Two Tanzanians arrested with ivory, poacher killed (Kenya)
Xinhua
February 19, 2013
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers are holding two Tanzanians after they were arrested on Sunday night with 16 pieces of ivory in Ongata Rongai Township on the outskirts of Nairobi and another poacher was gunned down at a national park in a separate incident.
KWS said the suspects Musa Felicia and Victor Mawalla are being held in police custody where they are being interrogated. They will be arraigned in court on Tuesday.
"A Tanzanian registered vehicle T629 AWH originating from Arusha in Tanzania was impounded," KWS said in a statement issued in Nairobi on Monday.
It said the temporary passports used by the two suspects showed that the users had made numerous entries into Kenya from Tanzania and back in a span of a few months.
"The vehicle was a specially fabricated complete with a false bottom under the back seat. According to KWS, the vehicle is suitable for carrying tourists under normal circumstances. The vehicle and ivory cargo is at KWS headquarters in Nairobi awaiting production in court," the statement said.
The latest arrests came on the back of an alarming dwindling of wildlife numbers in the east African nation, due to runaway poaching activities in national parks across.
In particular, there has been a marked increase of elephant poaching in the last 24 months which reached a crescendo with the massacre of a family of 12 elephants in a remote part of the Tsavo East National Park early this year.
Concern is growing amongst conservationists that the endangered African elephant is currently grappling with what could be the worst crisis to ever hit them since 1989 when international commercial trade in ivory was prohibited.
A recently released report by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) indicated that elephant poaching levels are the worst in a decade and recorded ivory seizures are at their highest levels since 1989.
Conservationists consider Kenya a key gateway for ivory smuggling rings leaving Africa, and there have been several incidents of ivory seizures and recovery of wildlife carcasses in recent days.
In a separate incident, KWS said a suspected poacher was gunned down in Lake Nakuru National Park while his accomplice escaped after a gun battle with KWS rangers on Sunday.
"An M16 rifle and 17 round of ammunition were recovered. Three weeks ago, poachers illegally killed two white rhinos in the same park," the statement said.
According to KWS, a suspected robber was also critically injured after rangers exchanged fire with a gang that had raided a tourist camp-site in Samburu in northeast Kenya.
"Together with two accomplices, they escaped under the cover of darkness," KWS said, adding that one pair of binoculars, one passport, one camera belonging to the tourists were recovered and about 60 rounds of ammunition were seized from the robbers.
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers are holding two Tanzanians after they were arrested on Sunday night with 16 pieces of ivory in Ongata Rongai Township on the outskirts of Nairobi and another poacher was gunned down at a national park in a separate incident.
KWS said the suspects Musa Felicia and Victor Mawalla are being held in police custody where they are being interrogated. They will be arraigned in court on Tuesday.
"A Tanzanian registered vehicle T629 AWH originating from Arusha in Tanzania was impounded," KWS said in a statement issued in Nairobi on Monday.
It said the temporary passports used by the two suspects showed that the users had made numerous entries into Kenya from Tanzania and back in a span of a few months.
"The vehicle was a specially fabricated complete with a false bottom under the back seat. According to KWS, the vehicle is suitable for carrying tourists under normal circumstances. The vehicle and ivory cargo is at KWS headquarters in Nairobi awaiting production in court," the statement said.
The latest arrests came on the back of an alarming dwindling of wildlife numbers in the east African nation, due to runaway poaching activities in national parks across.
In particular, there has been a marked increase of elephant poaching in the last 24 months which reached a crescendo with the massacre of a family of 12 elephants in a remote part of the Tsavo East National Park early this year.
Concern is growing amongst conservationists that the endangered African elephant is currently grappling with what could be the worst crisis to ever hit them since 1989 when international commercial trade in ivory was prohibited.
A recently released report by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) indicated that elephant poaching levels are the worst in a decade and recorded ivory seizures are at their highest levels since 1989.
Conservationists consider Kenya a key gateway for ivory smuggling rings leaving Africa, and there have been several incidents of ivory seizures and recovery of wildlife carcasses in recent days.
In a separate incident, KWS said a suspected poacher was gunned down in Lake Nakuru National Park while his accomplice escaped after a gun battle with KWS rangers on Sunday.
"An M16 rifle and 17 round of ammunition were recovered. Three weeks ago, poachers illegally killed two white rhinos in the same park," the statement said.
According to KWS, a suspected robber was also critically injured after rangers exchanged fire with a gang that had raided a tourist camp-site in Samburu in northeast Kenya.
"Together with two accomplices, they escaped under the cover of darkness," KWS said, adding that one pair of binoculars, one passport, one camera belonging to the tourists were recovered and about 60 rounds of ammunition were seized from the robbers.
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http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/762469.shtml
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/762469.shtml