Bush meat hunting in Kenya is the single most threatening, illegal activity to wildlife conservation and management in the country. Kenya Wildlife Service and other authorities have declared that the demand for bush meat to supply commercial consumption is insatiable.

ANAW raises awareness about the devastating effects of bush meat hunting in critical wildlife dispersal areas near and outside of wildlife protected areas including community conserved areas. This is achieved through rescuing animals trapped with wire snares and injured by the same in various known hotspots for bush meat hunting in Naivasha and Nakuru environs, Machakos and Taita Taveta areas. ANAW and local stakeholders rescue giraffes, zebras, eland, impala and hartebeests among other wildlife trapped by wire snares while also mopping up substantial volumes of live and dead wire traps in the surveyed regions.

In addition, ANAW’s Biosafety project seeks to contribute to improving policy and legislative environment for sustainable agricultural practices in Kenya and elsewhere in the region. As a member of the Kenya Biodiversity Coalition, ANAW supports coalition activities to promote environmental health and the wellbeing of animals.

This program area is largely informed by the various forms of reported human-animal conflict. Generally, as a result of; the presence of environmental degradation, encroachment and increased land fragmentation has resulted in an incremental trend in cases of human-animal conflict globally. In Africa, and based on several underlying factors; whether social, economic, technological and/or environmental nature, such cases often result in destruction of property or loss of biodiversity through habitat destruction or destabilization of the ecosystems’ equilibriums.

In some cases, loss of human life has been observed through violent/active involvement of animals or via passive/indirect routes such as zoonotic disease spread. ANAW works with governments and like-minded stakeholders to carry out interventions that contribute to maintaining a balance between various human practices and animal survival (biodiversity conservation). Our focus on communities is generally geared towards innovative use of technology to provide solutions to causes of conflict and placement of affordable mitigation measures.

Our Work at Kasigau Ranch
ANAW advocates for the preservation of critical wildlife migration corridors between protected areas passing through community-owned land. In 2015, ANAW entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Kasigau Ranch Ltd to support the ranch develop a Range Management Plan for integrating landscape conservation and livestock production to protect critical elephants, lions and large herbivore migration corridor through the 52,000-acre ranch located between Tsavo West and East National Parks. Since then, ANAW has contributed towards recruitment and remuneration for 14 local Ranch Guardians to provide security and community liaison between the ranch and the local land owners.

As a result, illegal bush meat hunting has reduced, fewer elephants are being poached for ivory and community goodwill has increased through incorporating responsibility activities such as the dik-dik sports festival.