DSWT/KWS Anti-Poaching Report December 2016

DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST

ANTI-POACHING UNITS MONTHLY REPORT

DECEMBER 2016

DECEMBER 2016

DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST

DECEMBER 2016

DECEMBER 2016 MONTHLY SUMMARY: ALL UNITS TOTAL SNARES RECOVERED & COLLECTED: TOTAL ARRESTS MADE: TOTAL WEAPON/EQUIPMENT CONFISCATIONS: TOTAL ILLEGAL STRUCTURES DESTROYED:

176 12 16 43

Although generally a quiet month, during December the Anti-Poaching Units kept up their guard, patrolling the Tsavo Conservation Area, creating a vital security presence whilst supporting bordering communities and preventing further wildlife crimes. 12 arrests were made during December which included the capture of 8 bushmeat poachers. These bushmeat poachers were caught on separate occasions throughout the greater Tsavo area, showing how prevalent this illegal activity is. All the poachers were found with snares and/or bushmeat in their possession and were instructed to remove all the snares they had laid before being taken to the police to be charged for their offences. In total 13kgs of bushmeat was confiscated from these poachers. Other arrests included 2 offenders for charcoal burning, 1 for illegal logging and 1 for harvesting. Jointly the teams also removed and confiscated 176 snares of varying sizes during the month with the Burra team discovering the most, whilst the Chyulu team uncovered 5 cable snares which are commonly used to trap elephants. The teams also destroyed 19 charcoal kilns in the Parks whilst the Burra team confiscated 20 sacks of charcoal.

Human-wildlife conflict is becoming an increasing issue within the TCA. The Chyulu team was called on the most to support the KWS and the local communities in removing problem elephants from community areas, where on most occasions elephants were found crop-raiding, having made their way outside of the Chyulu Hills National Park; in total, they helped to push over 35 individual elephants out of these areas working together with the KWS and the DSWT Aerial Unit. The Kenze team also dealt with a human-wildlife conflict case where a leopard had been predating on community livestock outside of the protected areas; a human trap has been erected in the hopes of catching the culprit and relocating it far enough away to keep it away from community areas. The Ziwani and Mtito teams also attended to five elephant treatments during the month with support from the Amboseli Mobile Veterinary Unit as the Tsavo Unit was on annual leave during December. Two elephant carcasses were also discovered, both with their tusks intact which were handed over to the KWS. The Mobile, Ithumba and Meru teams were on annual leave for December, whilst the Kenze and Yatta teams were on reduced patrols during the month.

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MAP OF ALL UNIT’S PATROL ROUTES

MAP OF ALL UNIT’S ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES

DECEMBER 2016

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DECEMBER 2016

DAILY SITUATION REPORT MONTHLY SUMMARY – DECEMBER 2016

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DECEMBER 2016

TOTAL SNARES COLLECTED – DECEMBER 2016 - All Teams

TOTAL ARRESTS MADE – DECEMBER 2016 - All Teams

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DECEMBER 2016

INDIVIDUAL TEAM REPORTS DECEMBER 2016

DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST

DECEMBER 2016

DECEMBER 2016 ZIWANI TEAM PATROL AREA: Central sector of Tsavo West NP south of the Tsavo River DAYS ON DUTY: 30

SECURITY & INCIDENTS LIFTING SNARES 5/12/16

The Ziwani team collected a number of snares from the saltlick area

LIFTING SNARES 6/12/16

Team members lifting snares from the Lualenyi area

DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST

DECEMBER 2016

BUSH MEAT 11/12/16

Abandoned warthog meat left by poachers after they spotted the team coming and made an escape

Hartebeest rescue 11/12/16

Team members found an abandoned hartebeest calf which later they managed to rejoin with the mother

ELEPHANT TREATMENT 12/12/16

Treating an elephant with a spear wound at the Maktau area with the Amboseli Vet Unit

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DECEMBER 2016

BUSHMEAT POACHERS 20/12/16

Two poachers were arrested in their camp in the Park with bushmeat and tools

ELEPHANT TREATMENT 26/12/16

The Team members assisted the vet in treating an injured elephant in the Lumo area

LIFTING CABLE SNARE 27/12/16

Team members lifting a large snare at saltlick

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LIFTING CABLE SNARE 27/12/16

DECEMBER 2016

This elephant was unable to stand and eat and was very dehydrated the only option was for the vet unit to sadly put him down

ZIWANI UNIT MONTHLY ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES AND PATROL ROUTES

DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST

DECEMBER 2016

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DECEMBER 2016

DECEMBER 2016 TIVA TEAM PATROL AREA: Northern sector of Tsavo East NP with a focus along the Tiva River DAYS ON DUTY: 31

SECURITY & INCIDENTS CHARCOAL KILNS 18/12/16

Fresh charcoal kilns were destroyed by the Tiva team in the Gazi area

ELEPHANT CARCASS 18/12/16

An elephant carcass was found at the Gazi area during patrol, its tusks were still intact and removed by the team

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DECEMBER 2016

SHOOTING BLIND 19/12/16

An abandoned shooting blind at one of the major dams at Lesilau was destroyed

CHARCOAL BAGS 27/12/16

Ready packed charcoal was found along the Umbi cutline and confiscated by the team, whilst livestock was found and pushed out from the Park

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DECEMBER 2016

TIVA UNIT MONTHLY ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES AND PATROL ROUTES

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DECEMBER 2016

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DECEMBER 2016

DECEMBER 2016 YATTA TEAM PATROL AREA: Yatta Plateaux & northern sector of Tsavo East NP DAYS ON DUTY: 12

SECURITY & INCIDENTS CHARCOAL BURNING 22/12/16

The massive destruction of fresh charcoal kilns at Gazi area by ground team

CHARCOAL BURNING 23/12/16

Three men were arrested in the Gazi with for logging, charcoal burning and snaring

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LIFTING SNARES 28/12/16

DECEMBER 2016

More small to medium wire snares were lifted in the Gazi area

YATTA UNIT MONTHLY ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES AND PATROL ROUTES

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DECEMBER 2016

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DECEMBER 2016

DECEMBER 2016 MTITO TEAM PATROL AREA: Tsavo Triangle, northern sector of Tsavo West NP & surrounding communities DAYS ON DUTY: 31

SECURITY & INCIDENTS SHOOTING PLATFORM 6/12/16

Fresh charcoal kilns were sighted and destroyed at Mangelete

POACHERS CAMP 10/12/16

The team found a poachers camp and marked the location to revisit in the hope of an ambush

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DECEMBER 2016

LOGGER ARRESTED 10/12/16

Logger arrested at the Chyulu pump area

ELEPHANT TREATMENT 12/12/16

Elephant treatment at Komboyo

ELEPHANT TREATMENT 15/12/16

The team helped with an elephant treatment at the Triangle

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LIVESTOCK INTRUSION 16/12/16

DECEMBER 2016

Livestock was found within the Park boundary and pushed out

MTITO UNIT MONTHLY ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES AND PATROL ROUTES

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DECEMBER 2016

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DECEMBER 2016

DECEMBER 2016 CHYULU TEAM PATROL AREA: Chyulu National Park, Kibwezi Forest and surrounding communities D DAYS ON DUTY: 31

SECURITY & INCIDENTS ELEPHANT CONFLICT 14/12/16

Driving elephants back to the park with help from the DSWT helicopter

CROP DAMAGE 16/12/16

Assessing elephant crop damage in bordering communities

DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST

DECEMBER 2016

CHARCOAL BURNING 19/12/16

Charcoal kiln destroyed in the Utu area and livestock was evicted from the Park

ELEPHANT CONFLICT 20/12/16

Over a number of days the team and the aerial unit helped remove elephants from community land

DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST

DECEMBER 2016

CHYULU UNIT MONTHLY ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES AND PATROL ROUTES

DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST

DECEMBER 2016

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DECEMBER 2016

DECEMBER 2016 KENZE TEAM PATROL AREA: Kibwezi Forest and surrounding communities DAYS ON DUTY: 11

KFS VISIT 20/12/16

The Kenze team were visited by Kenya Forest Service officials on an annual site visit

LEOPARD TRAP 30/12/16

A trap was mobilized near a community area to catch a leopard, which had been killing community livestock outside of the Park

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DECEMBER 2016

KENZE UNIT MONTHLY ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES AND PATROL ROUTES

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DECEMBER 2016

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DECEMBER 2016

DECEMBER 2016 BURRA TEAM PATROL AREA: Southern sector of Tsavo East NP & the Taita Ranches DAYS ON DUTY: 30

SECURITY & INCIDENTS CHARCOAL SACKS 4/12/16

The Burra team found an abandoned cart full of charcoal at Kajire community ranch

CROP RAIDS ELEPHANTS 4/12/16

Crop raiding by elephants attacked Kajire village, the team visited the area to assess the damage

DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST

DECEMBER 2016

LIFTING SNARES 5/12/16

Team members lifting up big snares at the Taita hills sanctuary

LIFTING SNARES 12/12/16

Members of the team lifting snares at the Irima area

BUSHMEAT POACHER 20/12/16

An arrested poacher in his boma with cooked bushmeat at the Mbulia area and made him remove all the snares he had laid

DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST

DECEMBER 2016

CHARCOAL KILN 21/12/16

A fresh charcoal kiln found and destroyed by the team at the Irima area

CHARCOAL BURNER 22/12/16

An arrested charcoal burner at Lualenyi

ELEPHANT CARCASS 29/12/16

An elephant carcass sighted by the team along the Mbololo river with both tusks intact. The tusks were removed and handed t KWS

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BUSH MEAT 31/12/16

DECEMBER 2016

A recovered motorcycle transporting bushmeat through the Mbulia area

BURRA UNIT MONTHLY ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES AND PATROL ROUTES

DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST

DECEMBER 2016