Participants

Patrick Mutuku – Team Leader Josphat Ajot Henry Lekochere Julius Mtamu Justin Kimanzi 2 KWS rangers

Area Covered

The Areas covered this moth were Ziwani, Maktau and Lumo Wildlife Sanctuary.

SNARES COLLECTED 200

Findings

This month the snaring levels in the areas that we patrolled had been drastically reduced. This is a result of the rains that finally came at the end of November which is the perfect opportunity for farming, and thus explains the reduction in snaring levels. People who have livestock move to areas where there are, as a result of the rain, small water holes. They generally stay in those areas for grazing until the water dries up and then they move elsewhere. Wildlife at this time of the year is scattered around and are therefore harder to capture. They move away from the dry season water holes and go deeper into the park. This makes life difficult for the poachers as it takes more time and energy to capture an animal. Poaching in the areas visited generally happens at night, both setting of snares and ‘lamping’. This makes it harder for us to apprehend them, however in December we managed to capture one poacher. Several hideouts were located and destroyed. Whenever we destroy a hideout poachers then have to locate a new area where there is less chance of discovery and less chance that snares will be removed by the team. Eventually we hope that the poachers will find it to be too much trouble to poach animals in the area.

Report by Patrick Mutuku.