 'I Dreamed Of Africa' Author And Conservationist, Shot In Kenya 
 
 Enlarge this image toggle caption TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 Kuki Gallmann, a conservationist best known for her book I Dreamed of Africa, was ambushed and shot while she drove across her conservancy in Kenya Sunday morning. Gallmann, known for her bestselling book "I Dreamed of Africa," which became a movie by the same name starring Kim Basinger, was patrolling the ranch in Laikipia when she was shot in the stomach, local police chief Ezekiel Chepkowny said. The 73-year-old Gallmann had been with rangers from the Kenya Wildlife Service, assessing damage done to her property Saturday by arsonists who burned down buildings at one of Laikipia Nature Conservancy's tourism lodges, said Laikipia Farmers Association chairman Martin Evans. She also ran a luxury safari lodge that was burned down last month by suspected cattle herders, who have been in conflict with landowners. Her conservancy, the Laikipia Nature Conservancy, has been the center of a bloody battle for weeks, as a large-scale drought has pushed cattle-herders to extreme measures to try and find grazing land. Kenya has a national election coming up in August, and local land owners also blame politicians for inciting herders to push their cattle onto privately-owned land as a way of boosting their popularity, reports the United Kingdom's The Telegraph. Members of the Pokot and Samburu tribes have long grazed on conservancy land in Kenya, but over the past few years things have changed. British national and ranch owner Tristan Voorspuy was killed last month when he went to inspect damage done by the herders on one of his lodges.
– The Italian-born author and conservationist Kuki Gallmann was shot at her Kenyan ranch and airlifted for treatment after herders invaded in search of pasture to save their animals from drought, officials said Sunday. Gallmann, known for her bestselling book I Dreamed of Africa, which became a movie by the same name starring Kim Basinger, was patrolling the ranch in Laikipia when she was shot in the stomach, says a local police chief. The 73-year-old Gallmann had been with rangers assessing damage done to her property; lodges belonging to Gallmann were burned by the herders last month. She was airlifted to the capital, Nairobi; a family member reportedly said Gallmann is in stable condition after surgery but had serious injuries. The AP reports the East African nation is facing a drought that has affected half the country and has been declared a national disaster. The BBC reports it's believed tens of thousands of cattle have been pushed onto private lands; Laikipia's roughly 4,000 square miles are home to some of Kenya's biggest white landowners. NPR's Eyder Peralta described the situation like so: As nomadic herders have moved in, "the Kenyan government launched a military-style operation to push the herders out. But what we've seen is an escalation of violence. Police have killed lots of cows. And the herders have responded by burning tourist lodges on the properties."