DOUBLE LOSS AS RHINO CUB DIES AFTER MOTHER WAS KILLED
The Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenyas first official rhino sanctuary established some decades ago, was the scene of a double whammy, when first the remains of a female rhino were found with her horn cut off and then news emerged that her cub, only a few months old, has now also died probably of hunger and exhaustion. Information received yesterday via a source from Kenya Wildlife Service confirmed that the female rhino was apparently killed using poisoned arrows before her horns were hacked off. The poachers then artfully concealed the body so that it was only found several days after the incident. The source also insisted that the entire park, relatively compact in fact and largely fenced, is regularly patrolled and that it was only the evasive measures taken by the poachers which prolonged the period to find the carcass.
Security was immediately stepped up not only in Nakuru but other parks too were rhinos are located, as well as on private game sanctuaries and conservancies and investigations launched aimed to track down the syndicate behind the recent killings of rhinos in Kenya.
While still far from the regular slaughter seen in South Africa, Kenya is nevertheless seeing an upsurge in poaching activities, for ivory and rhino horn, and a series of arrests for attempted ivory smuggling at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and the main seaport in Mombasa in recent months has also highlighted that poaching is becoming a major curse for wildlife conservation.
The source would not go into details of what added security measures are now being taken and where more personnel would be deployed, understandably to keep operational details out of the media, but assured this correspondent that the response would be swift and comprehensive. Watch this space.
