Satao © Tsavo Trust
Poaching is a big problem in Kenya. The elephant population in Kenya was 270,000 in the 1970’s but it now stands at 40,000 largely due to poaching. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), the organization in charge of wildlife in Kenya, estimates that poachers have killed at least 97 elephants this year. This figure might be much much higher as Wildlife Direct’s Paula Kahumbu contends
According to the latest figures published by KWS, 97 elephants have been poached in Kenya so far this year . Nobody in Kenya believes this figure, which suggests that less than one percent of the national elephant population have fallen to poachers’ guns.
The official figures do not tally with the many reports of elephant killings in and around the Masai Mara, Samburu, Loita Hills, Marsabit, Tsavo, Mount Kenya, Aberdares, Shimba Hills and the north eastern coastal forests.
I estimate, from the reports I have seen, that the elephant poaching in Kenya is at least 10 times the official figures, but it is impossible to verify this as the KWS jealously guards the elephant mortality database.
Poaching has been fueled by a huge demand for tusks in China. The KWS and other law enforcement agencies are trying their best to contain the situation but they are overwhelmed. It doesn’t help that the legislation covering poaching in Kenya is very weak and light sentences are regularly handed to convicted poachers. To underscore the current state of affairs, leading conservationist Richard Leakey has predicted that Kenya’s elephants could be wiped out by poaching in 10 years unless urgent measures are taken to end the crisis.
This dire situation has been made worse by the news that Satao, the biggest bull elephant in the world, is dead. A blog post on the Tsavo Trust website shares what happened.
With great sadness, we report the death of Satao, one of Tsavo’s most iconic and well-loved tuskers. This magnificent elephant was widely known in Tsavo East National Park, where he was observed with awe by many thousands of Tsavo’s visitors over the years. No longer will Tsavo and Kenya benefit from his mighty presence. Satao was shot dead by poisoned arrow on 30th May 2014. The arrow had entered his left flank and he stood no chance of survival. We spotted his carcass on 2nd June but to avoid any potential false alarms, we first took pains to verify the carcass really was his. Today it is with enormous regret that we confirm there is no doubt that Satao is dead, killed by an ivory poacher’s poisoned arrow to feed the seemingly insatiable demand for ivory in far off countries. A great life lost so that someone far away can have a trinket on their mantelpiece.
The government recently announced, in a budget shared this week, that they have set aside Ksh. 1.8Billion in the fight against poaching but is this enough? There have been reports of massive corruption within the security forces which is making the situation worse because they are protecting the poachers and their bosses. After the recovery of ivory in Mombasa, a police officer has come forward and shared that his seniors were protecting the owner of the seized of ivory.
If we are to win the war against poaching, all levels of Government, especially the Judiciary, the security forces and the KWS, have to cooperate and coordinate fully. Also, for the campaign against poaching to be successful we have to go after the head, the money men. Proper investigations have to be carried out with the aim of not only imprisoning everyone who is a beneficiary but destroying the entire industry in Kenya.
Below is what Kenyans on Twitter have to say about the death of Satao