Kenya: Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) reduces entry fees to all game parks and reserves!

Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Tourism, Najib Balala, has announced that entry fees to all Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) game parks and reserves have been reduced. This applies to all local (citzens and residents) and international tourists effective 01 July 2020, for one year. The discounted rates are aimed at bolstering Kenya's tourism sector and help it recover from the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Cabinet Secretary further announced a one-year moratorium on rent for all lodges and camps in game parks and reserves mangaged by the KWS. Filmmakers have also been given a 50% discount on filming fees in KWS parks to help market Kenya both at local and international stage.

Kenya: Sections of Nairobi National Park temporarily closed!

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), a state corporation with the mandate to conserve and manage wildlife in Kenya, announced the temporary closure of some sections of the Nairobi National Park, located approximately 7km south of the centre of Nairobi. Ongoing heavy rains have damaged the following roads (highlighted on map below):

• Between Junction 4A and 6
• Between Junction 18A and 5

Visitors are advised to avoid these roads. The rest of Nairobi National Park's, circuits are still accessible, however the Kenya Wildlife Service is recommending visitors use four-wheel-drive vehicles.

Kenya: KWS makes all entry fees to National Parks "non cash"!

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) changed their payment policy on 27 January 2017 by making all entry fees to all KWS Parks, Reserves and Sanctuaries in Kenya to be paid with Visa Card, MPesa (a popular mobile money service in Kenya), by direct bank deposit (Kenya Commercial Bank and Standard Chartered Bank only) or with corporate cheques. Payments in cash are not accepted anymore!

Kenya: New, reduced entry fees to Kenya's National Parks!

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has reduced entry fees to Kenya's National Parks and Reserves. Effective 01 November 2016, all fees were capped at $60 (Sh 6,000) for adult non-residents and Sh860 for adult Kenyan citizens. This follows a decision by the Kenyan government to exempt entry fees to National Parks and Reserves from Value Added Tax (VAT). VAT was previously factored in all entry fees and other services offered in the Parks and Reserves managed by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).

screenshot via kws.go.ke - link (pdf)

The money collected as entrance fees by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is primarily used to help the conservation of the plants and animals within the National Parks and Reserves in Kenya.

Kenya introduces new incentives to boost tourism!

Kenya's president Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta has unveiled an incentive package to revitalise the tourism industry in Kenya at the opening of the English Point Marina in Mombasa, the first luxury yachting marina in Kenya.

• Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) fees will be capped at $60 (down from $90) for the 2016/17 financial year
• Value Added Tax (VAT) charges on National Park fees will be removed for the 2016/17 financial year
• Visa fees for children under 16 will be scrapped indefinitely from 01 February 2016
• The Ksh1.2bn charter incentive scheme continues until 30 June 2018. This waives landing fees at Moi International Airport (MBA) in Mombasa and Malindi Airport (MYD) in Malindi for all charter aircraft and provides at $30.00 (thirty dollar) rebate for all disembarking tourists
• expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) in Nairobi and Malindi Airport (MYD) in Malindi to handle greater numbers of visitors
• construction of the Port-Reitz-Airport Road in Mombasa 
• construction of the Dongo Kundu bypass that will allow tourists to travel to the South Coast (Diani) without using the ferry
• Kenya Ferry Service (KFSL) will buy and operate two new ferries for the Likoni Channel crossing

Kenya lost 59 rhinos & 302 elephants to illegal poaching in 2013

According to Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) spokesman Paul Mbugua, Kenya has lost at least 59 rhinos to illegal poaching in 2013, almost double that of the previous year (2012: 30). About 1030 rhinos are now left in Kenya. The number of elephants poached in Kenya dropped from 384 killed in 2012 to 302 in 2013, so that the country is currently home to some 38,000 elephants. Africa's elephant population is estimated at 500,000 animals, compared with 1.2 million in 1980 and 10 million in 1900. According to statistics released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in early 2013, Africa's rhino population (black & white) was estimated at 25,460 animals.

South Africa: 1004 rhinos got killed by poachers in 2013 >>

Kenya: 137 elephants & 24 rhinos killed by poachers so far in 2013

update (20 June 2013): Kenya lost two more rhinos. Poachers early this week shot dead a rhino and its calf at Mukururo area outside the Chyulu Hills National Park boundary and took off with the horns.

According to a speech (published 14 June 2013) held by William K. Kiprono, director of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Kenya lost 137 elephants and 24 rhinos to poaching since January 2013. A total of 5,842kg of ivory and rhino horns have been recovered and 123 suspects in connection with these seizures have been arrested. At the same time, 22 firearms and 1,141 rounds of ammunition have also been recovered from poachers.
Kenyan newspaper "The Star" earlier reported that out of the 137 elephants killed by poachers in Kenya, 37 were killed in protected areas (mainly in Tsavo) while 80 were outside protected areas. The rhinos were killed in Lake Nakuru National Park, Solio Ranch (Nyeri), Ngulia Sanctuary (Tsavo West National Park) and Meru National Park.
In 2012, Kenya lost 384 elephants and 30 rhinos to criminals.

Kenya: Hell's Gate Gorge re-opened to the public

The gorges at Kenya's Hell's Gate National Park, located south of Lake Naivasha and about 90km north west of Nairobi, have been re-opened to the public. The gorges were closed for about 2 month ago after a flash flood carried away seven Kenyan youths on a team building exercise.
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Director Julius Kipng’etich assured the public that the necessary safety measures had been put in place at the gorges following the subsiding of rains and visitors are now free to access the area.
Hell's Gate National Park, covering an area of 68.25km², provides a variety of wildlife (including lions, leopards, and cheetahs), unusual flora and many species of birds (including vultures, Verreaux's Eagles, augur buzzard, and swifts) and is one of the two only Kenyan parks where climbing, walking and biking are allowed.

Kenya Wildlife Service released issue #1 of its e-science bulletin "The Wildlife Researcher"

Kenya's wildlife authority, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), has released the first issue of its e-science bulletin "The Wildlife Researcher" (pdf) to share information with internal and external customers on a number of research works and research-oriented activities being undertaken in Kenya to meet the KWS mandate as spelt out the wildlife law and expounded in the KWS strategic plan. Further issues of "The Wildlife Researcher" will be produced on quarterly basis.

Contents of the first issue of "The Wildlife Researcher" (pdf):

1. Tall on land, towering on water – Giraffes on a yacht
2. Splendour of our rift valley lakes earns global recognition
3. Environmental Impact Assessment and Audits as tools for management of Protected Areas in Kenya
4. Grevy’s zebra will not go the dodo way
5. Elephants display their might in numbers in the Tsavo - Mkomazi ecosystem
6. A bold way to contain a silent killer
7. Informed wildlife conservation through effective data management
8. Emerging techniques applicable in curbing wildlife crime - Clues from parasites
9. Thoughts for managing illegal activities in Tsavo Ecosystem
10. A tool to win space and time for wildlife: Evaluating conservancy establishment and viability

Kenya: New National Park fees from 01 Jan 2012

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), the custodian of Kenya's national parks, announced already back in September 2011 that it will increase the tariffs for the countries National Parks, but they are only now coming into effect.
As of 01 Jan 2012, foreign visitors to Kenya's so-called Premium Parks, Amboseli NP & Lake Nakuru NP, will have to pay a conservation fee of US$80/person per day (2011: low season US$60/person; high season US$75/person) as a flat rate charged throughout the year.
Visits to parks not designated as premium parks, such as Tsavo East NP, Tsavo West NP & Meru NP, will from 01 Jan 2012 have to pay a daily fee of US$65/person.
Pls download (pdf) the complete list of park conservation fees in 2012 for more information.

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) increased fees for some National Parks

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), the custodian of Kenya's national parks, has again increased the daily (foreign) visitor fee for the so-called "premium parks" Amboseli and Lake Nakuru to US$80/person as a flat rate charged throughout the year with immediate effect.
Foreign visitors used to pay US$60 during low season at the premium parks and US$75  during the peak seasons (January to March, July to October).
According to Kenya's Forestry and Wildlife minister Noah Wekesa, the increase had to be done to meet KWS' conservation obligations, to boost the conservation efforts and reduce the service's dependence on the government.

Beside the "premium parks" Amboseli and Lake Nakuru, the tariffs for the so-called "wilderness parks", namely Tsavo East, Tsavo West & Meru, also got increased. All other 47 parks managed by KWS are not affected. Kenyans will continue paying Sh500 at premium parks and Sh300 in all others.