NAIROBI, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Kenya is planning to set up a fund to compensate victims of human wildlife conflict, a senior government official said on Tuesday.
Najib Balala, cabinet secretary of Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife told at a virtual meeting that the country currently has an outstanding compensation claims of approximately 14 billion shillings (130.4 million U.S. dollars) arising from incidents of human wildlife conflicts.
"Human wildlife conflict has now emerged as one of the biggest threats to conservation of wildlife and especially elephants," Balala said during the Africa's Human-Wildlife Crisis forum.
According to the minister, the issue of human wildlife conflicts is a complex matter that requires international dialogues in order to develop permanent solutions.
Balala observed that the country has already put in sufficient measures to tame the poaching menace amongst most of the country's iconic species.
He added that current mitigation efforts to manage human wildlife conflict such as use of fencing cannot adequately address the issue.
He noted that expanding human population which result in encroachment of traditional wildlife corridors is one of the drivers behind growing human wildlife conflict cases. Enditem