ITHUMBA TEAM

July De-snaring report September 2004

Participants

Wambua Kikwatha- Ithumba Feisel Muteti – Ithumba Munywoki Kisangi – Ithumba Mwoni Ikuthu – Ithumba Wekes mhembi - Ithumba David Njoroge – Gazi Adan Abdi – Gazi Samuel Lolchuraki – Gazi Julius Mumo – Gazi KWS ranger

Area of operation

This month’s area of operation was executed in the following areas and Ithumba and Gazi teams combined managed to recover 1125 snares this month. • Kasaala-Kimweli boundary • Along the power line to Mkoka • Tundani and the Yatta • Mkoka, Macho Kombo and the Yatta/Tharakana area • Umbi • Mukua nima area • Wamata and rocky area along the Tiva

Findings

During this month the Gazi team and Ithumba team joined up to make a large sweep of the areas mentioned above, the electric fence in the area had a stretch of 700 meters which had been vandalised allowing people easy access in and out of the park. Added to that there was a major concern that the fence wire was being used for snares. With the lack of rain in the area snaring is rising each month and it was imperative to retrieve as much of the fence wire as possible. Altogether both the teams managed to recover 1125 snares, a large portion of which was the fence wire, and 113 of the snares were designed to capture larger animals. Sadly we found six DikDiks dead, all trapped in snares, however we managed to rescue and release another five. Along the Tiva we came across a buffalo carcass and an elephant carcass, both shot with poisoned arrows,

luckily the ivory was still intact and the teams removed and returned it to the Kenya Wildlife Service. On the patrol along the Yatta we captured a poacher who was in possession of 30 Dikdiks and he was taken to the Mtomo police station. The warden of Ithumba, whilst out on an aerial survey of the park found a lot of human activities in the Mukuanima/Gazi region and so the teams were moved to the area straight away. There has been a huge amount of logging in the area and a large amount of the timber is being sold in the nearby village. At Mukua Nima we discovered a large amount of charcoal burning and beehive raiding, more than 100 bags of charcoal were destroyed and four charcoal kilns dismantled. We arrested another poacher who was caught burning charcoal illegally in the park. This month a lot was achieved mainly because we had so much more manpower working in specific areas, therefore more ground is covered. Unfortunately with the continuation of the drought snaring will continue to rise and the teams will have high snare counts until the rains come.

Report by Wambua Kikwatha and David Njoroge