A poacher killed in the line of “duty”
Category: Forest surveys, Poaching wildlife | Date: Sep 10 2008 | By: davidngala
sorry i was not able to load the photos well, here they are…
Hi this is Carol,
Activities at the forest have been quite overwhelming, data is collected daily on the illegal activities in the forest and the results are just overwhelming. Recently there was a poacher who was killed in the forest. The poacher was accidentally killed by a trap laid for elephants by other poachers.
The number of poachers within the forest is increasing, and with Arabuko Sokoke forest having big game such as elephants, there is intense survey of the forest and also of poachers, yet some go unnoticed.
Map of illegal activities in the forest.
David reported to me that last week, a poacher was killed in the forest when he accidentally fell for an elephant trap that was laid by another group of poachers. The poachers normally lay down the traps deep in the ground and cover them with earth and grass making it look almost normal ground that one may not be able to see the trap.
These traps are normally laid down inside the forest where elephants can be found roaming. It is difficult to lay a trap along designated paths as people often use these paths and rangers are often on patron on such paths hence the traps are hidden deep in the forest away from the designated walking paths.
Designated foot paths in the forest.
The poachers make the trap using long nails that are pinned on wooden frames and the tips of the nails have poison on them, such that when an elephant accidentally steps on the tips of the nails, the nails will penetrate through the elephant eventually releasing the poison to the animals blood stream fast enough to kill it almost instantly. They later remove the elephant’s tusks and will eventually sell them to middlemen and to the ivory black market.
These are some of the activities that are on going in the forest and that David monitors daily. These activities pose a danger for researchers and others that don’t use the designated paths when going about their business.
David is still carrying out more survey on illegal footpaths in the forest. He has set up a meeting with the chief to discuss how the community can get involved.
That’s all for now, I will keep you updated on any occurrence within the forest.
Tags: Arabuko-Sokoke forest, Elephants, illegal activities, Ivory, Poaching
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