Preliminary indications of the effect of infrastructure development on ecosystem connectivity in Tsavo National Parks, Kenya

Conserving land and ecosystem connectivity for wildlife is increasingly a global challenge as demand for infrastructure development to meet growing human population needs encroaches in many traditional wildlife areas. The survival of wildlife species in arid and semi-arid systems requires interconnected landscapes, and limiting animal movement greatly reduces the system’s ability to sustain viable wildlife populations (Vasudev et al. 2015). Major infrastructural developments such as multi-lane highways and railways can sever wildlife movement often with negative consequences (Clevenger and Waltho 2005; van-der-Ree et al. 2011; Xia et al. 2007). Wildlife crossing structures, underpasses and “fauna passages” are, therefore, critical tools for maintaining landscape connectivity in areas affected by these developments and their capacity to sustain wildlife populations. However, there is limited information available on optimal designs and locations for African Preliminary indications of the effect of infrastructure