UK troops 'scare Kenyan wildlife'

By Karen Allen
BBC News, Nairobi

The elephants were said to be displeased by low-flying helicopters

British soldiers training in Kenya, accused of frightening wildlife, say they did not overfly the game reserves.

The soldiers, it was claimed, had been flying helicopters so low that they were scaring off the wild animals.

Game wardens in the Samburu district complained that the British forces were hampering Kenya's conservation efforts.

The allegations sparked an urgent investigation and the British High Commission now says none of the alleged incidents took place.

'Illegal' safaris

Members of the First Royal Irish Regiment are undertaking training exercises in Kenya.

But within days of their arrival at Archers Post, about 220 miles (350km) north of Nairobi, they were accused of illegally conducting their own safaris from the air, flying helicopters alarmingly low and scaring off the animals in the nearby game reserves.

A senior warden from Shaba and Buffalo Springs game reserves, Mohammed Tubi, said the soldiers had hovered low in helicopters above the parks for up to 15 minutes at a time.

The deafening noise had scared off elephants, giraffes and other wild animals, he said.

But a spokesperson for the British High Commission in Nairobi said: "As part of current training exercise, British army pilots have in the last few days been testing safety of helicopters in designated training areas, and practising dust landings at the Kenyan School of Engineering, which is 2km outside the game reserves.

"Helicopters follow routine flight paths which avoid game reserves and national parks. They have not flown beneath minimum height restrictions and have not been illegally viewing game."