Nairobi - Kenyan wildlife authorities have warned beach hotels to keep watch for nine elephants which have strayed from their home and may wander onto Indian Ocean shores, an official said Friday. The family group meandered into a forested area some three kilometres from Kenya's coast, but officials were not sure where exactly they had come from.
"We have told the hotels to look out and we have put rangers on the ground to push the elephants away from the beaches," said Philip Mwakio, assistant director of Kenya Wildlife Services.
"Elephants can kill people and can be dangerous so we need to be prepared."
Kenya's coastal area is not far from the Shimba Hills National Reserve and north-eastern Tanzania, which both host significant elephant populations.
The huge creatures act as a constant threat to the livelihoods of their human neighbours, often marauding through fields and destroying crops.
A British tourist was trampled to death by an elephant while on safari in Kenya last year.
