Uasin Gishu, a Forgotten Thriving Wildlife Paradise

By William Kiptoo

Before the arrival of European settlers, the Uasin Gishu Plateau was a thriving paradise for wildlife. When English settler A.C. Hoey first arrived in the region in 1906, he was overwhelmed by the abundance of game. In his own words:

“It would be most impossible for me to describe the vast quantities of game I encountered on the Uasin Gishu Plateau, and of almost every species. Jackson's Hartebeeste roamed the country in vast herds of three to five hundred strong. Eland moved in groups of two hundred or more, and Zebra literally by the thousand—not to mention the numerous lions and some very fine elephants that used to travel between the Elgeyo Forest and Mount Elgon.”

However, as European settlement expanded and commercial farming took root, attitudes toward wildlife changed drastically. Farmers soon began to regard wild animals as a nuisance and threat. Zebra were blamed for breaking down fences, while lions and other predators frequently raided livestock.

By the early 1910s, settlers were requesting licenses to hunt and exterminate game animals. Some even turned hunting into a lucrative enterprise. But this marked the beginning of a sharp decline. By the 1920s, most of the large wildlife populations on the plateau had been driven out or decimated.

Today, only a few remnants of this once-abundant ecosystem survive. A handful of antelopes and some Rothschild giraffes can still be seen at Kruger Farm, serving as a quiet reminder of the natural heritage that once defined the Uasin Gishu landscape.