Italian born author and conservationist Kuki Gallmann was being treated in a Nairobi hospital on Sunday after being shot in the stomach near her lodge in Kenya.

Ms Gallmann, 73, who wrote the bestselling novel “I Dreamed of Africa”, was driving in her vehicle when she was ambushed.

She was rushed to the Nanyuki County Hospital for emergency treatment before being flown to Aga Khan hospital in Nairobi for specialised treatment on Sunday morning, her daughter, Sveva Makena, 26, said.

She was in a "stable condition" on Sunday evening.

Ms Makena said earlier this month that the Laikipia Plateau was under pressure from "noxious politics and drought".

"We remain positive that this wave of terror and mayhem will pass once elections and the rains have come and that the government are doing what they can to restore law and order one step at a time," she said.

In March, Kenyan cattle herders fired shots at Ms Gallmann and her daughter after burning down her luxury lodge, which is frequented mainly by European tourists, at the Laikipia Nature Conservancy.