.