3 Rare Rothschild’s Giraffes Electrocuted By Power Lines In Kenya

Three rare giraffes have died after they were electrocuted when they walked into low-hanging power lines in a conservation area in Kenya, officials said.

The horrific incident happened over the weekend in Soysambu Conservancy in western Kenya, the Kenya Power and Lighting Company said in a news release on Monday. All the three animals killed in the incident belonged to the species of Rothschild's giraffes, one of the most endangered subspecies, reported ABC News.

The Kenya Power and Lighting company that owns and operates most of the electrical transmission in Kenya assured that it has commenced “the process of enhancing the clearance” at the entire conservatory to prevent “recurrence of the unfortunate incident.”

The Kenya Wildlife Service said in a separate news release that two giraffes were killed in the conservancy on Sunday without mentioning when the third was killed. “Preliminary reports indicate the height of electricity poles crossing Soysambu Conservancy are low, below giraffe's height,” the release stated.

Soysambu Conservancy, located about 85 miles northwest of Nairobi spans around 48,000 acres. Rothschild’s was added to the “red list” and was classified as endangered in 2010 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It was later down-listed to near-threatened as the population improved with the conservation efforts.

“We regret this incident because we recognize that wildlife forms an integral part of our natural and cultural psyche, and we appreciate the feedback shared by various stakeholders on this matter,” Bernard Ngugi, CEO of the Kenya Power and Lighting Company, said.

“Ensuring that we adhere to the highest forms of safety in all our undertakings, is a prerequisite for us. We thus take any electricity-related accidents seriously and we will use the lessons gleaned to avoid a reoccurrence of the same,” Ngugi added.

Paula Kahumbu, a Kenyan conservationist, said that it's not the first time that the power lines have killed animals. “These power lines have been killing giraffe, vultures and flamingos. Advice from experts were [sic] ignored.” Kahumbu tweeted. “Sad that it takes these kinds of deaths to wake some people up! ” she added.

There is a total of 28,850 Giraffes in Kenya including 609 Rothchild’s giraffe, according to Kenya Wildlife Service.