Participants

James Mbuthia Feisal Muteti Francis Chege David Chege Kathuki Ngongo Masaku Mbanga 4KWS Rangers – Lelapo, Joel Anyim, Kasim Chora, Patrick Macharia

Areas Covered

The areas that we visited this month were The Triangle, Kenani, Kanga, the Chyulus, Kalawa and along the banks of the Athi River and its environs.

113 SNARES COLLECTED

Findings

During the moths operations a total of 113 snares were collected and 14 arrests were. We were able to arrest two bush meat poachers;

one from the pipeline around Mangelete and the second along the Athi River in Kalawa. Two charcoal burners were arrested in Mangelete and 10 cattle grazers were apprehended. We feel that this month the amount of poaching has decreased due to the continued persistent pressure that we have been putting on all the poachers hotspots.

During our patrols we came across a haul of sandal wood, weighing approximately 2-3 tonnes, which had been hidden near the park boundary in the Chyulus.

This haul was waiting there to be loaded on to a lorry and consequently taken to market to be sold. We alerted the KWS rangers at Kithasya, about our find, and they then took over the investigation and search of the culprits.

During the months operations we found that in comparison to previous months the bush meat activities in the area have decreased.

This implies that the poachers are frustrated and are unable to carry out their operations, which means that they have either moved to different areas or they have decided to leave the bush meat trade.

Report by James Mbuthia