Fire ravages Tsavo park in Kenya: wildlife and vegetation at risk
The Tsavo National Park, Kenya’s largest national reserve and a big draw for tourists, has been burning for weeks in the full heat of the dry season
Kenya’s Tsavo National Park has been ravaged by fire, with wildlife and vegetation now at serious risk. The fire destroyed large areas of the park and is believed to have been started by arsonists, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said.
Ground teams were deployed to deal with the problem after the latest fire started over the weekend.
Photos and clips of the fire showed that it had begun to affect wildlife and vegetation in the Tsavo National Park.
The police, despite initiating moves to track down the suspects, are yet to make any arrests after days of searching.
Fire doused in two days
The KWS said it managed to put out the fire at the park after two days of strenuous attempts.
The fire started on Saturday and it took the efforts of several local volunteers and the army to put it out, the BBC reports. The KWS said the military had to resort to using helicopters to pour water on the fire to contain it.
Tsavo National Park is home to some of the world’s rarest wildlife, including lions, elephants and buffaloes.
The police suspect that arsonists are behind the inferno. There have not been many tourists in the park, because of the coronavirus disease .
“Horrendous” happening
Meanwhile, the Kenya Wildlife Service described the incident as horrendous and said that wildlife and vegetation are threatened.
However, the KWS expressed gratitude to all volunteers who helped to contain the fire in the nationally owned section of the park.
In a post on Twitter, the service said: “Your efforts and sacrifices are appreciated beyond words.”
The Tsavo area has been plagued by fires since July, owing to the dry season, which has made the area prone to fires.
A conservation group called the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust attributed the fire to the long rains earlier this year.
“The combination of long rains earlier in the year, which saw grasses grow tall, strong winds and inaccessible areas have made this a high fire risk period in Tsavo,” the group said.
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