Mutunyi residents take action by building a stone-wall

Residents have devised a way of keeping the

Residents of Mutunyi in Buuri, Meru County have taken actions into their hands by constructing a stone wall on an elephant corridor, to ward off jumbos that have destroyed crops worth millions of shillings.

Mutunyi, which is located near the Lewa Conservancy on the Meru-Isiolo border is famous for horticultural farming with farmers raking into up to Sh100 million annually.

According to Nation, The area also sits on a stretch leading to the Mt Kenya Elephant Corridor, that includes an underpass, connecting traditional elephant migratory path between Mt Kenya Forest and northern Kenya. About 200 elephants are said to use the corridor every year.

The area is famous for horticultural farming

Kisima Ward Representative Joy Karambu said the government’s food security agenda was at risk as elephants were destroying crops worth Sh4 million every year.

As a result, residents have devised a way of keeping the elephants at bay by building a wall on a one kilometre stretch of the Meru-Isiolo boundary.

The move by Mutunyi residents come days after farmers in Mituntu, Tigania West demonstrated over persistent elephant invasions.

But Meru Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Senior Warden Francis Mbaka said they had repaired the Lower Imenti electric fence and stationed a patrol team in the area to curb the menace.

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