KWS Launches Investigation over Rhino Death

Dead rhino Nairobi National Park

Kenya Wildlife Service has launched investigations into Sunday's killing of a female rhino at the Nairobi National Park. The horns of the rhino were hacked and taken away.

According to KWS Corporate Communications Manager Mr. Paul Udoto "KWS is conducting an investigations to into the killing to try and establish how the poachers managed to get in and out of the Nairobi National Park, shoot a rhino and get away with the horns without detection. We will take the appropriate action after we have identified the culprits," he said.

Last week, four suspected poachers were shot dead by KWS officers at Solio Ranch in Nyeri and Meru National Park in two separate incidents. A suspect escaped
with injuries when they were found trailing a rhino at night at Solio Rhino Sanctuary in Nyeri county. KWS officers recovered a gun with seven bullets and assorted poaching weapons.

Udoto said a suspect was killed and four others injured by KWS rangers on Friday in Meru county. One of the injured suspects later succumbed to injuries. KWS officers recovered a gun, five bullets and an axe.

The new Wildlife Act provides stiffer penalties for those convicted of poaching or dealing in wildlife trophies. Poaching convicts face life imprisonment and a fine of up to Sh20 million.

Chinese man sentenced to seven years for ivory smuggling

A Kenyan court on Tuesday sentenced a Chinese man to seven years for ivory smuggling in the first case since the country passed a stringent new law to deter illegal trading in wildlife products.

The 40-year-old man, Tang Yong Jian, had pleaded guilty to charges of illegally possessing and dealing in ivory. To avoid jail, he has the option of paying a fine of about $230 000.

Jian was arrested at the international airport in the capital, Nairobi, on 18 January as he travelled from Mozambique to the Chinese city of Guangzhou. He carried 3.4kg of raw ivory in his suitcase, according to wildlife authorities in Kenya.

The case had been closely followed by conservationists who are trying to save the country's engendered wildlife species, which are often targeted with the help of corrupt local officials.

Paul Muya, a spokesman for the Kenya Wildlife Service, said the decision on Tuesday would deter
potential smugglers and poachers.

"We welcome this sentence. It's the first of its kind since the enactment of the new wildlife law, and we are sure this is will pass a deterrent out to would-be poachers to ensure we can now therefore save the endangered species in this country," he said.

Kenyan authorities hope the new law, which came into effect this month, will reverse years of gradual loss of wildlife populations through rampant poaching. Poaching deaths of elephants and rhinos are increasing across Africa, animal experts say, because of increased demand in Asia for rhino horns and elephant ivory.

Even as Jian was being sentenced, another Chinese man was in police custody after being arrested Monday night over alleged ivory smuggling. That man —31-year-old Chunsheng Zhang —was travelling from DRC to China when he was arrested at the Nairobi airport, according to wildlife authorities.

Story by AP

UNEP PRAISES KENYA’S NEW WILDLIFE LAW

ACTS Cover page Wildlife Conservation

Kenya’s efforts to fight poaching and illegal trade in wildlife have been recognized by the United Nations.

Mr. John E. Scanlon, the United Nation’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Secretary-General, noted that Kenya had passed a law with stiffer penalties against poachers and wildlife traffickers.  

He was speaking in Guangzhou, China today where he had gone to witness the destruction of confiscated ivory tusks and carvings as part of efforts to raise awareness of elephant poaching.

Mr Scanlon said: “And just ten months after the conclusion of CITES CoP16, we are seeing enhanced measures taken across range, transit and destination States - such as in Kenya where new wildlife laws that impose significantly higher penalties for those involved in wildlife crime have been assented to by President Kenyatta, and in Malaysia where the Department of Wildlife and National Parks has filled 43 new posts for enforcement and prosecution.”  

Officials in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, pulverized 6.1 tons of confiscated tusks and carvings in an event attended by representatives from 10 countries including the UK, and elephant states including Kenya, Gabon, and Tanzania. 

The function was also attended by the Kenyan Ambassador to China, HE Kinyanjui, Assistant Director for International Affairs, US Fish &Wildlife Service Mr Brian Arroyo and high-ranking Chinese environment officials.  The burning of the 6.1 tonnes of ivory stockpiled over the years marks the first major commitment by the Chinese government to publicly fight the multi-billion-dollar illegal wildlife trade. 

In a letter addressed to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) last week, China invited representatives from foreign embassies, international organizations, and government departments to witness the event.

The Department of International Co-operation and the State Forestry Administration announced the intention to burn illegal ivory and other wildlife products in Guangzhou — a major hub for ivory trade — after concerted international pressure to close its market for animal trophies.

China has prepared and is implementing its comprehensive National Ivory Action Plan, as agreed with the CITES Standing Committee. The Plan has been shared with the Committee, which will discuss it and the other seven plans in July. 

Amongst other initiatives, China led the first cross-continent wildlife enforcement effort known as Operation Cobra, has agreed collaborative enforcement-related initiatives through the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, and most recently China (Hong Kong SAR) returned seized ivory and rhino horn to South Africa.  China has also provided funding to the African Elephant Fund and MIKE, and in-kind support to African range States, which will be further enhanced over the coming year.  

Kenya’s proposal to fight poaching of elephants and rhinos won backing during the CITES meeting held early this year in Bangkok,Thailand. The country has since submitted an ‘Ivory Trade Action Plan to reduce poaching & Ivory Trafficking’. 

 

This was after Kenya was blacklisted among the so called ‘gang of eight’ for fueling environmental crime within the region as a major transit and source country for ivory. 

The objective of Kenya’s national action plan is a collaborative effort to ensure elephant poaching and illegal trade in elephant ivory is reduced to the bare minimum.

The key thematic areas of the Action Plan are:

• Legislation and regulations

• Enforcement actions, investigations and national inter-agency collaboration and coordination

• International and regional wildlife enforcement collaboration

• Outreach, public awareness and education

• National reporting to CITES Secretariat and Standing

Committee

Serial Poacher Surrenders

A self-confessed serial poacher in the world renowned Lewa Downs Conservancy has surrendered and given himself up to the authorities in Isiolo County. 

 Left, the serial reformed poacher holding his illegally acquired gun that he has used over years to kill wildlife in Lewa Downs Conservancy in Isiolo.

Keleshi Parkusaa 39, also surrendered a gun and ten rounds of ammunition at a public forum on December 30, 2013 organized by the conservancy and Kenya Wildlife Service and witnessed by elders from the Samburu community, County administrators and the police. 

Parkusaa, a former employee of Lewa Downs Conservancy, told a hushed audience how he organized the killing of wildlife even when he was employed to protect them for three years. “While working here, I used to direct fellow poachers on where to locate rhinos in the conservancy and would derail fellow game scouts to the opposite direction” he told the attentive crowd.

His latest slaughter was on December 12, 2013 when he and his two accomplices used their illegally acquired gun to shoot dead a huge rhino in the conservancy. Ian Craig, a shareholder of the conservancy and a member of KWS Board of Trustees termed the killing as most unfortunate noting the felled rhino was the biggest the 30 year old conservancy has ever had.

Poachers have killed seven rhinos in the conservancy this year. The reformed poacher confessed of having been personally engaged in the killing of two rhinos with his four accomplices. “We sold the horn of one of the rhinos and each of us got Sh300,000, but this only helped to ruin my life”, he said.

The management of the conservancy was suspicious of Parkusaa and he was once arrested and charged at an Isiolo court for suspected poaching. He was released on bail with elders from his community assisting him raise the bond. The case is still pending in court and he has since been sacked. “Sometimes buyers of contraband wildlife products get them from us promising to pay later but never show up” a pensive Parkusaa narrated. The father of four said the buyers are from all nationalities including Asians, Europeans and Africans.

 

The self-confessed poacher hands over a gun and ten rounds of ammunition to KWS and County Administrators in Isiolo.

An elder from Parkusaa’s Samburu community Karumba Ole Melinyo said Wazees (old men ) will perform rituals to “cleanse” their wayward son and advise him on alternative sources of income like livestock rearing. 

KWS Senior Assistant Director, Mr. Robert Muasya (second right in picture) said the reformed poacher’s case will be considered with a view to pardoning him and urged community elders to encourage more poachers to come forward and publicly denounce their illegal activities. He said Kenya has lost 60 rhinos to poachers this year and appealed to community leaders to join hands with KWS to apprehend them.

Mr. Muasya expressed optimism that with the new Wildlife Conservation and Management Bill, 2013 now passed into law, the punitive penalties spelt out will deter would-be poachers from this illegal practice.