Participants

Isaac Maina. Jacob Dadi. Sammy Odero. Samuel Lotukoi Karesian Kaparo- K.W.S Rangers George Kileiya- KWS Ranger

Findings

The exercise concentrated on Ndii –Irima and Ndara-Kajire. Ndara- Kajire Yielded 59 snares all targeting dikdiks. These two areas lie on community land where charcoal burning is prevalent. Irima area showed a promising decline in snaring activity. Only 5 snares were recovered in this hot spot where hundreds of snares have been recovered previously. However in Ndii 138 recoveries were made inside the park and 208 on its neighbourhood in name Ghazi, Ndome, Manga and Canan which are on the community side. On a positive note, on our last day to the area we captured one of the notorious, evasive poachers from Ndii and recovered 41 snares he had freshly laid. He confessed to have been operating in the area with some others and to have been using the railways cable to snare. Some of his snares were made from these wires. Sadly 2 dikdiks were found snared while another one was rescued from a snare on the same area of Ndii. We also visited Mgeno group ranch that is mainly used for grazing. Illegal charcoal burners also invade the area combining charcoal burning and snaring. We also encountered a camel that had died from a snare. We recovered 101 snares in two days of our visit. A total of 574 snares were removed, 1 poacher arrested, a dikdik rescued and three animals found dead in snares. In a similar operation carried at Kasigau, by youth of conservation, 2 poachers were arrested with spotlight horn torches and two sets of DikDik meat. With failure of rain we anticipate an increase in snaring and so we have to increase the pressure.

Railway wire recovery. The last section and toughest from Tsavo River (Man-eaters) to Mtito was successfully completed bringing the exercise to an end. Some of these areas were about a kilometre away from the road hence it would have been extremely difficult to ferry the rolls to the road for collection. Thus after unhooking the wire from their poles, cutting them to a manageable size and rolling them, we laid them along the rail. After, with the help of a motor trolley provided by the railways corporation; we loaded the wire rolls and dropped them in strategic areas where the vehicle could have access. We recovered more than 540 roles of wire each weighing about 25-30 Kg bringing the total number to an excess of 1500 roles of about 110 M each The area covered from mackinon road to Mtito is about 160 Km. All the wire collected has been safely stored away. The de-snaring team would like to thank Simon Trevor who provided us with a ladder, Mr. Mbaka of railways who worked with us all through and pushed for the railway consent, arranged for our accommodation when we camped and made it possible for the motor trolley to be provided. Thanks also to the young men who worked tirelessly under harsh condition to make the work successful and lastly thanks to the management who provided us with our requirement and gave us encouragement.

Compiled by Isaac Maina.