The Narok County government on Monday hosted the World Rangers Day celebrations at the Maasai Mara Game Reserve to commemorate rangers killed or injured while they were in the line of duty.

County Governor Patrick Ole Ntutu joined the Narok Police Reservists (NPR) for lunch and reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to supporting them so that they effectively perform their role of preserving biodiversity, conserving habitats and combating illegal activities like poaching and deforestation in the region.

The governor used the celebrations to spell out what his government has done in the last nine months to ensure there was a good working environment for the officers and their welfare is taken care of.

Among his interventions is upgrading County Rangers to NPRs and providing them with new uniforms and modern equipment including modern guns as well as constructing houses at various ranger’s stations across the Mara.

Before the celebrations at Simba Lodge grounds, the governor commissioned the Olare Orok Water Project and inspected the various projects that are currently ongoing in the area including road projects and the rangers’ housing projects.

Ntutu said even though World Rangers Day has been marked since the year 2007, there has never been any official celebration in Narok County to mark the day despite 25 per cent of wildlife in Kenya, and sizable forest cover being in the county, protected by over 800 rangers.

“Today’s celebration is therefore one among my administration’s firsts since I took over office. World Rangers Day, just like other important days, provides us with an opportunity to rally support and initiate conversations around biodiversity conservation and the welfare of our rangers,” he added.

CEO of Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association (KWCA) Dickson Ole Kaelo on his part announced that 146 officers died in the line of duty this year in Africa, with eight from Kenya who died in the hands of bandits, in road accidents and from wildlife attacks.

“The leadership of Narok has demonstrated to the country what it means to take care and support rangers to undertake their duties. We at the national space are ready to partner with the government, county and national, and regional conservancies associations to work towards having training facilities in the landscape,” said Kaelo.

Among those who graced the event include Deputy Governor Tamalinye Koech, County Secretary Mayiani Tuya, CEC’s Johnston Sipitiek (Tourism and Wildlife), David Muntet (Finance and Economic Planning), and Chief park warden Stephen Ole Minis.

Others in the celebrations were area MCA Moses Sikona, Naikarra Ward MCA Tataya Mako and CEO Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Daniel Sopia.