On the 1st night of 2011,January 1st, Tony the elephant made history as being the first elephant to use the newly created underpass on the main Nanyuki-Meru Road (A2) adjoining the Ngare Forest/Lewa with the Mt.Kenya Forest.
The brains behind the underpass were the Kenya Wildlife Service,Marania Farm,Kisima Farm,The Billy Woodely Mt.Kenya Trust, the Ngare Ndare Forest Trust and not forgetting the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy!
The underpass connects Kenya's second largest elephant population of 7,500 animals in Samburu with the estimated 2000 in Mt.Kenya.
Following the incredible events, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy had these to say as posted in their news;
"The underpass itself was an ambitious idea with many professional conservationists skeptical about its potential success, yet in a short four days after the underpass was opened, the first elephant passed through. The long-term implications of the success of this corridor are massive in terms of re-establishing genetic connectivity between these two elephant populations, reducing the habitat pressure within Lewa, and being a key element on the application for inclusion as a World Heritage Site with Mt. Kenya."
On 2nd January 2011, KWS collared 4 elephants having been provided the equipment and technical back up by Dr.Iain Douglas Hamilton in conjunction with Save the Elephants (STE) group, who work to prevent this animal from poachers. The significance and importance of collaring the elephants, is to inform responsible authorities if this animal was to be poached,following STE's new technology developed within the collar.
We at Let's Go Travel say a big "Well done!" to the teams that work endlessly to protect and conserve our animals and nature!
Image and story courtesy of Lewa.org