Game Damage to Forest Plantations in Hombe Forest, Mt. Kenya Forest Ecosystem

Forests remain the major habitats for wildlife in many parts of the world. However, game damage to forest plantations remains a threat to the development and management of forests. The wildlife debarks, bark strip, uproot, break branches, trample, browse plantation forest tree species and graze on grassland. There is little and conclusive information on the impact of game damage on forest in Kenya. The aim of the current study was to assess the game damage to forest plantations by wildlife at Hombe Forest Station. Primary data was collected using an observation schedule complemented with secondary data from the Kenya Forest Service and Kenya Wildlife Service. Eighteen Permanent sample plots (PSP) of one (1) Ha each were established in three sites. The study established that many of the dead and drying trees can be attributed to game damage. The two major game species were the elephants (<i>Loxodonta africana</i>) and buffaloes (<i>Syncerus caffer</i>). It was established that all tree species showed signs of damage from wildlife, <i>Cuppressus lusitanica</i> damage was highest in site C compared to site B and A (One-Way ANOVA; F<sub>(2)</sub> = 16.234, P < 0.001), the differences in game among the site may be attributed to higher density of animals observed in site A compared to the other sites. The major impacts to forest are trunk breaking and uprooting of Eucalyptus, bark stripping, debarking, and knocking down of Cypress. Forest destruction was due to game damage. It was found out that <i>C. lusitanica</i> experienced the highest impact on game damage especially debarking/bark stripping which accounted for 74.7% while broken branches were 17.8% and browsing 7.5 %. In terms of species preference to game damage <i>C. lusitanica</i> was leading with 93%, with Mexican green ash (<i>Fraxinus pennsylvanica</i>) at 5% and <i>Vitex keniensis</i> 2.0%. Forest plantations of <i>C. lusitanica </i>were the most destroyed species, while <i>Eucalyptus saligna</i> were the least destroyed. The Kenya Forest Service needs to fence industrial forest plantations to avoid losing all the investments in establishing, management and protection of plantations. The planting of non-palatable industrial forest plantation tree species like <i>F. pennysilyvanica</i> Mexican green Ash and <i>V. keniensis</i> Meru Oak are recommended in the game prone areas.