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| credit: IFAW |
A Kenyan Maasai community and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) have signed a lease to preserve an ancient elephant migration route between Amboseli National Park and Mount Kilimanjaro National Park. The route traverses the Kenya-Tanzania border and is known as the Kitenden Corridor. The lease by the Olguluillui/Olorlarashi Ranch group extends "paradise for elephants and other wildlife" said the President of IFAW during a signing ceremony. Securing corridors for migration, breeding, and other activity is an important aspect of preserving large mammals into the future. Human population pressure on wildlife is increasing in Africa and it leads to human-wildlife conflicts that inevitably cause wildlife to be displaced or killed. About 1400 elephants live in the Amboseli ecosystem, and use ranch land during the wet season. The Maasai group ranches are the first Maasai communities in Kenya to agree to an ecosystem management plan with Kenya Wildlife Services.
