1.1 Introduction
Globally, an average of 69% decline in the relative abundance of monitored wildlife populations around the world between 1970 and 2018 has been reported [1]. Wildlife populations decline of 68% between 1977 and 2016 have been reported in Kenya’s rangelands [2]. The declines have been attributed to rapid growth in human population and associated pressures on resources, institutional and market failures, impacts of climate change and variability, lack of development in the rangelands and ineffective wildlife conservation policies, strategies and practices in Kenya [2, 3]. World Bank report of 2019 listed Baringo County among the few counties in Kenya that experienced over 85% wildlife loss in the last four decades [4]. As one of the most important tourist attractions in Baringo County, there is a growing concern over the future of the Greater Kudu owing to the immense pressure on its habitat that is limited to the Lake Bogoria National Reserve (LBNR) as well as the adjacent farmlands and community grazing lands. The Kudu with its magnificent spiraled horns is one of Africa’s most gracious and handsome antelope [5]. Greater Kudu is endemic within Lake Bogoria landscape in Baringo County, in Kenya [6]. Besides being a major tourist attraction for Baringo County necessitating use of its photo on the County’s logo and thus a flagship species, its direct and indirect contribution to food and environmental security cannot be underestimated. It is indicated that 92% of all the County’s tourists visited LBNR in the year 2017 [7] and thus a huge revenue base.
The Greater Kudu dispersal areas are within the Lake Bogoria Landscape (LBL) that hosts Lake Bogoria National Reserve (LBNR), a World Heritage Site, a Ramsar Site and an Important Bird Area. Lake Bogoria National Reserve (LBNR) is known locally, nationally and regionally, for important wildlife species, including the flamingo and the Greater Kudu. The Reserve has unique physiographic features and geothermal manifestations due to its geological history that portend well for tourism. The combination of landforms, biodiversity content, availability of water and forage makes it a preferred Kudu habitat and an important site at community, national and global levels [6].
Whereas Greater Kudu in IUCN Red List of 2020 is under the category of Least Concern species, it is endangered in Uganda and Somalia and is thought to be vulnerable in Chad and Kenya [8]. Greater Kudu in the Lake Bogoria National Reserve’s Integrated Management Plan (IMP) has been listed as threatened and rare [9, 7] and thus the need for consolidated efforts towards its conservation.
The growth in human population in the Lake Bogoria landscape coupled with increased number of livestock and heightened agricultural expansion explains the landscape transformation and to some extent, the observed land degradation in the region [7, 9]. Human-induced changes in an ecosystem may influence spatio-temporal dispersal changes of herbivore wildlife species by affecting forage abundance and nutritional quality, exposure to predators [10], modification of habitats and breeding areas [11]. Sinclair et al. (2007) found that abiotic events, such as droughts and floods, created disturbances that affected survivorship of ungulates of the Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem [12]. Spatial and temporal heterogeneity in the quality and quantity of food in savanna landscapes affected the distribution of native large herbivore [13].
Understanding spatio-temporal dispersal changes in a landscape will help in evaluating species interaction within their ecosystems and how these interactions are affected by climate and anthropogenic activities [12, 14]. This promotes coexistence of people and wildlife around protected areas, and by extension enhances wildlife conservation, food and environmental security.
It has been demonstrated that in a world with limited dispersal opportunities, the range size occupied by species is crucial for their survival and is responsible for their extinction than any other factor [15]. There is limited information and data on spatio-temporal dispersal changes of Greater Kudu and in LBNR landscape to support management interventions. It is against this background that a study was carried out to assess spatio-temporal change of dispersal areas of Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) in Lake Bogoria landscape in the last four years for enhanced conservation and improved livelihoods.