MTITO TEAM

De – Snaring Report for September 2007

Participants

Alex Macharia – team leader Francis Chege Semeli Lolchuraki Nteritu Kapina James Nuymu Vincent Mutua 4KWS Rangers

Areas Covered

During the course of the month of September the following areas were patrolled by the Mtito de-snaring team: Mtito River, Kambi ya Faru Area, Kenani, Kanga, Kyulu Station, Chyulu Gate, Ngulia, Triangle circuit & Tsavo Area.

101 SNARES COLLECTED 1 ARRESTS

Findings

The month of September has seen an increase in poaching. The dry season has driven more poachers into the National Parks. We came across plenty of footprints within the Park and signs of illegal activities especially in the Mangerete and in the Triangle.

Cattle grazing & logging within the park boundaries was also on the increase specifically in Mangerete and Yumbuni.

We found these areas to be the most sensitive to human activities within the park so the Team decided the best method to tackle the problem was to carry out ambushes.

Lack of water has driven allot of the wildlife into the surrounding community areas leading to human wildlife conflict and poaching within the community areas.

In the Triangle we tracked 3 poachers who entered into the park at night. We followed them to their hideout camp and by 9am we managed to catch up with them. Unfortunately 2 got away, we arrested the 3rd.

The arrested poacher told us he and his associates planned to poach for 3 days and catch a total of 35 animals for sale. The poacher was delivered to the KWS headquarters for interrogation before handed over to the Police Station.

We tried to tackle the poaching within the community areas by arranging for a wildlife education day in one of the schools in an area from which most of the poaching is taking place.

Trying to change the attitudes of the people in the communities is an important strategy towards achieving a more environmentally aware community & hopefully decrease poaching activities.

Report by Alex Macharia