Dumbo the baby elephant is washed and fed by a keeper at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust on January 19, 2019 in Nairobi, Kenya. Photo Credit: Dave J. Hogan/Getty Images
Animals KenyaThe Elephant Population in Kenya is Booming, Poaching on Decline
The Kenya Wildlife Service announced that the number of elephants has more than doubled in the country over the past three decades. The Kenyan government seems to have “managed to tame poaching”.
“Today we are also launching the Magical Kenya elephant naming campaign, an annual festival whose objective will be to collect funds from the naming, to support the Rangers welfare,” says Kenya Tourism Minister Najib Balala, referring to the armed guards whose task is to deter poachers. “This year alone, about 170 elephant calves have been born.”
In 1989, there were 16,000 elephants in Kenya. That number had reached 34,000 in 2018. The number of elephants poached in 2020 is significantly lower than the two previous years: seven so far this year, compared to 34 in 2019 and 80 in 2018.
