Oct. 12, 2005 — Outraged conservationists are protesting a Kenyan decision to downgrade the status of a famed national park in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro that is home to one of Africa's biggest elephant populations.

A coalition of wildlife groups has accused President Mwai Kibaki's government of illegally changing Amboseli National Park into a "reserve," allegedly for political gain, and vowed to fight the move.

The step, which turns over Amboseli's administration from the Kenya Wildlife Service to the local county council and the Maasai tribal community, endangers animals in the pristine sanctuary and huge tourism revenue, they say.

It will allow the Maasai to graze their cattle in the area and gives control of Amboseli's substantial gate receipts — amounting to $3.5 million last year — to county officials.

The Kenya Wildlife Service says it was not consulted and groups such as the British-based Born Free Foundation and East African Wildlife Society are girding for a legal battle to halt it if the decision is not rescinded.

"I am fearful that Amboseli National Park, which is so important to Kenya and to Kenya's wildlife, is the victim of an arbitrary and illegal decision which puts the wildlife of this world famous area and right across the country at risk," said Will Travers of the Born Free Foundation.

The East African Wildlife Society expressed grave concern about a possible "domino effect" on other national parks in Kenya that the government's "hasty, clandestine, ill-conceived and illegal action may trigger."

Others agreed.

"If we concede to the degazettement of Amboseli National Park, every other park and reserve risks being erased on a political whim at any moment," said Steve Itela of the Kenya-based organization Youth for Conservation. "This puts our entire wildlife and tourism in jeopardy."

"What has happened in Amboseli can happen elsewhere. The government has set a dangerous precedent," said Elizabeth Wamba of the East African branch of the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Kenya Wildlife Service spokeswoman Connie Maina told AFP on Wednesday that the downgrading of Amboseli "was a very unfortunate decision. It may lead to the detriment of the reserve because the local council does not have the capacity to manage it."

Officials with the state-run Kenya Tourism Board are also alarmed, fearing that overgrazing and the potential for the council's mismanagement could lead to a dramatic decline in visitors to the park.

"I am offended," said one. "This is a serious blow to conservation and tourism. This is a form of political poaching. Its impact on the park will be far worse than poaching itself."

The controversy stems from a Sept. 29 decree that turned over the 3,260-square-kilometer (1,260-square-mile) park on the Kenyan-Tanzanian border at the foot of Africa's highest peak to the Olkejuado County Council.

Under Kenya's current constitution such changes can be made only after publication of a notice of intent, a lengthy review process and parliamentary approval.

Critics have suggested the surprise decision is a ploy by Kibaki to buy support from the Maasai for a new constitution that will be put to a bitterly contested referendum in November.

"There seems to be political strings attached to banana and orange politics," one Kenya Wildlife Service official told AFP on condition of anonymity, referring to the ballot symbols for "yes" and "no" that voters will choose from in the plebiscite.

Government officials have denied any political motive and members of the Maasai community around Amboseli, who have fought for years for access to the reserve and its income, said the move was long overdue.

"The handover was morally right," said Maasai elder Ben Ole Koisaba, deriding as "nonsense" allegations of a political payoff but conceding the timing of the move was questionable.

"It was long overdue — the park sits on the heart of the Maasailand," he told AFP. "But the timing was apparently wrong."

Created as a game reserve in 1906, Amboseli — home to Africa's most docile elephant population, which roam the plains against the stunning backdrop of snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro — was once before turned over to local administrators.

But that 1948 decision was rescinded in 1974 when it was declared a national park and put under the authority of the Kenya Wildlife Service after years of mismanagement and corruption nearly destroyed the ecosystem.