BIG LIFE MOVES INTO ROMBO - HOTSPOT FOR POACHING ON EDGE OF AMBOSELI/TSAVO ECOSYSTEM, JUNE 2011
June 1 2011
This is from Llewellyn Dyer, our Field Commander in Kenya. It should have posted in early June.
Coming shortly : further developments with poachers already caught in Rombo after elephant and giraffe kills.
From Llewellyn :
When I first arrived in the Chyulus in December 2010, Richard Bonham gave me a quick synopsis of what Big Life was already doing, where we were operating and what the plans were for the future. One of the places that he mentioned we might expand to was a Group Ranch in the southeastern corner of the eco-system called Rombo, close to Tsavo West National Park. At the time I did
not think much of it, as we were so busy building bases and selecting and training rangers on Olgulolui group ranch around Amboseli.
However Rombo kept coming up in conversation with the rangers who said that the poaching there was out of control. Even the building contractor who was building our bases came to me and said, “The poaching in Rombo is very bad, they are selling game birds like chickens and bush meat like goats.”
To say the least I was very concerned so when Richard told me that we potentially had funds to set up a base in Rombo and that I should head down there and do a recce I was very excited. I had three things on my agenda to assess the level of poaching, to see if the group ranch wanted our help and if so to locate a potential location for the base.
When I arrived, I met with the existing community game rangers and the local KWS personnel to discuss the issue of poaching. They said that poachers were coming in from Tanzania on a regular basis to hunt for bush meat. The poachers were hunting with spotlights and the rangers often saw the beams at night, but as there was only one KWS vehicle covering a very large area they rarely had its support, so more often than not, they arrived on the scene well after the poachers had fled with their spoils. None of their existing elephant population had been poached for a while but we all agreed that they were very exposed to poachers and that something had to be done fast to boost their security.
The following morning, I met with the group ranch officials to see if they would accept our support and allow us to build a permanent outpost for their ranger who up until then were operating out of their own homes. Their response was a unanimous, “How soon can you start?”
We located a suitable place to put the camp on my second visit with Richard in the southeastern corner of the conservation area. It is located on one of the major ingress routes for poachers coming into the conservancy. I received a report shortly after this recce that 5
impala and 3 zebra had been killed less than a kilometer away from the proposed site in a single night, and not one of the poachers had been caught. However, the mere presence of a permanent camp there should act a deterrent and secure at least that part of the conservancy.
Since then we have purchased a vehicle and are in the process of building the camp, which should be active at some point in June. In
the interim we are providing them with support in the form of joint patrols led by a senior sergeant and supported with a vehicle.
Do you know that graco duoglider double stroller is an excellent double stroller for your children. It is perfect for both infants and for pre-schoolers.
Digital volcano vaporizer is on $130 more expensive than the Classic Volcano. However, it gives you the ability to regulate temperature and has very convenient LED display.
Hi Nick,
God bless you for this.I come from Rombo group ranch-from a family(OLBETUI FAMILY) whom its past has been tainted by this same vice "Poaching"-a cruel, deceitful,socially unjustifiable, ecologically disruptive and an act against nature on both moral and biological grounds.Its on record,since the colonial time till president Moi time,the moment any poaching act was reported, the following day,KW S Ranches ambush my fathers compound.He started hunting during the colonial time, using a spear and traded with an Arab who then came to train him on how to use a gun.He later bought a a licensed gun- a rival 375- Russian..
He traded on Rhino skin,ivory,meat..... which he sold to Tanzania with the Indian.He trained us on hunting, bought guns and the family depended on hunting for a living.I am the last born,currently taking a degree in tourism management at Moi university, also working with LUCA SAFARI-at KUKU group ranch at a Nairobi office.I decided to take this course so as to go against hunting, learn on how sustainable can wildlife or any national heritage can be utilized or conserved.
We are a total of 21 boys, some behind the bars but thank God, the leader through our efforts and prayers is now at home,saved-in a church and he regrets what he has done to the community and to the wildlife-He was responsible for training the Tanzanians, neighbors and even some who have been named in this blog or even the ones you are tracking.
I am sorry for writing all this but in my heart i feel to speak it out...I opposes hunting in all forms, i have been against it in our family since the beginning of my high school and still i am against hunting and the destructive methods of "wildlife management" that caters to, and fosters hunting.
Thank you very much for setting up a base at the area,i hope its an initial stage in the conserving and management of the natural resources available in the area.The area has a great potential for tourism development and one of the main attraction is the Wildlife that 'BIG LIFE Foundation driving its force in its conservation.
Thanks and always there for support.