Tourists endangered species in violent Kenya

By David Lewis

NAIVASHA, Kenya (Reuters) - Gilbert Korir has spent the last two years learning to rattle off bird species ranging from pelicans and yellow-billed storks to cormorants and African fish eagles so he could be a guide at a Kenyan country club.

But with his country embroiled in post-election violence that has killed over 850 people and brought a $1 billion a year tourism industry to its knees, the ornithologist worries whether his new job will last.

"You can see there are no boats out here," he said, as he navigated towards hippos emerging from the glassy waters of Lake Naivasha, in Kenya's Rift Valley.

"Normally, when there are tourists here, you can find 10 or 15 boats on the lake in the morning."

It is high tourism season in Kenya, but the only visitors at the Lake Naivasha Country Club are fleeing refugees or journalists covering ethnic clashes just outside its gates.

Earlier this week, metres from the lake, army helicopters opened fire to disperse crowds of armed Kikuyus who were trying to attack people from several of Kenya's western ethnic groups.

The clashes around Kenya began after Dec. 27 elections, which were officially won by Kikuyu incumbent President Mwai Kibaki but rejected by his rival Raila Odinga. What started as riots has degenerated into a cycle of killings and lootings which the United States has called ethnic cleansing.

Tourism has suffered before here from bomb blasts and political violence, but the scale of unrest over the last month, which has displaced more than 250,000 people, is unprecedented.