Wild Animals Withstand the Drought.

(From The Nation (Kenya) - AAGM)

Byline: Lucas Barasa

The bones of the elephant "Stella" who game rangers suspect died of hunger.

National parks are sighing with relief that the big spell of drought that killed thousands of domestic animals miraculously left their herds almost intact.

Amboseli National Park, for example, scraped through this devastating season that has left scores of people dead.

The park only lost some young and old elephants which were unable to survive without water.

A story is told of an elephant named Stella. A feeble Stella struggled in vain to join her family in search of food in the drought-ravaged Kajiado District.

Despite suffering a week-long hunger pang, and sagging under the intensity of her thirst, the 62-year-old elephant was determined to make the long trek to Tanzania and join the rest of her family.

But after only a few kilometres trek, Stella collapsed and died.

She was one of the 1,400 elephants given names …