Where giraffes bring peace

INITIATIVE: RESETTLEMENT OF ANIMALS HELPS RESTORE CALM IN WARRING COMMUNITIES

Wildlife plan helps ease tension in areas prone to banditry and ethnic clashes.

0n a vast farm in Kenya's Rift Valley, a veterinarian carefully takes aim before shooting a tranquil liser dart and sending another giraffe sinking slowly to the ground before it is roped and blindfolded.

It is the first stage of a delicate operation by the Kenya Wildlife Service to move a group of the endangered animals to a conservancy around 140km to the east.

The subdued giraffe is kept at the farm in Sergoit along with seven others for an acclimatisation period of about 10 days, before being transported to their new home.

The Rothschild's giraffes, a distinct subspecies, are being resettled in the Ruko Conservancy in Baringo County as part of a long-running initiative to ease communal tension there.

While the East African nation is renowned for its spectacular wildlife, its northern counties such as Baringo are more often in the news for banditry and ethnic clashes.