Suspects escape as cops recover 15 elephant tusks in Kwale
Suspects escape as cops recover 15 elephant tusks in Kwale
Cyrus Ombati, The Star
January 12, 2025
See link
https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2025-01-12-suspects-escape-as-cops-recover-15-elephant-tusks-in-kwale
for photo.
Two suspects who were ferrying 15 pieces of elephant tusks escaped and
abandoned the cargo as security agents approached their hideout in
Lungalunga, Kwale County.
Police and Kenya Wildlife Service officials said the two are believed to
have fetched the tusks from the neighbouring Tanzania for a market in Kenya.
The recovery was made on Saturday, January 11, and police, alongside KWS
officials, put the value of the same at Sh10.6 million. The tusks included
13 full ones and two others that had been cut into pieces, police said.
A motorcycle bearing Tanzania registration numbers is said to have ferried
the cargo to the Sokomoko area when the team struck. Police said the tusks
and the motorcycle were detained at the local police station pending
further probe. A hunt on the suspects who escaped is ongoing, police said.
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.
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. 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.
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.