Urithi Ya Ranger – Ranger Diaries – In Pursuit Of Poachers

I received a report from a herdsman this morning and he said that he saw three poachers running through the bush yesterday morning and one of them looked like they were carrying a spear and a gunia (burlap) sack. He saw them from a distance but they were clearly up to no good and in a hurry to get out of sight. We went to the area where he saw the poachers and we began trying to track them. Their tracks led to the river nearby and disappeared after that. We think they are in the hills now, waiting to prey on elephants. We are searching thoroughly through the hills and remaining in the area to keep a look out. The Rangers have informed KWS.

It is likely that they are armed and so my fellow Rangers and myself are having to be cautious. Poachers will not hesitate to harm us.

In areas like this, there are so many places for poachers to hide and so we have to practically ‘un-turn every stone’ so to speak. Many members of our community are very against poachers and what they do, such as the young herdsman who reported this to us, and they will often come to us for help in finding the culprits. However there are others who do work with the poachers, forming large poaching cartel networks that make them even harder to catch. Our presence near elephants is the best and most effective way of keeping them safe, we see something suspicious, anything, and we confront it head on.
– Ranger Mutunkei