Some goods news for elephants in Kenya

Cheers to Amboseli National Park in Kenya, which is experiencing something of an elephant baby boom, according to an NPR report. The park has reported the birth of more than 170 calves this year and counting.

Two sets of twins were born this year too, a rare occurrence, according to Amboseli Trust For Elephants, a nonprofit conservation group in Kenya. By contrast, the Trust reported 113 new calves born in 2018.

While elephant populations are struggling in other African countries, Kenya banned trophy hunting in 1977. One of the other reasons elephants are doing so well is because of surplus rains. For elephants, more rain means more vegetation for grazing and fewer deaths due to dehydration and starvation.

The other is Kenya’s successful anti-poaching efforts—in 2019, the Kenyan government instituted stiffer consequences, including large fines and prison time .

“In the last couple of years we have managed to tame poaching in this country,” Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife, Najib Balala,Balala, told reporters.