Oral East Africa>Ivory trafficking makes a comeback as motorcycles fuel poaching At the hut of the story

Written by Oral East Africa

Two suspected poachers were caught by Kenya Wildlife Service and Ulinzi Africa Foundation Officers transporting two large elephant tusks at Minjila area, Makuti hotel in Tana River County on a motorbike as the two-wheelers use in crime increases.

The two, Bosco Thoya Katana and Emmanuel Kazungu Birya were hauling the unusual load of elephant tusks one weighing 32.42 kilograms and standing at 7.4 feet in length while the other weighed 30 kilograms and 6.5 feet tall.

They were reported through local intelligence networks set up among the community working with KWS and Ulinzi Africa Foundation, which have helped trace poaching cases around Kenya’s expansive wild range lands.

Just recently in another case, a Bajaja Boxer was apprehended with 26 dik dik and Gerenuk Carcasses at at Jetrover area in Tana delta.

“We have noted that the majority of the suspects caught in Tana River County for poaching cases come from Kilifi County. There is a need for stronger collaboration and support from county governments and the Ministry of Wildlife to ensure conservation success,” a local conservationist who did not wish to be named said.

Rise of BodaBoda bikes

In 2008 President Mwai Kibaki lifted taxes on boda boda imports by zero-rating motorcycles of up to 250 ccs, creating a multibillion market that would open up rural villages to new economies and prosperity.

But as the units flood the market, they are also being increasingly deployed by criminals from street snatchers, violent robbers, and now poachers.

Motorcycles are shaping up to be the center of the conservation war with poachers navigating terrain with the two-wheelers.

Conservationists are also catching on Swedish-made premium lightweight, electric motorcycles and silent, solar-powered, anti-poaching motorcycles.

Poaching endangers Kenya’s tourism industry which is one of the top foreign exchange earners for the country and the sector employs millions of people directly and indirectly.

Danger of extinction

Kenyan elephants are crucial to the country’s tourism business, but their numbers have been decimated over the years from 170,000 in the early 1970s to just less than 20,000 in the 1980's and just over 30,000 today.

The return of Ivory trafficking in the country could spell a disaster for the elephant population.

The two middle-aged men were on Thursday charged by a Garsen law court for dealing with wildlife trophies of an endangered species against the Wildlife Conservation and management act. They denied the charges.

According to the police charge sheet, the two were found dealing in two pieces of elephant tusks weighing 62.42 kilograms with a street value of Kes6,2 million without a permit.

It took the concerted efforts of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officers and those from the conservation organization Ulinzi Africa Foundation who responded to intelligence reports, nabbing the suspects and recovering the tusks successfully.

The tusks were escorted to the KWS offices in Garsen for safety as the suspects were remanded at the Garsen police station before being presented in court on Thursday.

The suspects were released on a cash bail of Sh. 500,000 each with an alternative of a Sh. 2 million bond each.

Mention of the case will be on the 2nd of October 2024.