KWS launches fifth mobile veterinary unit

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Dr. Francis Gakuya (the KWS Head of the Veterinary Services Department) (right) receives the Eastern Mobile Veterinary Unit vehicle keys from Dame Daphne Sheldrick

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has partnered with the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT) to establish a mobile veterinary unit for the Eastern Conservation Area. The launch was done on February 4, 2013.

The unit will be based at Meru National Park and will provide veterinary services to the entire Eastern Conservation Area and parts of the Northern Conservation Area. It will also supplement the Mountain mobile veterinary unit in attending to some of the emergencies in the Laikipia-Samburu ecosystem.

The unit will greatly reduce animal suffering by reducing the response time to emergencies. Previously, veterinary emergencies in these areas were attended to from Nairobi or by the Mountain unit. It will also save costs of mobilising veterinary teams from Nairobi.

The DSWT will be responsible for all capital and recurrent expenditures while KWS through the Veterinary Services Department will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the unit. The unit brings to five the number of such units located in critical conservation areas where veterinary services are required frequently. The other four units are in Tsavo, Maasai Mara, Naivasha and the Mountain region.