WEBVTT

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JOHN YANG: And finally
tonight, the populations
of some of Africa's
most iconic animals have

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been bouncing back thanks
to decades of conservation
efforts. But activists are

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warning that climate change
and human activity are
shrinking their habitats.

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Now a nature preserve
in central Kenya is
pushing to set aside more

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land to connect with other
preserves to allow wild
animals to roam freely.

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JOHN YANG (voice-over):
At the Lewa Wildlife
Conservancy, it takes planes,

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Jeeps, binoculars and a lot of
patience to count the animals
by hand. Dominic Marenga is

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Lewa's head of conservation.
Each year, his team
conducts a census of the
60,000 acre sanctuary.

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DOMINIC MARINGA, Lewa
Wildlife Conservancy:
All this is an effort to
ensure that we undertake

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responsibility of accounting
for every species that is found
on Lewa, especially the most

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critically endangered ones,
the threatened ones. And we
make sure it is a full census.

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JOHN YANG (voice-over): A full
census to track the growing
population, including elephants.

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Their pregnancies last nearly
two years, the longest of any
living mammal. In 2014, there

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were 350. By 2024, their
population had grown
to 450. There's been a
similar increase in rhinos.

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In fact, the sanctuary
is home to 14 percent
of all black rhinos in

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Kenya. It reflects a nationwide
wildlife comeback. In the 1980s,

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Kenya's elephant population
was around 16,000. By
last year, their numbers
had climbed to 37,000.

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But habitats are shrinking.
Among the causes, climate change
and urbanization, both spurred

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by a human population
boom. Now Kenyan wildlife
officials are encouraging
conservancies to create

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more of what they call wildlife
corridors, protected strips
of land connecting large

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habitats like Lewa with other
rangelands that would otherwise
be separated by human activity.

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They allow animals to move
freely, reduce chances
of human interaction,

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support wildlife population
growth and boost tourism, which
generates billions of dollars

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a year. Lewa plans to add
more corridors to the ones
they've already created.

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DOMINIC MARINGA: If you are
in an enclosed ecosystem, the
population will have to filter

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out one way or the other. And
who are they going to meet
outside? The farms, you know,

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retaliatory attacks. So
you think ahead. Open new
corridors. Connect your
conservancy with others.

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JOHN YANG (voice-over): The Lewa
Conservancy hopes that would
help animals that have existed

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for millions billions of
years thrive alongside
humans for millennia to come.