KENYA: Kenyan cyclists race to fence the Lake Nakuru National park

Cyclists from all over Kenya gathered at the Lake Nakuru National Park over the weekend for the annual 'Cycle with the Rhinos' race. This event will help the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) raise funds to repair the park's 20-year-old fence. On Saturday (September 22), a crowd gathered on the shores of Lake Nakuru, not to see the flamingos and other wildlife the area is famous for, but to watch the annual 'Cycle with the Rhino' race. This is the fifth time that the 60-kilometre race is being held in the Lake Nakuru National Park. 60 cyclists from all over the country came to race this year. The money the contestants raise from corporate sponsors will be used to repair the park's 20-year-old electric fence. The dilapidated fence, and the growth of Nakuru town over the years has led to many incidences of human and wildlife conflict. "Today we are actually cycling with rhinos. This is our fifth time, we are collecting funds through mobilizing the cyclists to cycle with the animals in the park to raise funds to rehabilitate and develop the seventy four kilometre fence," said Charles Muthui, the senior warden at the Park. Kenya has embarked on a drive to brand its parks in a bid to pull in more tourists and boost conservation efforts. Lake Nakuru was branded two years ago and is home to herds of antelope, waterbuck, gazelles, buffaloes and flamingos. "Well the most difficult section is going to be after the thirty kilometres which is taking you right down out of Africa Hill and then you come down to Baboon Hill and then down to the finish and its going to be an interesting course because, well this is the only place in the world where you can ride with the animals," said Manee Choda, the official time-keeper. In this year's race, amateur cyclists raced for 30-kilometres while professionals covered about 60-kilometres of mostly rough terrain. "The race was good but the only problem is that my bike is spoilt. It's removed pressure from the tube. I really wanted to finish but that's it. Maybe if I get someone with a pump I could fix it and continue with the race. It wasn't bad though, I' m still stable," said a disappointed cyclist, Francis Kangethe. The overall winner was 24-year-old Steven Mwangi, who won the race with a time of two hours and thirty-two minutes. "The race was good, it was fantastic. I've done quite a lot of races outside the country so compared to this on I saw that it was easier on my side," Mwangi said. The event managed to raise three million Kenya shillings, about 45,000 US dollars. Established as Kenya's first rhino sanctuary, the park now hosts one of the largest black rhino concentrations in the country while substantial numbers of white rhinos from South Africa have also been introduced.

ITN Source | September 24, 2007

Tags:. .winner. .someone. .mobilizing. .funds. .annual