Participants

Patrick Mutuku – team leader Lemanten Labarakwe James Lodugukiyok Mutual Koti Patrick Ekai 2 KWS rangers

Areas Covered

During the course of this month the Ithumba team patrolled the following areas: Kyamanyenze, Tundai, Macho Kombo, The Tana river, Kyai rock, Mathai, the park boundary, Tharaka, Yatta and Kalavoto.

TOTAL SNARES COLLECTED 235 POACHERS ARRESTED 2

Findings

During the month of January the Ithumba de-snaring team was able to arrest two poachers in the Umbi area, who were caught in possession of 10 poisoned arrows, 17 snares, 2 leopard/cheetah traps, 2 bicycles and some jerry cans.

The poachers Wambua Kisovi and Kisovi Ndunda were booked at Mutomo and sentenced to two weeks of community service.

OBSERVABLE POACHING EVIDENCE

While patrolling in the Umbi area, which is where we arrested two poachers, we came across bicycle tracks, footprints, hideouts and water points that are being actively used by poachers.

The area around the Yatta also had lots of tracks which show that it is a poaching hotspot. Honey harvesting activities were clearly visible in many baobab trees in the area. The fence attendants pointed out numerous footprints along the fence line which had been cleverly concealed by the poachers and were it not for the fence attendants we would not have noticed them.

Most of the waterholes that were visited during the course of the month had evidence of poachers spending nights in the area. We found shooting platforms and blood stains during out patrols.

COMMUNITY WORK

The carpenter has finished making 26 desks which will be presented to Kavete primary school.

Once this has been done the carpenter will begin work on desks for Mukua Rima primary school. We found out that Ndia Ndasa Kijito is in deed of pump rods and pipes. We also met with the chairman of the fence committee and with several poachers in an effort to reform them and try to get them to help us with our conservation efforts.

Report by Patrick Mutuku