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2002 Project News |
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We have paid for the purchase of a vehicle for a new desnaring team in and around Tsavo National Park, with the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. Poaching has been severe in this area, and the Trust is experienced at this kind of work. The new team started work on 28 Feb, and brings the total number of teams working there to 3. They found 200 snares in the first day, and over 1000 in the second month. They also caught a poacher with 19 dead Dik-diks, who is now in the hands of the proper authorities.
 The New Vehicle |
This team started out being staffed by Sheldrick Trust employees, but they are finding it important to employ some locals to help, and we need to raise funds to pay these salaries. Lori was out in the bush working with the team for a few days, and they are working in the harshest of conditions, over vast areas, to protect the land. As Isaac, the team leader said, a snare is like a land mine, it stays there until an animal gets caught in it and dies, unless it's removed.
There are reasons for this snaring. Poverty is a problem in Kenya, and catching some animals for sale or to eat is the easiest way for some folks to get by. There are also large cartels working to process and ship this meat. The bottom line problem is, however, that if left unhampered these people will empty the parks and the country of wildlife entirely in a very short time and that would be devastating for everyone.
 One common poacher's tool, a flashlight with a car horn attached. It stuns the animals so they can be killed easily. |
Tourism is Kenya's second largest source of revenue, and without these animals, no one will go there. The wildlife there has adapted to live in these harsh environments, and will continue to do so and thrive if left alone. This becomes a self-sustaining resource for everyone. The land in and around Tsavo is arid scrub, and not suitable for cultivation or grazing. Therefore, in conjunction with desnaring, it is essential to get into the local communities and help them to learn about the consequences that their actions will have on their environment. This seems quite obvious to those of us in the West. Most of us have grown up with television, movies, and schools to teach us about our environment - these people in rural Africa have none of those resources. We can help them to see how destruction of the environment and the wildlife in fact causes more poverty, and to show that there are alternatives.
 Poachers Captured in the Chyulu Hills |
This can be best accomplished by the desnaring teams getting
to know the local residents, identifying the needs of their schools, and
helping to address them. Because education is so important to these people,
helping them with their schools is the best way to help alleviate some
of the poverty, and thus some of the reasons that they set snares to begin
with. Showing the films that have been produced by the AEFF will also
be a major component of environmental education for these people.
We have donated a vehicle to the Maasailand Preservation Trust, an association
of 4 large Maasai owned ranches in the Chyulu Hills region bordering Tsavo,
with a combined area of over 1 million acres. They are cooperating to
protect their land. Their primary focus is to guard against bushmeat poaching,
which has become a serious threat. They had been using bicycles and traveling
on foot, our vehicle will help them greatly. Lori was in the region in
March when they caught some poachers who had killed over 20 antelope in
one late night raid. We were told that the two men they caught were from
the wealthiest family on the bordering ranch. When asked why they were
doing this they said it was because it was what they did best and enjoyed
doing it. This was clearly not a matter of desperate need, and clearly
demonstrated the desperate need for education. This kind of activity is
just not sustainable, for the animals or the people. Snaring is also addressed
by the MPT's Game Scouts.