Aim: A population of endangered Sitatunga antelope (Tragelaphus spekii) live in a free-range environment at Impala Sanctuary in Kisumu, Kenya. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) park officials suspected that increased demands on outdated sewage infrastructure caused animal drinking water sources to become contaminated which resulted in animal sickness and death. In this study we complete a water quality assessment on open water sources within the park boundaries to determine if water was suitable for animal consumption.
Materials and Methods: In this study we complete a water quality assessment on open water sources within the park boundaries to determine if water was suitable for animal consumption. For the assessment we measure eight physical and chemical parameters (pH, temperature, fecal coliform, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, nitrates, total phosphates, turbidity). These eight parameters were chosen because they are used to establish a Water Quality Index (WQI) percentage which proved to be useful to communicate conditions to park rangers, stakeholders, and adjacent landowners.
Results: Through six months of assessments, data collection, and analysis we determined that most open water sources are severely contaminated, ranking on the WQI from 46 to 58% (bad to medium). Additionally, we compared our data to drinking water standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for (USDA) [19, 20,21] for Livestock to find that only two sites met the minimum criteria. The remaining four sites were exponentially contaminated with levels reaching 10X recommended values for animal health.
Conclusions: Following these findings, the park was able to attract money for sewage infrastructure rebuilds that resolved the contamination problems. Sickness and death of free roaming animals, including the antelope, were reduced.
Key words: water quality, animals and contaminated water, Kenya
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