Elephant numbers rise in Mara but buffaloes, giraffes on decline

The elephant population in the Maasai Mara Ecosystem has recorded a slight increase according to the latest aerial survey conducted by the Wildlife Training and Research Institute (WRTI).

According to the census carried out two months ago in the Mara, a key tourism destination, has over 2,700 elephants compared to 2,595 individuals in 2021.

The survey, however, reveals that there has been a decline in the number of buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, and antelopes in the same period.

This came as the Institute raised the red flag over increased cases of expansion of agricultural land, settlements, and fencing, thus blocking wildlife dispersal areas and migratory routes.

This is contained in a report titled ‘Aerial Census of Large Mammals in Maasai Mara Ecosystem’, published in the WRTI 2025 science conference booklet.

The research that was undertaken by Stephen Mwiu, Joseph Mukeka, and Benard Ngoru, scientists at WRTI, noted that the ecosystem faced many challenges.

The survey that covered a total area of 12,500 km² indicates that there were 29,195 zebras, 26,878 wildebeest, 8,878 buffaloes, and 6,101 impalas, while Thomson’s gazelle stood at 5,162.

“The elephant population showed a slight increase from 2,595 individuals in 2021 to 2,702 elephants, and the highest density was found in Mara Triangle,” reads the report.

The report noted that the Maasai Mara Ecosystem was a key wildlife conservation landscape in Kenya and globally, which acted as an important transboundary wildlife conservation ecosystem that straddles the Kenya-Tanzania boundary to join the Serengeti Ecosystem.

“Despite the importance of wildlife conservation and tourism activities in the region, there are emerging challenges facing it, particularly through the expansion of agricultural lands and fencing, thus blocking wildlife dispersal areas and migratory routes.”

The report further noted that cases of charcoal burning and tree felling (logging) continued to destroy wildlife habitat and important catchment areas.

“Fencing of lands in this region is increasing and is fragmenting the landscape as well as impeding wildlife movement.”

“During the census, over 400,000 and 200,000 herds of goats and cattle were recorded, and free-ranging pastoralism affords the best land use option for wildlife conservation in this region,” said the scientists.

To address the challenges, the scientists have recommended that the trans-boundary wildlife monitoring and censuses between Kenya and Tanzania should be harmonised.

This, according to them, will help get a more accurate status of wildlife in the entire ecosystem given the transboundary elephant and other large mammal movements.

 “Human activities that negatively impact wildlife, such as the erection of fences and permanent settlement on wild animal corridors, need to be controlled.”

“There is a need to strengthen the involvement in community conservancy, as this will lead to securing more space for wildlife as communities reap benefits from conservation,” reads the report.

According to WRTI Director Patrick Omondi, the rising challenges had a direct impact on sustainable wildlife conservation and management.

“Wildlife poaching, human-wildlife co-existence, species loss and population decline, habitat loss and degradation can best be addressed by use of scientific data,” he said.

Dr Omondi called for engagement with conservation partners, landowners and the local communities that live and interact with wildlife.

“The government is required to create a forum where policy briefs can be generated to address emerging and mounting threats to wildlife conservation,” he said.

Omondi added that in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), they had initiated the process of developing a national red list of the endangered species.

He noted that during the first national wildlife census, they established that there were species that were globally of least concern, but nationally they were of concern to WRTI.

“We have endemic species like roan antelope, which are less than 30, and there are several antelopes only found in Shimba Hills, and there are less than 100 individuals left,” he said.

Speaking in Naivasha, he added that the institute was developing a national wildlife data portal as part of bringing scientific information and data into one portal.