Conservationist and author Kuki Gallmann shot in Kenya

(Image credit: Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 24 April 2017

Conservationist and I Dreamed of Africa author Kuki Gallmann was shot in the stomach and seriously injured Sunday at her ranch in Laikipia, Kenya, while surveying damage done by arsonists, authorities say.

Gallmann, 73, was airlifted to a hospital, where she underwent surgery and is in stable condition. Half of Kenya is experiencing a drought, and authorities say desperate herders are taking their animals to ranches that don't belong to them, staying there until they are driven from the land, and then moving on to the next one. This is leading to violent confrontations, with one ranch owner killed last month while inspecting damage done to his lodge by herders. The deputy chairman of the Laikipia Farmers Association said herders from a nearby community who have taken over Gallmann's land before are suspected in the shooting.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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