Mount Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya – In Nairobi, Kenya, of seven elephants that were fitted with GPS tracking devices, four were killed in the hills of Mount Kenya over the past few months.
The area in question is very near the rustic, little cabin where Prince William’s proposal to Kate Middleton took place.
The group “Save The Elephants” put collars on the seven animals to keep track of their movements. Over half of the elephants were killed and the founder of the group, Iain Douglas-Hamilton says he is concerned about what could be happening to those elephants that aren’t collared.
There is a “poaching crisis” in the area of Mount Kenya of which we weren’t previously aware, said Douglas-Hamilton. He thinks the dense forest creates difficulties for rangers in patrolling and protecting un-collared elephants.
Lucy King, an official of “Save The Elephants,” says they have suspicions that the increase in poaching in the north of Kenya is connected to Asian demand for ivory. This is nothing new in Kenya, as poaching for ivory over the past century is one of the main reasons for the decrease in numbers of elephants overall.
The deaths of four elephants are not a threat to the population of the 30,000 local Kenyan elephants, but those deaths are cruel and inhumane.
In October, the first killings occurred, which is the same month when Prince William and Kate Middleton occupied a rustic log cabin where the couple enjoyed fishing in the nearby pond and tried to keep warm during the chilly nights at this high altitude. Whether the Royal couple saw any elephants or not, has not been made known to the public, but of the 4 poached animals, 1 died about 5 miles from the cabin, said King.
One elephant, “Marani” was shot and killed in October with a second killing in February and 2 more were killed in April, including a shooting and a death by a snare. The agony of the last death was horrific. The animal was found starved to death. The elephant’s body had been snared with a rope around one leg, which was tied to a tree. She must have thrashed about to get loose, but lost strength as her poor body became emaciated from lack of water and food.
The snares and traps are everywhere in this area. The ivory poaching started on Mount Kenya in 2009.
Even though the snares might be set for small animals, elephant calves are often found in these indiscriminate and brutal traps, and the amputated or snared calves get severe infections, which they can’t possibly survive.
The movements of elephants are tracked with the GPS collars and their paths are recorded on a Google Earth mapping program, so conservationists are alerted when they stop moving, which means the elephant has a problem or is in trouble.
King says one of the collars was shot off by poachers, with 2 AK-47 bullets. She believes that the poachers think the chances they will be caught are increased by use of the collars, so they try to destroy the collars.
More financial support and ranger patrols are needed in the Mount Kenya vicinity to prevent these attacks on the elephants. “Save The Elephants” does their best with what they have to control or stop the destruction of the elephants.
It’s hard to believe that people can, in all conscience, commit such violent crimes against these beautiful, innocent, mature elephants and their little calves.
These are wanton, cruel and useless killings that need to be stopped.
* For more information about Elephants, check out ExoticAnimalLover.com
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