Alert as runaway poachers kill three elephants

By RENSON MNYAMWEZI

Taita Taveta, Kenya: As the State continues to grapple with widespread poaching in the country, ruthless poachers struck again over the weekend in the sprawling Tsavo Conservation Area (TCA) in Taita-Taveta County.

The poachers killed three elephants and escaped with six tusks.

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said the poachers were armed with sophisticated weapons and raided Mbale Ranch on Saturday evening, shooting dead the three jumbos.

TCA Assistant Director Robert Obrein confirmed and said they were still hunting down five poachers in connection with the incident that has baffled KWS authorities.

He said KWS personnel on patrols heard several gun shots fire by the poachers at the ranch and when they went at the scene, they found three elephants lying dead and their tusks removed by the poachers who escaped towards Taru Ranch.

“We suspect some Somali nationals are behind the spate of wildlife related crimes and we are still pursuing them,” said Mr Obrein, adding: “We have launched an operation to look for the runway poachers who fired about 20 bullets. We are calling on members of the public to assist us with information that can lead to the arrest of the suspects,” the director said.

This comes barely a week after two armed suspected poachers sneaked into Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary in the expansive Tsavo National park and shot dead a male rhino.

 Obrein said despite KWS installing surveillance cameras in strategic places in a bid to tackle widespread poaching activities in the park, the equipment had not helped much.

The conservation body has so far placed 16 infra-red cameras in watering points in the Tsavo ecosystem to help in the fight against poaching.

The concealed cameras would take pictures of wildlife using various watering points in the ecosystem but had not been equipped with server to supply information to authorities for immediate action. Obrein said KWS personnel must get the knowledge of how to patrol the park at night.

Perimeter fence

The director called for the installation of thermal imager and automatic camera traps including a perimeter fence surrounding the sanctuary to protect the remaining 60 rhinos and elephants. “The imager will help KWS personnel to see wildlife and criminals during the day and night time especially in bushy areas,” said Obrein.

Obrein noted that the current surveillance cameras have no direct communication with KWS, making it difficult to track down the poachers. “This is why we need automatic cameras and thermal imagers,” he said.