• Paul Jinaro, Kenya Wildlife Service acting corporate communications boss, said on Monday that KWS security personnel were part of the team that arrested the men.
• The two men are currently being held at Masalani police station in Ijara, waiting to be arraigned tomorrow.
Image: COURTESY
Police have arrested two men suspected of leading a cartel slaughtering giraffes in Garissa county and selling the meat in Nairobi and Mombasa.
Paul Jinaro, Kenya Wildlife Service acting corporate communications boss, said on Monday that KWS security personnel were part of the team that arrested the men.
“The two men, arrested in possession of giraffe meat, are currently being held at Masalani police station in Ijara, waiting to be arraigned tomorrow (Tuesday)," Jinaro said.
The two youthful men were found with a huge meat consignment suspected to have been from two giraffes.
Jinaro said that two rare and endangered reticulated giraffes were killed in the same area two months ago.
“Rising demand for giraffe meat by affluent people from major towns has fuelled poaching of the species, making it a booming and lucrative business,” he said.
Hunting bushmeat for sale or food is illegal according to the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2013.
Hunting wildlife for subsistence attracts a fine of not less than Sh30,000 or a minimum of six months jail term or both on conviction.
Persons hunting bushmeat for sale or dealing in game meat will be fined Sh200,000 or jailed for one year or both if found guilty, according to the Act.
Two months ago, Kenya’s only white female giraffe and her calf were killed by poachers.
The deaths were confirmed by community members and rangers of Ishaqbini Hirola Community Conservancy. Following the incident, only a lone bull remains.
“This is a very sad day for the community of Ijara and Kenya as a whole. We are the only community in the world who are custodians of the white giraffe. Its killing is a blow to tremendous steps taken by the community to conserve rare and unique species and a wakeup call for continued support to conservation efforts,” said Mohammed Ahmednoor, the manager of Ishaqbini Hirola Conservancy.
Images shared by the community showed the killed giraffe's skeletons.
Her calf was the second birth reported in August last year, resulting in a family of three white giraffes.
The white giraffe made headlines in 2017 after its discovery, with its unique white hide. It is white, but not albino, because of a condition known as leucism.
Unlike albinism, animals with leucism continue to produce dark pigment in their soft tissue, thus her eyes were dark.
“This is a long term loss given that genetics studies and research which were significant investment into the area by researchers, has now gone to the drain. Further to this, the white giraffe was a big boost to tourism in the area,” Ahmednoor added.
Nine species of giraffe are found in Africa, three of them in Kenya.
These are the reticulated giraffe also known as the Somali giraffe (15,524) Rothschild’s giraffe (609) and the Masai giraffe (12,717).
The threats facing the species have increased as their specimens are traded internationally, although the country of origin, the subspecies, and whether the specimens were legally acquired, are unknown.
They have declined by 36-40 per cent over the past three decades due to habitat loss and other pressures.
Giraffes are killed for bushmeat, body parts and hides for the domestic and international markets.
On August 22, 2019, the species was given more protection under laws protecting iconic species during a resolution that was passed at the meeting of the eighteenth Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES CoP 18).
Giraffe is now listed on CITES Appendix II. The appendix includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled to avoid utilisation incompatible with their survival.
The proposal was put forward by the Central African Republic, Chad, Kenya, Mali, Niger and Senegal.
(edited by o. owino)