Over 179 jumbos have died in eight months due to drought, Tourism CS Najib Balala has revealed.
Balala said climate change was taking a toll on Kenya's iconic species.
"The big elephant in the room is climate change. We cannot be protecting our elephants only to be affected by the drought," Balala said at Safari Park hotel, Nairobi during the honorary warden conference.
Balala said the other challenge facing the wildlife sector is human-wildlife conflict.
He noted that the anti-poaching efforts have paid off.
However, a lot still needs to be done to make the 23 national parks attractive in order to generate the much-needed revenue.
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