Overflying the Laikipia plains in central Kenya, the ground below looks tidy and undisturbed.

But on keener observation from a helicopter, one can see the black and white spots that dot the landscape. Cattle. Thousands of them, bathed in the mid-morning sunshine, browsing on the golden brown shrubs in the 24,000-acre Sosian ranch.

But there is something else that is conspicuous: Smoke billows from a spot on the edge of a hill where, a few hours ago, some buildings stood.

A short distance from the smouldering ruins of what used to be a ranch house, Offbeat Safari guide and founder, Tristan Voorspuy, lies lifeless. He has been shot dead.
Mr Voorspuy, who ran a horseback safari business in the Sosian Ranch, was reportedly inspecting properties on the land when he was shot off his horse. A month before this tragedy, Sosian Ranch, which combines cattle keeping, hospitality and wildlife conservation, had scaled down its operations after armed herders overran the neighbouring 44,000-acre Suyian Ranch, and burnt down the main lodge used to host tourists.

The dozens of raiders stole what they could carry and vandalised what they couldn’t.

Gilbert and Anna Powys, who own the ranch popularly known as Anne’s Camp, could only watch from far, as the looters loaded their booty onto motorbikes and rode away.
“The visitors we had had to be evacuated, and we cancelled the bookings we had received,” says a staff member at the ranch.

That state of affairs is replicated in many other conservancies that run tourism-related businesses and the owners are still counting their losses.

Following a drought in the country that has spanned over six months, herders from the neighbouring communities overran the conservancies, leaving in their wake a trail of destruction that the ranchers say will run into hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenues, destroyed properties and livelihoods.

The herders, who have been desperate to keep their livestock alive, say they must find fresh pasture and water, and the ranches are their only hope.
“We can’t watch our animals die. The grass here will sustain them,” says Juma Lekuton, who has driven his herd from Baragoi in Samburu County.
“If it rains, we will leave,” he adds.
The government has sent in the military and the police to contain the situation, but security concerns abound. The herders say the police have been indiscriminately shooting and killing their animals, putting their livelihoods at further risk.

But some observers see the invasion as more than just a quest for pasture. The upcoming elections in August and long-running discontent over land ownership among the indigenous communities living around the ranches have fuelled tensions.

Land grab
“This has nothing to do with drought. It is a violent land grab,” says Emuria Lorere, a community leader from Laikipia North.
Laikipia, a plateau straddling the Equator with Mount Kenya as its backdrop, is extolled as one of Africa’s most picturesque wildlife tourism destinations. It has acres of savannah, riverine forests and acacia scrubland in which wander many species of animals. The landscape is interspersed by small hills, manmade lakes and dams, and rivers.

Visitors to Laikipia have described its ranches as a marriage of pristine wilderness, pioneering conservation and haute luxury.

Animals from the Ol Maisor Ranch in Laikipia, central Kenya are transferred to a safer area on February 02, 2017 following attacks from herders in neighbouring communities. PHOTO|SULEIMAN MBATIAH

After Tsavo in the southwest of the country, Laikipia is the most extensive wildlife haven, a part of the Ewaso ecosystem that is home to a variety of endangered animal species, including the Grevy’s zebra and reticulated giraffe. It also boasts half of Kenya’s black rhino population.

Most of the ranches are family businesses that have been handed down through the generations. But they are an important source of revenues for the county and the country, bringing in millions of dollars annually to the local economy.
But this year, this land has become the setting of violent conflict, as thousands of livestock roam the ranches herded by armed men, with devastating economic effects.

“There is a feeling out there that Kenya’s reputation as a tourist destination is incredibly fragile,” said one of the ranchers.

The Laikipia Farmers Association, whose members are the large-scale farmers, says the losses recorded from the invasion of the ranches run into millions of dollars, from information collected from 32 of their 52 members.

According to the association, the 32 properties contributed about $40 million to the economy in 2016. This figure comprises the revenues they collected, the jobs they created and their community support projects. In 2015 and 2014, they contributed about $30 million. This year, the association fears that the numbers will be significantly low, because of the huge revenue losses caused by the invasions.

According to the Financial Times magazine How to Spend it, on average it costs just over $2,000 per person per night in one of those lodges. With the violence and the resultant cancellations of bookings, the operators are looking at losses of millions of dollars.

“Twenty years of conservation has all fallen apart,” says Jamie Manuel, a wildlife manager at Mugie, a huge conservancy on the plateau, which bears the ugly scars of the invasion.

Most of the wildlife is gone and in their place are more than 50,000 head of cattle. The raiders, some armed with spears and others with guns, have destroyed the fences and made off with the wire and posts.

In the fields, the large groups of livestock have decimated the vegetation in what were well managed pasturelands. Above all, the invasion came with the killing of wildlife, including elephants, lions, buffalo, giraffes and zebras. Some of the ranchers’ cattle were reportedly stolen too. Meanwhile, wildlife tourism, which drives the ranches’ business model, continues to take a hit, as visitors cancel bookings due to security concerns.

Poor security
“Now there are no enquiries here in Mugie and in other neighbouring businesses we have talked to,” says Henry Bailey, a manager at the conservancy. “No agents will risk sending their clients to an area with poor security. The fact that these illegal grazers come heavily armed and aggressive makes it exceedingly unsafe for personnel on these farms and tourists. Besides, some wildlife have started dying of starvation, as the pasture has been decimated.”

The conservancy estimates its losses from theft, property damage, cattle rustling and loss of revenue since February 3 to be $2.5 million.
“The disruption continues to date, so the losses will likely double. We have been rebuilding in the past month, but the destruction was organised to create the greatest disruption possible,” says Mr Bailey.
At Kifuku Estate, a cattle ranch, a pair of boats sits in disuse on an artificial lake. There is an eerie serenity and Maria Dodds, the owner and director of the farm, says they occasionally hear gunshots around them.
“There are a few of them (herders) still around but it’s much calmer now,” she says.
Ms Dodds has kept a daily diary of events since September last year, when heavily armed herders breached her boundary fence and drove in hundreds of animals.
“They destroyed, vandalised, and looted. Houses in the farms were ransacked, and household possessions valued at about $20,000 stolen or destroyed. Staff were threatened and some quit. Our cattle were also stolen and we haven’t recovered most of them. It’s so painful that we have to buy hay for the remaining herds,” she says.

With days of relative calm, Ms Dodds is starting to patch things up. But she says rebuilding is a costly affair.

“It’s going to be a tough year. The losses will probably reach $150,000,” she says.

A vandalised water pump and security camp at the Mugie Ranch in Laikipia, central Kenya on February 03, 2017. Herders from neighbouring communities are attacking ranches, destroying property and killing wildlife. PHOTO|SULEIMAN MBATIAH

Laikipia Farmers Association chair Martin Evans, who also runs the Ol Maisor Farm, says that he had to move his cattle to Subukia, Menegai and Rongai in the central Rift — at a high cost.
“We have to pay $1 per head for cattle moving in or out of the county as cess,” he says, adding that the county governments through which the herds have moved have lost thousands of dollars in revenue.

“These invaders brought in 200,000 head of cattle or more into Laikipia. The county government lost at least $200,000 in revenue and will lose a similar amount when they move out,” he says.

Small-scale farmers have also been affected. Many have seen their crops destroyed. Benson Kimani, a vegetable farmer, is worried that he will not have any harvest this season.
“In the past, during such hard times, the pastoralists would ask for leftovers from our harvests. Now, they are just driving their animals through our fields with impunity, flattening everything. Soon, I will have nothing left,” he laments.

Many are now concerned about the collateral damage the Laikipia invasions have had on the county, and on the country as a tourist destination and investment hub.
“If these invasions are left to continue, Kenya will quickly lose any credibility as an investment destination. The next stage maybe Nyandarua, Nyeri or Meru. With insecurity in Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet we could have problems in Nakuru, Uasin Gishu and Trans Nzoia. What will we eat when the breadbasket is invaded?” asks local businessman James Brooks.