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Ol Pejeta to buy Sh50m Zebu bulls as tension with herders rises

zebu

A zebu bull. Ol Pejeta is home to one of the largest indigenous Boran herds. PHOTO | FILE

The 90,000 acre Ol Pejeta Conservancy will spend Sh50 million to buy indigenous Zebu and Boran bulls from 3,500 families living around the conservancy.

Head of livestock Richard Van Aardt said the move is aimed at improving livelihoods and easing the scramble for pastures, which has threatened relations between pastoralist communities and private wildlife sanctuary operators.

Mr Van Aardt said another 3,500 head of cattle from local pastoralists had been allowed to graze within the sanctuary’s fields and use the watering points until the raging dry spell eases.

“In 2018 we aim to increase cattle purchases that will see payouts rise to Sh115 million to be shared out among 700 families where each family will earn about Sh164,285 annually,” he said.

This is aimed at raising outgrowers’ supply to the Ol Pejeta indigenous cattle abattoir, which sells meat products to Nairobi-based retail chains.

“The programme recognises pastoralists as environmental conservation stakeholders who help maintain a balanced ecosystem for domestic and wild animals where they sell off part of their cattle at handsome prices thereby easing pressure on demand for pastures,” he said.

Laikipia County has experienced heightened tension as pastoralists move from place to place and even trespassed on wildlife sanctuaries in search of pastures.

This prompted the not-for-profit firm to source for livestock markets and act as an intermediary, enabling pastoralists to offload some of their cattle at good prices while retaining small herds, which have access to pastures without threatening wildlife populations.

READ: Laikipia ranch invasions spark friction between Kenya, UK

Ol Pejeta is home to one of the largest Boran indigenous herds in the world and has been involved in commercial export of embryos. Apart from the Boran cattle business, Ol Pejeta is also home to East Africa’s largest black rhino sanctuary.

“An unsustainable surge in stock numbers over the past few years has put untold pressure on the rangelands of northern Kenya that are now entirely degraded. This means poor quality livestock and perpetuates a poverty cycle for pastoral families.

‘‘We need to engage communities to create a sustainable ecosystem that supports people, wildlife and livestock,” he said.

He said that closer working relations with local communities would prevent future tension, which has seen the UK issue a travel advisory warning tourists visiting Kenya against visiting Laikipia County after a lodge was destroyed by pastoralists.