Laikipia Wildlife

Laikipia has a unique mix of mammal species, the larger mammals – elephants, predators, antelopes – will be sure to impress, but don’t forget the many smaller mammals, including bats, rodents and lesser predators, that also have roles to play in the area’s ecology.

Elephants: One hundred years ago, Laikipia had almost no elephants, and none at all outside the few forests in the north and west of the region. Since 1990, following the ivory trade ban, elephant numbers in Laikipia have continued to increase, while Samburu’s herds have also gradually recovered, making this the second largest elephant population in Kenya after that in Tsavo National Park.

Hyrax: The elephant’s closest relative is the tiny hyrax, of which three genera occur in Laikipia: the large Procavia and the slightly smaller Heterohyrax (distinguished by its white eyebrows), which live among rocks, and the arboreal Dendrohyrax, a mainly nocturnal genus known for its terrifying screams. Other members of the Afrotheria include the Aardvark, which is seldom ever seen, but whose large holes are prominent features of the landscape.

Antelopes and grazing mammals: Examples are Waterbuck, Impala, Eland, African Buffalo, Plains Zebra, Bushbuck, Grant’s and Thomson’s Gazelles and Kirk’s Dikdik. The area also supports species typical of the dry country to the north, including Beisa Oryx, Grevy’s Zebra, Reticulated Giraffe and Günther’s Dikdik. While most of these species occur side by side, the two similar-looking Dikdiks seem to stick to different areas, with Günther’s preferring the red soils of north-central Laikipia.

Grevy’s Zebra: These differ from the Plains Zebra in having narrower stripes and larger, more donkey-like ears. The species occurs only in northern Kenya and in parts of Ethiopia. Everywhere but in Laikipia its numbers have been decimated by illegal hunting and by competition with domestic livestock. Whereas in the 1970s there were an estimated 15,000 Grevy’s Zebras in all, today there are fewer than 3,000 – the majority in Laikipia.

Jackson’s Hartebeest: an intermediate form between the Coke’s Hartebeest of southern Kenya and the Lelwel of central Africa (NW Kenya included) – is unique to Laikipia.

Reticulated Giraffe: found only in northern Kenya and parts of Somalia and Ethiopia, is one of the most endangered giraffe subspecies. Considered by some to be a full species, its numbers are thought to have declined in the past 20 years from around 27,000 to no more than 3,000. Two-thirds of these animals are in Laikipia.

Lions: The status of Africa’s lions, now increasingly restricted to national parks and reserves, is the subject of pressing global concern. So Laikipia, as one of only a few unprotected areas where lion numbers are increasing, is seen as especially important. There may now be as many as 350 lions in the ecosystem.

African Wild Dog: a globally threatened species that wanders over vast areas, often coming into conflict with Man. In the 1990s, the species was exterminated from Laikipia, where packs had been killing flocks of sheep. A few packs survived in Samburu, however, and in the 1990s some of these animals wandered south. Numbers built up quickly, and Laikipia now supports more than 150 individuals in about 11 packs.

Large and medium-sized predators: the Leopard, the Cheetah, the Serval, the Caracal, the African Wild Cat, the Striped Hyaena and the Spotted Hyaena are all found in Laikipia. While related to the hyaenas, the Aardwolf – seen from time to time – is not strictly a predator, as it feeds on termites. Present too but seldom encountered are the Honey Badger, a voracious predator of beehives, and the African Civet, which often finds its way into chicken coops.

Smaller predators: most often seen are the Slender Mongoose and the White-tailed Mongoose, although both the Egyptian and the Marsh Mongoose are sometimes encountered near water. African Clawless Otters are rarely seen, but signs of their presence – usually the crunched shells of freshwater crabs – abound along most Laikipia streams and rivers.

Primate species: Though widespread across the Sahel, the Patas Monkey – an attractive orange-brown denizen of the open savannah, where it feeds on insects and the gum of Whistling Thorns – is rare in Kenya. Laikipia is the only place where it is readily seen. Baboons, often seen roosting on rock outcrops or in tall ‘fever’ trees, are common near water. Vervet Monkeys favour wooded areas, while the striking Black-and-White Colobus occurs in riverine forest. Bushbabies can be seen leaping between Acacia branches in the late evenings.

Rodents: The largest found in Laikipia is the African Porcupine, which lies up in holes during the day and is a notorious crop pest at night. The two species of wild hare – the Cape Hare and the Scrub Hare – are not easily told apart in the field. In drier, sandier areas of northern Laikipia you may see the mounds of the Naked Mole-rat, a bizarre creature with a social system more like that of ants than of any mammal, having a single ‘queen’ and a sterile ‘worker caste’. As these creatures live underground, all you can expect to see are puffs of sand erupting from a mound, as the last in a chain of workers kicks debris out of a burrow.

The Crested Rat, a black-and-white beast resembling a cross between a skunk and a porcupine, fluffs up its coat when disturbed to reveal a dark brown stripe along its side. Dogs have reputedly died after biting these rats, whose brown hairs are believed to contain toxins, which would make this species one of only a few poisonous mammals.