CAIRO, February 21, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – A far-reaching drought plaguing East Africa, the worst in three decades, is putting the lives of millions of people in five countries at risk and affecting the ecosystem in the region, reported The Independent on Tuesday February 21.

"We all need to eat and our cows need to eat but there is not enough to feed us all," said Johnston Chepkwoy, a herdsman in Marakwet, northern Kenya.

"People steal from us because they are starving. Soon we will attack them because we are starving too. Only rains can stop this."

People in the lawless expanses of northern Kenya, northern Uganda and southern Somalia have to deal with increasing violence, as tribes raid one another's remaining livestock armed with spears and Kalashnikovs.

At least 40 people, mainly children in northern Kenya, have died of drought-related malnutrition and associated illness since December along with thousands of livestock.

But many more have died in tribal warfare over grazing lands and water sources.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki had declared the drought a national disaster and the UN had appealed for more than 230 million dollars in emergency food aid donations.

The UN estimates that 11 million people in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Burundi will need food aid to survive the drought.

In Somalia, dehydration has killed at least seven people in the past month as severe water shortages from the drought force many to drink their own urine, according to aid group Oxfam International.

In the worst hit regions of Somalia, people are already surviving on three cups of water a day for washing and drinking - one 20th of the recommended daily minimum.

The draught is also affecting the ecosystem in the region.

"There are certainly fewer births (of calves) this year," said Amanda Koech at Kenya Wildlife Services.

The few calves that were born do not have enough food or water to survive, the UK daily said, adding that unless the rains arrive before the calving season ends in April, this year's birthrate will be dangerously low.

"We are also worried that the animals have become confused and forgotten their migratory routes. They are staying where they are, because they do not feel there is better grazing elsewhere."

At present, the pastures along most of the migratory corridors are dry and have no sense of where to go for better grazing.

The annual migration of the wildebeest is a crucial part of the Serengeti and Masai Mara ecosystem and allows animals to make the best of the grasslands and savannahs around them.

But if the migratory patterns are disrupted, the vegetation will suffer for years to come.

The situation may be further worsened as the World Meteorological Organization warned that the rains in East Africa may not arrive until April, by which time the few remaining grasslands and water holes will have dried up too.

The UN weather agency has said several of the worst-affected areas have recorded their driest months since 1961.

Heat, starvation and diseases have affected hippos, zebras, wildebeest and gazelles.

East Africa should now be preparing for the migration of the wildebeest - the biggest movement of wildlife in the world - but instead, the animals are slowly starving.

Hippos, which need large quantities of mud to cool their bodies, have begun to die and 60 bodies have already been found.

Anthrax has killed off herds of the endangered Grevy's zebras, through to have caught the disease from cattle grazing near their habitats.

Wild animals are spooked by Masai herdsmen who have driven their cattle into the nature reserves searching for a few patches of grass where their livestock can feed.