Kenyan rangers killed in deadly battle with wildlife poaching gang

May 2007. Three wildlife rangers and four poachers were killed this past weekend in a pre-dawn shoot-out in Kenya’s Tana River District. The gang of poachers was en route to Tsavo East National Park, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said, when they opened fire after being ordered to stop. Rangers brought down four poachers in the ensuing gun battle but at the cost of three of their own, bringing the number of KWS rangers who have died in the line of duty since 1990 to 23.

 

‘Our rangers paid the ultimate price - human life. But their deaths will not be in vain. We remain vigilant and dedicated to our call - to stamp out poaching and preserve Kenya's wildlife heritage,’ said Dickson Lesimirdana, Head of Anti-Poaching Operations at KWS.

Tsavo
Tsavo is Africa’s second largest park and is recognised worldwide for its important elephant populations. James Isiche, the East Africa Regional Director for IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare), which is currently funding a major Tsavo restoration project said: ‘This tragic event is a prime example of the deadly parallel effects of the rampant illegal international trade in elephant ivory, which threatens the lives of people and elephants. Most wildlife authorities in elephant range states in Africa and Asia are forced to grapple with this challenge.’

 

CITES
Ironically, this tragedy occurred whilst KWS and Kenya’s Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife convened the African Elephant Consultative Workshop in Nairobi. Participating nations joined together to discuss the upcoming meeting of the UN-backed Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), which will begin on 3 June in The Hague.

Kenya and Mali have submitted a proposal to CITES for a 20-year moratorium on all ivory and are currently backed by 10 African elephant range states. This recent poaching episode lends further clout to the proposal, which seeks to provide a long-term safety net to vulnerable elephant populations and to address the fact that enforcement authorities in many elephant range states are at capacity and are unable to sustain the current levels of poaching.

Continued ivory poaching
‘More than 20,000 elephants are killed each year to supply illegal ivory markets, yet few people realise that this horrific trade also perpetuates a cycle of violence amongst humans.’ says Robbie Marsland, UK Director of IFAW. ‘A ban on all ivory trade is the only way to work towards protecting both elephants and human populations,’ he added.

Over 26 tonnes of elephant ivory was seized between August 2005 and August 2006, which is the highest annual seizure rate witnessed since the 1989 CITES ban came into effect. In addition, enforcement authorities estimate that nearly 90 per cent of contraband slips through controls undetected.

To learn more about the critical elephant ivory issue, and to take action to save elephants, click here.