Bush
fire in Nakuru wildlife park
(DAY 2)
Sat 23 Feb 2008, 16:02 GMT
Using branches to beat back flames, Kenyan rangers and residents struggled for a second day on Saturday to control bush fires in one of the nation's best-known wildlife parks.
At least 100 local citizens joined wildlife officials to help put out the fire, which was accidentally started in a nearby village and has already destroyed large patches of the 188 square km Lake Nakuru National Park.
Hundreds of workers, soldiers and policemen battled the main blaze for 12 hours on Friday, largely containing it. But fresh fires broke out on Saturday morning.
When the fire began, grass parched from a recent lack of rain made fertile fuel. Most famous for the hordes of flamingos that gather on its lake shore, the park in central Kenya is home to 450 species including white rhinos, giraffes and lions.
"This was definitely an accident. It was not an act of arson," said senior warden Charles Muthui, saying a woman from a nearby village started the fire while burning wood. Winds then quickly carried the blaze into the park.
Despite the fire, baboons wandered unperturbed around other parts of the park, while some groups of gazelles even trotted over the scorched earth. Rhinos lounged next to a creek.
Game wardens said the fire appeared to have largely spared the wildlife, although a reporter saw a charred turtle.