NAIROBI — The Kenya Wildlife Service announced plans to relocate and expand the Nairobi Animal Orphanage to an 89-acre site within Nairobi National Park. The relocation is intended to accommodate an increasing number of rescued, injured, and confiscated wildlife.
The orphanage has been in operation for 62 years and its current site occupies 7 acres. The new facility will replace the metallic cages at the current orphanage with natural enclosures to comply with international animal welfare recommendations. The service stated the relocation project will not involve clearing indigenous forest.
Eight acres of the new 89-acre site will be allocated for animal rescue and rehabilitation operations. Erastus Kanga, Director General of the Kenya Wildlife Service, said the facility will remain publicly operated and will not be privatized. Construction of the new facility is expected to take approximately 18 months and is projected to cost between 3 billion and 4 billion shillings.
"Human-wildlife conflict is our biggest challenge in our conservation journey and human-wildlife conflict is being largely caused because the interface between people and wildlife has declined, our population has shot up to the current levels of close to 60 million and the size of Kenya has remained the same, so demand for space, there is competition for demand for space." Kanga said. "The new Nairobi Animal Orphanage is a forward-looking investment in conservation education and public service ensuring that Kenya remains a leader in wildlife stay-at-home while meeting the demand of a growing population and increasing human interactions."
No independent assessment was available for this report.