For a few weeks now the Kenya Wildlife Service has been “trying” to resolve their dead rhino debacle.
No one knows for sure what really happened or how many died because the reports keep changing.
This we know: Ten rhinos are dead, but the 11th?
The 11th is up for discussion since reports and photos vary. It was stated the rhino had died, then lived but attacked by a lion, and now dead again – we think.
The translocation into Tsavo East National Park obviously did not go well. Accusations run the gamut from accidental salt poisonings to outright corruption theories.
I know Kenya’s Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife has been sorting things out to ensure this never happens again. But will they? Or will the games continue until another disaster, much worse, comes around? What will grab their attention?
I should talk – right? considering what is happening with our administration. And yes that’s another tale.
But contemplate this – the 2007 Kenya election. Due to unrest, tourism took a dive and the country plunged into an economic nightmare. Game reserves and parks were void of tourists, lodges closed, Mombasa beaches deserted. At the normally sold out Mountain Lodge, a handful of us spent the night.
Kenya was desperate to reclaim its tourism dollars.
A report published by the World Travel and Tourism Council states the 2018 economic impact for Kenya is expected to grow by 5.2% from 2017, and the country is expected to attract 1,372,000 international tourists.
I do not think Kenya would want those numbers to drop because of continued wildlife oversights.
And the endangered rhino performing in a Russian circus? Well that’s for another day.
