Game count in the Nairobi National Park

On 1st of February a game count took place in the park by Will Knocker who monitors the wildlife and health of the Nairobi National Park. The given figures are minimums but give a good idea of overall trends in the park, which, as the dry season refuge for the Athi Kapiti plains ecosystem is currently full of migratory game due to the ongoing dry cycle.

Nairobi National Park becoming isolated
In addition, the park is getting more & more isolated & many of the species present in the park are today confined to it, owing to the ‘humanisation' of the dispersal area.

Warthog - 38 counted
Warthog have recovered from the rinderpest outbreak that nearly wiped them out 10 years ago & can be found all over the park: they are breeding well & will provide a much needed source of food for the lions once the wet season arrives in April (hopefully!) when the zebra move out.

Buffaloes - 355 counted
Buffaloes are also increasing in number in the park: 355 were counted, but no doubt there plenty more up in the Langata forest, where these grazers are concentrated right now.

Masai Giraffe - 157 counted
Giraffe (the Masai variety) can be very easily approached in the park & bulls often refuse to move out of the road on the approach of an oncoming vehicle. After all, they have right of way & are several times taller than any vehicle......157 were counted. This is probably close to the real population figure, giraffe being so visible & easy to count.

Eland - 211 counted
Eland are a species that are going to be more & more confined to the park as it is encircled by development. A shy species, eland cannot take disturbances associated with people & need the browsing that has all but disappeared outside the park owing to habitat change & the presence of goats.

There are several nursery herds in the park (eland calves have an intense attraction for one another) which is good news as they and their mothers are safe from meat hunters, (eland meat is particularly delicious & such big animals are very valuable to a poacher) & their dogs.......211 were counted.

Black rhinos - Just 12 counted
As Kenya's premier rhino sanctuary, the rhinos will have been disturbed by the recent cattle invasions of the southern boundary. They need territory & peace & quiet to breed. 12 were counted and this probably gives a good estimation of the total, which might be twice this number (which would make 24 individuals.) The KWS given figure of 65 is erroneous.

Thomson's gazelles - 148. Grant's gazelles - 94
The gazelles are back, which is terrific news: 148 Thomson's were counted & 94 Grant's, which is a greater total than for many years; a vindication of the KWS policy of controlled burning, which has restored the short-grass plains habitat to the park.

Cheetahs - Just 1 male
Sadly the victim of too many years of no burning & during a wet cycle has been cheetahs. A single male occurs in the park: all that remains of a population which was forced to move out of the park as there were no gazelles for them to feed on.......

Zebra - 1682 zebra
I'm surprised that only 1,682 zebra were counted. They are very adaptive & are well able to move out into the humanised dispersal area in the Rains. They're breeding this year in the park as it is so dry. Having said this, there are still some zebra outside the park on the parched & overgrazed plains.

Kongoni - 371 counted
Kongoni are also breeding well: 371 were counted & with a whole new generation born in (& increasingly confined to) the park, hopefully this species will adapt to staying in the park as outside is no longer suitable habitat.

Lions - 22 counted
Below is Ujonjo the Big Male of the park's estimated 22 lions, of which 18 were counted. (Photo by Gareth Jones -thanks!) The lions are having a great time with so much to feed on & at least one of the 5 adult lionesses is reported pregnant.

Impala - 632 counted
632 impala were counted in the park, showing that its wide range of habitats is perfect for this medium sized antelope, which browses or grazes, according to the seasonal food supply.

Wildebeest - 203 counted
The very best news is that the gnu are back in the park in good numbers after many many years. 203 were counted & this number should go up as the cows are calving right now in the park for the first time that I can recall over a 10 year period. Again the presence of short grass plain habitat makes all the difference to these wanderers of the plains, whose habitat has been gobbled up by the fast expanding city of Nairobi.