In the only wildlife park within a capital city, giraffes are no longer the tallest creatures.
I visited the Nairobi National Park last Saturday morning and was shocked to find the park being cut in half by the construction of Phase 2A of the standard gauge railway, as it makes it’s way to Ngong and Suswa from Embakasi.
114 concrete pillars, ranging in height between 7 and 40 metres upon which a standard gauge railway will run are currently under construction, dividing the park into northern and southern sections.
This is despite court orders issued to halt construction.
The view of Nairobi’s skyline from some sections of the park is definitely going to change as an elevated railway will cut across the image above once construction is completed.
The main victims of the construction will be the ecosystem within the park. As it stands, movement of wildlife has been interrupted by the construction.
Some proponents of the SGR say the animals will be able to move freely under the concrete pillars once construction is complete. I don’t know if this will be the case.
Only time will tell.
The truth is, the one thing that no other city in the world can boast about might be headed for extinction.
My heart is genuinely breaking. How in the world can we let this happen? Thanks for keeping this story alive and reminding us all we need to fight to keep this gem!
Really hope that it’s true as the planners expected that the park and wildlife will settle after construction and that there are no more encroachments.
I am yet to come across a forty foot tall elephant. SO your fears are unfounded.
I’m yet to come across an elephant in NNP. So…
This is really sad. Where did we go wrong?