Wildlife Farming Holds Real Potential

Source: The Nation (Nairobi)

Date: 1 October, 2005

Author: Wycliffe Muga

Nairobi, A question which has been raised by a number of readers with an interest in wildlife conservation is: Why is it that the Kenya Wildlife Service is only criticised in the press, and rarely praised? Is there something that KWS has done that deserves praise?

Well, there is one initiative for which KWS deserves much praise, even from those of us who consider its policies on the human-wildlife conflict criminally negligent, and the much-publicised elephant movement programme to be a futile PR exercise.

The initiative is the collaboration between KWS and the East Africa Wildlife Society in launching the Kenya Wildlife Farming Association.

This effort to create a formal structure for people involved in the breeding of wild animals for profit will fill a vacuum which has long existed in this field.

Previously, wildlife farming made headlines for the wrong reasons.

A few months ago, there was an incident in Central Province where farmers carried dozens of chameleons to a trading centre for sale.

Word had gone out that a "chameleon exporter" was coming to buy the reptiles at Sh500 each. As this is far more than can be earned in a single day in any rural agricultural economy, many farmers put down their hoes and went out in search of chameleons.

The buyer did not show up, and the chameleons were reported to have regained their freedom. For although chameleons have a certain niche market overseas as high-value exotic pets, in Kenya, many view these reptiles with superstitious dread and aversion.

The other story had a less happy ending. Not far from Nairobi, a man had started a crocodile farm, and was regularly harvesting crocodile eggs from the wild, and hatching them. Then something went tragically wrong; it was never quite clear what it was but this entrepreneur simply deserted the young crocodiles.

A holding pen is a good place for crocodile hatchlings if you are going to feed them regularly. But if you don't, you have in effect left them to starve, as the pens are designed to ensure they do not escape.

By the time the media were alerted about the happenings on the farm, all that remained was the hideous spectacle of dozens of rotting carcasses in the pens.

But these two regrettable episodes need not blind us to the real potential that wildlife farming holds. The days of these haphazard and unscientific attempts at wildlife farming are gone, thanks to the new partnership.

In some recently televised footage, Nairobi PC Francis Sigei made a significant remark when touring the facilities at the showground in Jamhuri Park.

Mr Sigei said that many failures in farming were the result of Kenyans clinging to old ideas. What was needed, he said, were new approaches and technology that would create greater productivity.

Wildlife farming is one such new idea. The potential returns far exceed anything that can be earned from traditional land use. The basic concept is this: If we leave aside the big mammals such as elephants, lions and buffaloes, there are many birds, reptiles and even insects which can provide the basis for profitable and sustainable use of Kenya's wildlife resource.

Regulations laid down by KWS will ensure that the use of this resource does not lead to depletion but instead will make wildlife farming go hand-in-hand with conservation.

The range of possibilities is wide indeed. For insects, some success has been achieved with apiculture (beekeeping) in Mwingi, and butterfly farming in the Araboke Sokoke forest in Kilifi. Both of these provide a means of livelihood for entire village communities of several hundred people, and both are long established science-based projects which can be replicated elsewhere.

Through these projects, local communities are encouraged to conserve forests full of indigenous trees, as it is in these forests that the bees and butterflies thrive.

On the other hand, crocodiles, chameleons, tortoises and snakes are bred in captivity for profit. The tortoises are exported as exotic pets, and snakes are "milked" for their venom, which is used for preparing anti-snakebite serum.

The birds suitable for wildlife farming include ostriches and guinea fowl.

But of course none of this is easy. A farmer, who has enjoyed great success with his herd of beef steers, could fail miserably if he tried his hand at setting up a crocodile farm, even though the crocodiles and the cows provide much the same products - leather and meat.

And although Kenya trails Zimbabwe, Tanzania and South Africa in this sector, wildlife farming has nonetheless progressed sufficiently to justify more entrepreneurs putting their money in this field, and existing stakeholders agitating for KWS regulations to allow greater use of the products.

The EAWLS is supporting a new secretariat to serve the nascent wildlife farmers association. The coordinator (who can be contacted at rudolf@eawildlife.org .) is responsible for liaison between new entrants, and the established wildlife farm operators who are willing to share their expertise with newcomers.

It is proposed that the founder members (of whom there are about 100) working through this secretariat, will provide training for those seeking employment in this emerging field.

To illustrate just how much breeding reptiles such as chameleons differs from rearing domestic animals, here is a question:

Given that the staple food for a chameleon is a fly, how would you provide enough flies daily for 1,500 chameleons being bred within an enclosed, clean environment?