Emergency grant to maintain poaching patrols in Kenya's Tsavo park.

Jonathan Kirui, Assistant Director of Tsavo said "At the height of the unrest earlier in the year, we suffered a 90 % drop in tourism, forcing us to undertake massive budget cuts and ensure that the Parks are well protected from poachers. This support from IFAW will uplift our efforts, and we are grateful that this has come at an hour of great need for both the wildlife guardians and the animals especially the elephants."

James Isiche, IFAW's Regional Director in Eastern Africa, while confident that Kenya is on the mend, said, "A turnaround in the country's tourism fortunes will take a while, yet a minimum level of protection for the animals, especially elephants, must be maintained through security patrols by KWS rangers. With this support for Tsavo, we are encouraging the local and international community to get involved in safeguarding wildlife in these dire times."

Tsavo Parks

Tsavo, some 300 kilometres from Nairobi is classified into two parks - East and West. They occupy about 52 % of the total protected areas in Kenya, and about 3.9 % of the countries land surface.  Set aside in 1948 for the preservation of wildlife and wild vegetation, the Parks have the largest populations of elephant and rhino in Kenya, and are home to some 60 mammal species and over 400 bird species. Due to the combined size of 21,000 square kilometres, combined with its remoteness and proximity to the Somali border, Tsavo experiences enormous challenges in terms of poaching, requiring constant deterrent ranger patrols costing thousands of dollars in fuel, spares parts and ranger supplies.