KISUMU,12th June 2026 –The Wildlife Research and Training Institute (WRTI) has announced that it is in the final stages of developing a comprehensive national wildlife database, a move set to revolutionize policy formulation and resource management across Kenya.
Speaking in Kisumu on Friday, Dr. David Ndere, Head of Research at the Institute, confirmed that stakeholders are being engaged to identify existing gaps in wildlife management. Critically, the entire exercise is being guided by the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act (2013)
“The whole exercise is being guided by the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act that will direct alignment of the developed data with the law,” Dr. Ndere affirmed.
The initiative aims to solve a long-standing challenge of wildlife data currently scattered across various government agencies. The new system will consolidate this information into a single, harmonized depository.
“The on-going exercise will help consolidate the data into a one harmonized depository for purposes of making decisions and policy formulation in the wildlife sector,” Dr. Ndere explained.
The first phase involved developing a prototype, which has already been validated and certified to handle diverse datasets.
The second phase of data collection began in 2024, with the Institute hoping to launch the Wildlife Data Centre in the first quarter of the 2026-2027 financial year.
Dr. Ndere emphasized that the database will not be static but a dynamic platform: “The database will be a dynamic platform that will undergo periodic updates in line with internally generated data and the ones received from the wildlife partners and stakeholders.”
The collected data will inform resource management through the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and address emerging challenges in the sector. To ensure effectiveness, the team has looked abroad for best practices.
“We have benchmarked in South Africa, their database is effective and is being used to guide management of wildlife resources,” said Dr. Vincent Obanda, Principal Scientist at the Institute.
Once operational, the database will enumerate animal censuses and track available species across various conservancies, providing a crucial evidence-based tool for Kenya’s wildlife future.
