Ostrich, Impala, Warthogs Rescued from Vanishing Island

Ruko Community Conservancy partnered with NRT and the Kenya Wildlife Service to rescue ostrich, impala and warthogs from one of the vanishing islands on Lake Baringo.

The lake’s water levels are rising fast due to a natural phenomenon, and have destroyed tourism facilities, homes and acres of wildlife habitat. The rescue of a female ostrich, several impala and warthogs, who were stranded on a shrinking island with insufficient forage, was carried out successfully to the great relief of all involved. The animals were moved to Ruko Community Conservancy’s mainland area, where they will be monitored by conservancy rangers as they regain their strength in the wild.

Seven Rothschild giraffes, who were translocated to Ruko in 2012 as part of a species recovery programme, are also stranded - efforts are underway to move them to a community sanctuary on the mainland.

USAID, The Nature Conservancy and DANIDA are joined by other partners in contributing to NRT’s core programmes, which enable work like this to take place.