The Boni National Reserve is a national reserve for conservation and lies in the

Garissa County Garissa County is an administrative county in Kenya. Its capital and largest urban area is Garissa. The county had a population of 841,353 at the 2019 Census, and a land area of about .2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census, Volume 2. Demog ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. The reserve covers an area of and is managed by

Kenya Wildlife Service Kenya Wildlife Service is a state corporation under the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife established by an act of Parliament; Wildlife Conservation and Management Act CAP 376, of 1989, now repealed and replaced by the Wildlife Conservation and Ma ...

. It was gazetted in 1976 as a dry season sanctuary for elephants in the former Kenyan

Ijara Ijara is a town and Sub-County in Garissa County, Kenya. It was previously capital of the former Ijara District. It is located 100 km north of Lamu and 180 km south of Garissa. Alternate meanings ''Ijara'' means rent in Arabic ...

, and

Lamu Lamu or Lamu Town is a small town on Lamu Island, which in turn is a part of the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya. Situated by road northeast of Mombasa that ends at Mokowe Jetty, from where the sea channel has to be crossed to reach Lamu Island. ...

districts and

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

. The elephant population has been greatly reduced by

poaching Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...

. On December 28, 2010, the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

Bureau of Consular Affairs The Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) is a bureau of the United States Department of State reporting to the under secretary of state for management. The mission of the Bureau is to administer laws, formulate regulations and implement policies rel ...

included the Boni National Reserve on the list of

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

n areas American travelers should avoid because of terrorism and violent crime.Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State – Kenya
28. Dec. 2010

Vegetation

The Boni forest, after which the reserve is named, is an indigenous open canopy forest and part of the Northern Zanzibar-Inhambane coastal forest

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

Harbouring densities of plant species that are among the highest in the world, the forest has been declared a

biodiversity hotspot A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in ''The Environmentalist'' in 1988 and 1990, after which the co ...

Wildlife

Common herbivores in the region include

hippopotamus The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...

bushpig :''"Bush pig" may also refer to the red river hog. The bushpig (''Potamochoerus larvatus'') is a member of the pig family that inhabits forests, woodland, riverine vegetation and cultivated areas in East and Southern Africa. Probably introduced ...

warthog ''Phacochoerus'' is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs (pronounced ''wart-hog''). They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly cons ...

, buffalo,

common duiker The common duiker (''Sylvicapra grimmia''), also known as the grey or bush duiker, is a small antelope and the only member of the genus ''Sylvicapra''. This species is found everywhere in Africa south of the Sahara, excluding the Horn of Africa ...

topi ''Damaliscus lunatus jimela'' is a subspecies of topi, and is usually just called a topi. It is a highly social and fast type of antelope found in the savannas, semi-deserts, and floodplains of sub-Saharan Africa. Names The word ''tope'' or '' ...

and

waterbuck The waterbuck (''Kobus ellipsiprymnus'') is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa. It is placed in the genus '' Kobus'' of the family Bovidae. It was first described by Irish naturalist William Ogilby in 1833. Its 13 subspecies ar ...

. Common carnivores in the reserve are the vulnerable

African wild dog The African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), also called the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine which is a native species to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus '' Ly ...

and the

aardwolf The aardwolf (''Proteles cristata'') is an insectivorous species of hyena, native to East and Southern Africa. Its name means "earth-wolf" in Afrikaans and Dutch. It is also called maanhaar-jackal (Afrikaans for " mane-jackal"), termite-eatin ...

. Although extremely rare, African elephants are also present in the reserve.

Birds

As part of the East African coastal forest, it is likely to hold bird species characteristic of the

coastal forests of eastern Africa Area of incidence in red The Coastal forests of eastern Africa, also known as the East African Coastal Forests, is a tropical moist forest region along the east coast of Africa. The region was designated a biodiversity hotspot by Conservation Int ...

, possibly including globally threatened species such as

Sokoke pipit The Sokoke pipit (''Anthus sokokensis'') is a species of bird in the family Motacillidae. It is found in Kenya and Tanzania. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat dest ...

Al Shabaab Hide-out

The government of Kenya believes that Boni National Reserve has become a hide-out for the Al Shabaab, a terrorist organization based in Somali

This has led to several armed incursions into the reserve by the Kenya Defence Force and Kenya Police. In early 2017, US troops were reportedly giving Kenya assistance in attempts to remove Al Shabaab from the reserv

References

External links