Participants

James mbuthia – team leader David Njoroge – Assistant Team Leader John Malonza - Tracker Francis Chege Masakau Mbanga – In Camp CPL Ngau– KWS Wario Abaruba - KWS

SNARES COLLECTED 655

A total of 655 snares were lifted and one poacher was arrested, the results were expected as the area is still very dry and one can say that these findings will stay the same until the rains come. For this operation, the team concentrated along the river because most of the water holes are dry, and this is where the wildlife congregates. The operation was timely as we intercepted many poachers by removing their snares shortly after they had been set. Most of the snares were fresh but they had not caught anything by the time we had arrived. One poacher was arrested 13km from the boundary deep inside the park; he was from Kitui but living in Darajani area. We confiscated 6 arrows, a bow and 77 snares from him.

Around Mtito town we collected the majority of snares, 345 altogether, so a large amount of the snares set are by poachers who live in the Town. Even with our commu7nity projects in place this town still has the highest snaring levels. There is a high turn over of people going through the town, some poachers from other parts of Kenya and even Tanzania, and so our community projects have little effect on them. However we hope that the permanent residents in the area will in time trust us and report any poaching activities to us as soon as they happen.

Report by James Mbuthia