Kenya relocates thousands of animals to game park

SOYSAMBU, Kenya — A senior Kenyan wildlife official says about 7,000 zebras and wildebeests are being moved to one of the country's premier game parks to restore the balance of predators and prey disrupted by last year's drought.

A senior scientist with the Kenya Wildlife Service says the animals are being taken from areas where they are abundant in an effort to replenish Amboseli National Park's population. Charles Musyoki says more than 60 percent of the park's zebra and wildebeest population died during the drought.

KWS staff have moved 137 zebras this week from the privately owned Soysambu Conservancy.

Musyoki says 4,000 zebras will be moved within three weeks. The wildebeests will take longer because many have or are about to give birth to newborns, he says.