Why ongoing national wildlife census is crucial

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Kenya boasts of myriad creatures in unique ecosystems, but whose numbers fluctuate due to climate change, poaching, pests and diseases, human-wildlife conflict and other factors. As the government launched a wildlife census in Narok earlier this week, the importance could not be gainsaid.

A systematic counting of animals is critical to inform conservation strategies, reduce the effects of climate change, and prevent biodiversity loss. A reduction in the number of lions, for instance, or their increase in human-inhabited areas, tells more, including about the health of their habitats. Such information is vital, especially in a country like Kenya, where tourism contributes more than eight per cent to the GDP and directly employs over one million people.