Two Including Police Reservist Arrested with Two Elephant Tusks in Eldama Ravine
Two Including Police Reservist Arrested with Two Elephant Tusks in Eldama
Ravine
Kahawa Tungu
June 21, 2024
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https://kahawatungu.com/two-including-police-reservist-arrested-with-two-elephant-tusks-in-eldama-ravine/?amp=1
for photo.
Two people including a member of the National Police Reserve were Wednesday
arrested while trafficking two elephant tusks along Eldama Ravine-Eldoret
Road, Baringo County.
Police said the two were arrested near Kaptagat Forest with the tusks
weighing 14 kilos and valued at Sh1.4 million.
They were on a motorcycle when they were intercepted as they ferried the
tusks to a buyer in the area in the June 19 incident.
Police said the two were marked people in the illegal business. Police said
the suspect will be charged with the offence of being in Possession of
Wildlife Trophies of Endangered Species Contrary to Section 92(4) of the
Wildlife Conservation Management Act 2013.
Officials said the seizure shows up to one elephant had been killed and
there is a likelihood the incidents happened in the nearby parks.
Last Saturday, a police officer attached to the Presidential Escort Unit
and another to Kapseret Member of Parliament Oscar Sudi were among four
people who were arrested after being found in possession of five elephant
tusks, two pistols and 30 bullets.
The other two were another officer attached to Milimani Law Courts and a
civilian and were arrested in Kitengela, Kajiado County.
The five tusks are said to weigh 29 kilograms, all worth Sh2.9 million.
Police said the suspects were on the Kenya Wildlife Services officers’
radar who aided their arrest.
The suspects were trailed from Eldoret to Nairobi, and later to Kitengela
where the arrest took place.
The four were arrested by officers attached to Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)
at a roadblock in Kitengela, officials said.
The suspects are said to have drawn their pistols during their arrest but
were subdued.
They have since been produced in court. Two weeks ago, three suspected
poachers were arrested and eight pieces of elephant tusks valued at Sh2
million recovered from their car in Kibwezi, Makueni County.
The three were in a car along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway at Thenge area,
when police officers intercepted it.
The tusks weighed about 20 kilos, police and Kenya Wildlife Service
officials said of the June 4 incident.
The tusks were detained at the KWS Chyulu Hills National Park office.
Elephant tusks fetch a fortune in the black market as a surge in demand for
ivory in the East continues to fuel the illicit trade in elephant tusks,
especially from Africa.
Officials say despite a ban on the international trade in ivory, African
elephants are still being poached in large numbers.
As part of efforts to stop the menace, Kenya has started using high-tech
surveillance equipment, including drones, to track poachers and keep tabs
on elephants and rhinos.
KWS and stakeholders have put in place mechanisms to eradicate all forms of
wildlife crime, particularly poaching.
These mechanisms include enhanced community education, interagency
collaboration, and intensive intelligence-led operations, among others.
These efforts led to zero rhino poaching in Kenya in 2020-the first time in
about two decades.
At least 20,000 elephants are killed annually in Africa for their ivory.
This translates to 55 elephants killed daily or one elephant killed every
26 minutes with a population of 35,000 elephants.
On April 30, 2016, Kenya set ablaze 105 tonnes of elephant ivory and 1.35
tonnes of rhino horn.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta led world leaders and conservationists in
burning the remains of 6,500 elephants and 450 rhinos killed for their
tusks and horn.
Parliament has also passed strict anti-poaching laws and the government has
beefed up security at parks to stop poaching, which threatens the vital
tourism industry.
Regionally, Kenya has also emerged as a major transit route for ivory
destined for Asian markets from eastern and central Africa.
The illegal ivory trade is mostly fuelled by demand in Asia and the Middle
East, where elephant tusks and rhino horns are used to make ornaments and
traditional medicines.