Participants

Isaac Maina – Team leader Mutua Koti –Tracker Jacob Dadi –Tracker Samuel Odero- Vehicle guard Evans Butt – KWS ranger Alden Jarison – KWS ranger

Area of Operation

The area covered this month was the Irima Area, Mgeno ranch and Oza ranch in Maktau

Findings

At Mgeno ranch 80 snares were recovered, the sizes ranged from medium to large sized animals. Unlike many areas where tracing of snares is simplified by the existence of a fence barrier, the method was different because there were no fences anywhere. We spotted signs of charcoal burning but no culprits were found. There seems to be quite an increase in spot light poaching, this is the best method for poachers, it enables them to move around at night undetected in the park. There were a few areas we came across which look like slaughtering areas because of the large amounts of blood.

Makatau area had a total of 57 snares that we collected. Here the majority of snares targeted smaller game such as Dik Diks. It looks as though poaching in this area is on the decrease and is probably due to the constant patrols in the area. However spot light poaching is again the way that these people hunt according to reliable sources.

In Irima we collected 99 snares altogether, this was mainly between the railway line and the park boundary fence. Snares from the park side targeted large animals while those across the fence were targeting Dik Diks.

Report by Issac Maina