Digital News Report- A poacher has been shot and killed by Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers yesterday in Tsavo East National Park. The poacher has been suspected of being responsible for many recent elephant killings and was killed during a gun battle with the rangers that involved 17 rounds of ammunition and poisoned arrows.
Rangers had pursued him for 17 hours on foot, according to area warden Josphat Erupe. “We noticed one poacher on top of a tree but he jumped down and vanished. We only became aware that there was a second man when he opened fire at our rangers from behind the tree but he was shot and killed in the ensuing battle.”
Tsavo East National Park’s biodiversity, which has such wildlife as elephants, black rhinos, hirola antelopes, is a major tourist attraction. It is one of the oldest and largest park in Kenya. According to unnamed sources in KWS, elephant poaching in Kenya rose by over 60 per cent from 2007 to 2008
“It is not difficult to make the link between this increased poaching and the recent reopening of the international ivory trade. This type of event is really not unexpected. On the contrary, we predicted this reinvigoration of poaching would occur,” said Michael Wamithi, Program Director for International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) global elephant campaign.
IFAW has a five-year partnership with KWS worth US$ 1.25 million to enhance management operations such as law enforcement and anti-poaching efforts in Tsavo, The two field patrol vehicles that were used in the anti-poaching operation were supplied by IFAW as part of this partnership project.
“Ivory trade anywhere affects elephant populations everywhere,” continued Wamithi. “By reopening legal trade, poachers are only motivated to kill and to launder their own illicit ivory into these legal markets.
“If endangered elephant populations are to survive, all ivory trade must come to a halt. Until then, we will see the blood of elephants and those who protect them continue to be unnecessarily spilt.”