33 Elephants Poached in a Period of 6 Months

There are currently 33 elephants that have been recorded poached in the Laikipia Nature Conservancy since the beginning of this year 2012. According to the conservancy director, the poachers use youths that have got no jobs to kill these elephants and pay them some little money for the service they have offered. They also finance fanatic groups in Somalia and the far eastern parts of the world.

A voluntary warden with the Kenya Wildlife Service thinks that the vice has increased because of the redundant lands in the region where the poachers hide. She blames the local people for not working together with the ministry to solve the problem and yet they benefit from the industry at the end of the day and they keep thinking that the wildlife protection is for the rich. She urged the government to take over the idle lands and turn them into conservancies for the local community.

She stressed the point that wildlife is the youth’s future and heritage and that if they keep helping the poachers to kill the animals, they are destroying their own future.  As if poaching is not enough trouble, there are currently so many farms that are setup in the areas that were wildlife corridors something that drives the wildlife out. There were 70 black rhinos early in 1970s but the last two were killed by poachers at Muktan and in this battle one of the conservancy rangers was wounded and the rhinos were transferred to Meru National Park.