ケニアの野生動物版「国勢調査」　密猟取り締まり奏功を裏付け

【ナイロビＡＦＰ＝時事】アフリカ東部ケニアで初めて実施された野生動物版「国勢調査」の結果が先月３０日に発表され、密猟取り締まりの努力が実を結んでいることが明らかになった。政府は、自然保護の取り組みにおいて、調査は重要な役割を担うと指摘している。（写真はケニアのレワ野生動物保護管理公園で歩く若いゾウ）
　調査結果によると、国内で生息が確認されたゾウの個体数は３万６２８０頭で、密猟が最も盛んだった２０１４年から１２％の増加となった。
　「絶滅の危機にある動物種に関わる犯罪に対して、罰則が強化されたことが奏功したとみられる」と報告書は指摘している。対象となったのは、ケニアの国土５９％に生息する動物３０種だ。
　国際自然保護連合（ＩＵＣＮ）は３月、アフリカ全土でゾウの生息数が激減したのは、密猟と土地利用の転換などによる生息地の破壊のためであると警告していた。
　サバンナゾウの個体数は過去５０年で少なくとも６０％減少しており、ＩＵＣＮが絶滅危惧種をまとめた「レッドリスト」の最新版では「危機（ＥＮ）」に分類されている。
　報告書は、ライオン、シマウマ、ヒロラ、３種のキリンの個体数も増加としたが、比較対象となった過去のデータについては明記していない。
　サイの個体数は１７３９頭だった。その内訳は、深刻な危機的状況にあるクロサイ８９７頭とミナミシロサイ８４０頭、そして世界最後のキタシロサイ２頭だ。観光地のマサイマラ国立保護区がウシカモシカ約４万頭の生息地となっていることも分かった。
　ナジブ・バララ観光・野生生物相は「これほどの情報が得られたことで、（中略）わが国の自然保護の取り組みを維持・改善するために介入が必要な分野において政策、企画、評価の見直しが可能になる」と報告書の中で述べている。
　一方、特別な注意を必要とするのは、セーブルアンテロープやマウンテンボンゴといったアンテロープ数種で、個体数はそれぞれ１００頭を下回っている。報告書は緊急策が取られない限り、これらの種は絶滅しかねないと警鐘を鳴らしている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/09/14-10:46）

Kenya has hailed its efforts to crack down on poaching as it released the results of the country's first-ever national wildlife census, calling the survey a vital weapon in its conservation battle.
According to the census released late Monday, the country has a total of 36,280 elephants, a 12-percent jump from the figures recorded in 2014, when poaching activity was at its highest.
Efforts to increase penalties on crimes related to threatened species appear to be bearing fruits, the report, which counted 30 species of animals and covered nearly 59 percent of Kenya's land mass, said.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) warned in March that poaching and habitat destruction, particularly due to land conversion for agriculture, was devastating elephant numbers across Africa.
The population of African savanna elephants plunged by at least 60 percent in the last half century, prompting their reclassification as endangered in the latest update to the IUCN's Red List of threatened species.
The census said the numbers of lions, zebras, hirolas (Hunter's antelopes) and the three species of giraffes found in the country had also gone up, but did not provide comparative figures from earlier years.
The state-funded survey counted 1,739 rhinos including two northern white rhinos, 897 critically endangered black rhinos and 840 southern white rhinos, and said the tourist magnet Maasai Mara National Reserve was home to nearly 40,000 wildebeest.
Obtaining this level of information... allows for better policy, planning and assessment of areas that require focus in our interventions to maintain or improve our national conservation efforts, Wildlife Minister Najib Balala said in the report.
President Uhuru Kenyatta applauded conservation agencies for successfully clamping down on poaching and urged them to find newer, inventive approaches to protect wildlife.
The reduction in losses in terms of elephants, rhinos and other endangered species is because of the great work that KWS (Kenya Wildlife Service), its officers and men are doing, he said late Monday.
- 'Our children's legacy' -
Special attention should be given to antelope species such as sable antelopes and mountain bongos which already number less than 100 each, the report said, warning that they could become extinct unless urgent action was taken.
Exponential growth in human population and the accompanying rise in demand for land for settlement as well as activities such as livestock incursions, logging and charcoal burning are threatening to put brakes on the recent gains, it added.
Kenya, like several of its African peers, is trying to strike a balance between protecting its wildlife while managing the dangers they pose when they raid human settlements in search of food and water.
(Wildlife) is our heritage, this is our children's legacy and it is important for us to be able to know what we have in order to be better informed on policy and also on actions needed as we move forward, Kenyatta said.
It being a national heritage, it is something we should carry with pride, he added.