The discovery of cyanide in samples collected from 15 elephants found dead in Kimana, Kajiado County, has prompted the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to assemble a multi-agency team to determine how the poisonous substance entered the animals' food chain.
KWS Director General Erustus Kanga said preliminary laboratory tests pointed to cyanide, a chemical used in pesticides, but stressed that investigators were yet to establish how it reached the elephants.
Speaking on Friday during the World Rangers Day celebrations, Kanga said the government had already begun putting together a team drawn from different agencies to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.
"We don't know how this happened," Kanga said.
"Through our minister's office, we are establishing a multi-agency committee that is comprised of all people that are involved," he said.
He said the Pest Control Products Board has been tasked with leading the technical investigation because it regulates pesticides used across the country.
"I have given that responsibility to the CEO of Pest Control Products Board because that is the regulator, to coordinate a team of experts and we get to the bottom and find out how cyanide got into that food chain," he said.
Kanga explained that the initial findings were reached after experts carried out examinations on samples obtained from the elephants.
"In this instance, according to preliminary results, the test we got when we opened gut of sampled 15 elephants, there were traces of cyanide, used in pesticides," Kanga said.
While the source of the chemical remains unknown, Kanga linked the investigation to the changing use of land around wildlife habitats, saying more areas that once supported wildlife have been converted into farms and settlements.
He cited Kimana as one of the regions where farming has expanded rapidly because of the reliable water supply from Mount Kilimanjaro.
The area, he said, supports large-scale production of tomatoes, onions, cabbages and watermelons, where pesticides are commonly used.
"In the agricultural landscape, we have people using pesticides," Kanga said.
Although he maintained that the poisoning appeared to be an isolated case, Kanga said the loss of so many elephants at once was a major blow to conservation efforts.
"It's an isolated incident. I feel saddened to lose 15 elephants at a go because I know the efforts our rangers put in protecting and ensuring our elephants are here," he said.
He noted that elephants are not only an important part of Kenya's wildlife heritage but also support tourism and the livelihoods of communities living around protected areas.
Kanga said the incident should serve as a reminder of the need to strike a balance between conservation and human activities as the country's population continues to grow.
"When we got independence, the country had about 10 million people. 60 years down the line, we are beyond 55 million, but the size of Kenya has remained the same," he stated.
"Land use change and conversion of important areas into farming and settlement has taken a toll."
Describing the deaths in Amboseli as "an unfortunate incident for the country and world at large", Kanga called for closer collaboration among conservation agencies, farmers and communities to reduce risks facing wildlife and prevent similar incidents from happening again.