The Kigio Wildlife Conservancy is a protected Conservancy near

Gilgil Gilgil, Kenya, is a town in Nakuru County, Kenya. The town is located between Naivasha and Nakuru and along the Nairobi - Nakuru highway. It is to the west of the Gilgil River, which flows south to feed Lake Naivasha. Gilgil has a population ...

in the

Great Rift Valley The Great Rift Valley is a series of contiguous geographic trenches, approximately in total length, that runs from Lebanon in Asia to Mozambique in Southeast Africa. While the name continues in some usages, it is rarely used in geology as it ...

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

. It is owned and operated by the local community.

Location

The conservancy, which covers , is located between

Lake Nakuru Lake Nakuru is one of the Rift Valley lakes at an elevation of above sea level. It lies to the south of Nakuru, in the rift valley of Kenya and is protected by Lake Nakuru National Park. The lake's abundance of algae used to attract a vast qu ...

and

Lake Naivasha Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake in Kenya, outside the town of Naivasha in Nakuru County, which lies north west of Nairobi. It is part of the Great Rift Valley. The name derives from the local Maasai name ''Nai'posha'', meaning "rough wate ...

. Kigio conservancy derives its name- Kigio from the area where the community that owns it came from. It was originally a cattle ranch owned by white settlers. After buying the ranch, the local community decided that there could be more revenue from eco-tourism. Fees now provide income to the community and help cover the cost of maintenance. Several organizations have provided funding for infrastructure and conservation including

Tusk Trust Tusk Trust is a British non-profit organisation set up in 1990 to advance wildlife conservation across Africa. The charity funds the protection of African elephant, African rhinoceros and African lion, along with many other threatened species ac ...

Born Free Foundation The Born Free Foundation is an international wildlife charity that campaigns to "Keep Wildlife in the Wild". It protects wild animals in their natural habitat, campaigns against the keeping of wild animals in captivity and rescues wild animals in ...

and Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. and Projects Abroad (www.projects-abroad.org)

Flora and fauna

The Kigio Wildlife Conservancy contains diverse habitat including short grass, Leleshwa shrub, euphorbia woodlands and riverine woodlands. Almost 100 indigenous plant species are protected in the conservancy. There are over three hundred bird species including what is said to be the world's largest population of

grey-crested helmetshrike The gray-crested helmetshrike (''Prionops poliolophus'') is a species of bird in the Vanga family Vangidae, formerly usually included in the Malaconotidae. It is found in Kenya and Tanzania. Its natural habitats are dry savanna and subtropical ...

s. There are about 3,500 head of large mammals, up from about 100 head in 1996. Grazing animals include African buffalo,

common eland The common eland (''Taurotragus oryx''), also known as the southern eland or eland antelope, is a savannah and plains antelope found in East and Southern Africa. It is a species of the family Bovidae and genus '' Taurotragus''. An adult male is ...

, impala,

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 ...

Grant's gazelle Grant's gazelle (''Nanger granti'') is a species of gazelle distributed from northern Tanzania to South Sudan and Ethiopia, and from the Kenyan coast to Lake Victoria. Its Swahili name is ''swala granti''.Thomson's gazelle Thomson's gazelle (''Eudorcas thomsonii'') is one of the best known species of gazelles. It is named after explorer Joseph Thomson and is sometimes referred to as a "tommie". It is considered by some to be a subspecies of the red-fronted gazell ...

and

Grant's zebra Grant's zebra (''Equus quagga boehmi'') is the smallest of the seven subspecies of the plains zebra. This subspecies represents the zebra form of the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem and others across central Africa. Distribution This subspecies is dis ...

. Other species include spotted hyena,

African leopard The African leopard (''Panthera pardus pardus'') is the nominate subspecies of the leopard, native to many countries in Africa. It is widely distributed in most of sub-Saharan Africa, but the historical range has been fragmented in the course of ...

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 ...

caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted e ...

aardvark The aardvark ( ; ''Orycteropus afer'') is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. It is the only living species of the order Tubulidentata, although other prehistoric species and genera of Tubulidentata are known. Unlik ...

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-eat ...

honey badger The honey badger (''Mellivora capensis''), also known as the ratel ( or ), is a mammal widely distributed in Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Because of its wide range and occurrence in a variety of habitats, it is liste ...

and spring hare. The endangered

Rothschild's giraffe Rothschild's giraffe (''Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi'') is a subspecies of the Northern giraffe. It is one of the most endangered distinct populations of giraffe, with 1,399 mature individuals estimated in the wild in 2018. Taxonomy an ...

is also found here. The last giraffe in the region was killed by poachers in 1996. The management of the reserve applied to the Kenya Wildlife Service to have Rothschild's giraffe moved to the conservancy. This was granted on condition that the conservancy was fenced, which was done with funding from the European Union and the Born Free Foundation. The conservancy, bounded by the

Malewa River The Malewa River rises in the western slopes of the Aberdare Range in Kenya and flows south and west into Lake Naivasha in the Great Rift Valley. Lake Naivasha is an important source of water in a semi-arid environment, and supports export-oriente ...

to the east, is now enclosed by an electric fence on the three other sides. The BBC programme, ''Born to be Wild'' included an episode that covered the process of relocating the giraffes. From eight Rothschild's giraffe moved from

Lake Nakuru National Park Lake Nakuru is one of the Rift Valley lakes at an elevation of above sea level. It lies to the south of Nakuru, in the rift valley of Kenya and is protected by Lake Nakuru National Park. The lake's abundance of algae used to attract a vast qu ...

in 2002 there were almost thirty by 2012.

Visitors

The conservancy offers accommodation at Malewa Wildlife Lodge and Kigio Wildlife Camp, both built with traditional techniques and materials. Guests may participate in activities that have minimal impact on the environment, including guided walks, cycling and fishing. They may also take game-spotting drives in open-sided 4x4 vehicles during the day or at night. Locally-made craft works are also sold, with much of the proceed going to the community fund.

References

{{Great Rift Valley, Kenya Tourist attractions in Kenya Parks in Kenya