By Kipchumba Kemei
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers have shot and killed two suspected poachers at Olpusimoru area along the Kenya-Tanzania border.
The suspected poachers, according to the KWS Corporate Affairs Manager Paul Udoto, were armed with two AK 47 rifles, 65 rounds of ammunition and an axe.
“The suspects were on a mission to kill an elephant. When rangers on patrol encountered them, they opened fire resulting in the deaths,” he said on Sunday.
Mr Udoto explained how one of the suspects was killed during the exchange while another who had bullet wounds escaped with rangers in pursuit.
Udoto, who said KWS was not taking chances with poachers who were on the verge of decimating elephants in the country, added that a spent cartridge, a mobile phone and a notebook with contacts were also recovered from the suspects.
AK 47 rifles, according to a KWS source, are not weapons of choice for elephant poachers because they are not lethal, suggesting that the victims may have been on another mission.
Narok police boss Peterson Maelo confirmed the incident, saying one of the suspected poachers was of Somali origin and the other is yet to be identified. Their bodies have been removed to Narok North District Hospital mortuary.
