TWO IN CUSTODY OVER KILLING OF RHINO
(Posted 25th February 2016)
Inspite of massive investments by the Ol Pejeta Conservancy towards improved surveillance and added anti poaching measures have poachers managed to sneak into the private game sanctuary of nearly 90.000 acres in central Kenya and kill a pregnant Eastern Black Rhino.
A night patrol on foot comprising four rangers who are also police reservists, found the dead animal with both her horns already cut off.
A conservancy wide alarm was sounded prompting additional ground units to be sent into the field leading to the arrest of two suspects who are now in custody and undergoing interrogation.
The rhino’s two and a half year old calf was at first light spotted to wandering alone and is being closely monitored to ensure its well being.
Conservancy sources reacted promptly to concerns over the safety of the remaining three Northern White Rhinos, the last in the wild, which are under 24/7 close up surveillance but pointed out that, with over 100 Eastern Black Rhinos on the conservancy and another nearly three dozen Southern White Rhinos, protective measures simply cannot include each of the animals being given its own patrol.
This was the first such incident on Ol Pejeta for quite some time and once again speaks for the need to let conservancies use UAV’s, aka drones for added surveillance with real time updates. The drones tested by Ol Pejeta have infrared capabilities, showing movement on the ground, and were it not for sections of the Kenya government’s prohibition order on the use of such devices, both rhinos could still be alive.
Meanwhile was it learned that Ol Pejeta’s CEO Richard Vigne was in the United States when the incident occurred on a fundraising and speaking mission, to raise awareness on the plight of the African rhinos and the urgent need for more financial and material support.
Added information about the conservancy, often described by this correspondent as one of Kenya’s most complete wilderness experiences with all the big five resident found, can be accessed via www.olpejetaconservancy.org
