CONSERVATION NEWS
A Toast for Tusks was a great success! Thank you.
Check out the photos!
A Toast for Tusks was held at Witch Creek Winery in Carlsbad, Ca on Sunday (9/24). We'd like to thank everyone who came out in support of Wildlife in Africa. We'd also like to give special thanks to our host, Mayur Pavagadhi and Witch Creek Winery for their generosity and commitment to the mission of NWCF. Together, we are saving lives.
Please check the photos of the event!
Ranger Report - September 2017
Read about the Nsefu Rangers and what they've encountered on their patrols.
Hi All,
I hope you are fine. I wanted to let you know we had two patrols recently. One from 08/30/17 to 09/09/17 and another from 09/04/17 to 09/12/17.
During the first patrol, the rangers removed seven snares. They recovered three rifles. The rifles were dropped by poachers in the Nyonyo area as
the rangers tracked the poachers.
The second patrol, in the Chipako area resulted in the seizure of three firearms and of elephant meat.
I must quickly mention the progress that has been made. Most of the big elephant killers and the ivory dealer in the area have been arrested. One of the elephant killers died while in the hands of the Zambia Wildlife Investigation Officers and his partner, who remains in prison, is not well. The community did not receive the news of the poacher’s death well.
Regards. Thank You. God Bless You.
Charles Silomba
Anti-Poaching Manager
Nsefu Wildlife Conservation Foundation
Nsefu Sector
South Luangwa National Park
Mfuwe, Zambia
Rangers getting guns out of the field!
Check out the photos!
Nsefu Rangers are doing a great job getting the poachers tools out of the field.
Update from the field - August 2017
Read the report and see photos from August 2017.
Hi All,
I hope you are fine and doing great. Thank you all for the support you are giving the Nsefu Wildlife Conservation Foundation (NWCF) ranger team. The NWCF rangers were able to complete two long patrols in August.
The first patrol was from August 5th to 14th. The rangers operated along the Luangwa River which runs between the Game Management Area and the National Park. Many people pretending to be fishermen were discovered along the river. These people were actually poaching or helping poachers to cross into the National Park to kill our animals. The rangers removed people from the river area.
The second patrol was from August 17th to 26th. The rangers moved to another part of the National Park. Here, eight snares were removed and four people were arrested.
This year we have seen more elephants around the camps and lodges. This indicates the elephants feel comfortable. Unfortunately, sometimes they move towards the village where they are more difficult to protect. We are doing our best to protect the wildlife. We hope to be able to add more rangers to our team so we can do a better job.
Regards, Charles Silomba
* This report from C.Shimbola was edited by Tony Hunstiger.
A Great Night at Kendra Scott in Fashion Valley!
Kendra Scott supports conservation in Africa.
Nsefu would like to thank Kendra Scott and all the great people that came out on August 9th in support of conservation in Africa.
Nsefu Rangers are getting the Job Done!
Read more about our Anti-Poaching efforts.
June and July have been extremely busy for the rangers at Nsefu Wildlife
and we are extremely proud to share some excellent news with you.
We have been working independently as well as working closely with National Parks and Wildlife (Zambia's Dept.for all things wildlife related) and we are happy to report that in a 30 day period...29 people were arrested and charged and ALL taken to court for prosecution! These numbers are staggering for a modest foundation. Everyone, including Zambian officials in the area,are extremely pleased with Nsefu Wildlife's vision for conservation, our effectiveness, efficiency, focus, and ability to achieve results. Below are the June/July numbers as they stand -
- 29 poachers arrested, charged and taken to court.
- 4 cases still pending.
- 20 sentenced to prison.
- 5 individuals fined.
- 2 weapons confiscated.
- 1 pair of elephant tusks confiscated along with 4 hippo teeth, 100kg buffalo meat, elephant trunk, and elephant tail...all illegally obtained.
- 4 illegal fishing nets confiscated.
- 5 bikes and 5 axes(Poachers currently work in teams on bicycles and utilize three swift stages when operating. One poacher comes in and shoots or injures animal, second comes in to extract ivory, horn, teeth etc. via axe, and the third poacher in the operation comes in to remove potential evidence).
Nsefu Wildlife and National Parks and Wildlife have an excellent track
record of prosecutions of poachers with several individuals serving
serious prison time, including some cases with hard labor. Furthermore,
individuals also have had fines levied, weapons have been confiscated,
poaching dens have been disassembled and the community has been served
notice that there will be repercussions for illegal activity in the
region.
Again, we are a 100% donor-based nonprofit conservation foundation getting
excellent results in the field and in the community. This would not be
possible without the support of our donors and we are grateful for the
opportunity to carry on this noble cause in the name of wildlife
protection. 100% of funds raised go directly into our ranger and community
programs and we are creating change from the ground up. The ranger
program is always in need of new equipment, i.e. flashlights, Kevlar,
uniforms, camping gear, and more. Let us know how YOU would like your
donation utilized and we will make sure that request is honored.
Thank you again in your support and here is to a highly successful
remainder of 2017 saving animals.
The 2nd Annual Sipping At Sunset has been cancelled!
Find out more why this year's event has been cancelled.
The Second Annual Sipping at Sunset event scheduled for September 30th co-hosted by Nsefu Wildlife Conservation Foundation (NWCF) and Lions, Tigers, and Bears has been cancelled. As disappointed as both nonprofits are with this news, circumstances arose beyond our control and we mutually agreed to cancel the event this year. Hopefully in 2018, we can create another excellent experience for our much-appreciated supporters. If you purchased tickets, refunds can be made by calling (619) 659-8078. Again, we thank you for your understanding and look forward to future endeavors with these organizations working hard to protect and preserve endangered and exotic animals.
Nsefu Wildlife will be announcing very soon, our next new exciting event on September 24th being held at Witch Creek Winery! Be on the lookout for upcoming details and how to purchase your tickets. We look forward to seeing you and saving animals together.
On behalf of Nsefu Wildlife Conservation Foundation and Lions, Tigers, and Bears....THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT and we appreciate your understanding!
Monthly Update from the Field - July 2017
Here's the latest monthly update from the field.
Anti-Poaching
Several operations have been carried out by our scouts together with a DNPW officer. For every patrol day, one of the scouts has to fill in a sheet in order to keep track of what they have done, found and seen (e.g. poachers, ivory, snares, animal sightings) that day.
What happened last month:
- One poached impala found, together with shoes, clothes and other personal items of the poachers as well as two bikes and a shotgun (that was recovered after using the detection dogs from Conservation South Luangwa (CSL)). A remark made by the scouts was that the torches they are using do not work well enough on patrols. We believe that equipping our scouts with decent torches should be a priority. It is unacceptable that our scouts fail to follow poachers at night just because of the flash lights they are using. Mike Veale has recommended a torch they use for gearing up the teams in the field (costs are about $ 13 each);
- Illegal fishing nets recovered and game meat found;
- Five people arrested for illegal cutting of trees and four bicycles confiscated;
- Attempts made to localize two elephant dealers that are active in the area;
- A gun confiscated and buffalo meat found;
- One poached elephant found near the village. Our team made the initial follow-up, but DNPW told the team to pull out for them to take over the investigations.
Furthermore, the team of scouts has participated in several joint operations with DNPW and CSL.
The furniture for the ranger station should be ready soon, hopefully in a few days. The plumber has started working on the showers and the outside toilet for the ranger station.
Community Projects
Sewing Project
Nsefu.org has created a logo for this project and will be discussed with the different parties involved on this side. In order to speed up things (since we might lose the building), I have asked another electrician to take a look at the building for wiring it. We have decided to postpone connecting the building to the well in order to have running water since that would not be a real necessity for now and it would be very expensive. We will build two or three pit-latrines to begin with. Next week, together with Graph Evans and Steven Zulu we will visit the District Commissioner and the Chief in order to inform them about our plans, which is a necessity in order to proceed with this project.
Chabwera Community School
We will visit the school next week. We have received some great things to give to the school (pencils, markers, sketch pad, football) from Tad and his family who stayed at Zikomo Safari. We will hand these out to the pupils, together with some other items we got for them. Furthermore, during the last meeting the teachers once more addressed the importance of building the classroom(s) before the beginning of the rainy season. Together with them, and the other parties involved, we will make a plan on how to proceed on this.
Hunted down! Dramatic moment a notorious gang of ivory poachers are caught in an undercover sting in Zambia!
Find out more about how a notorious poaching ring has been brought down in Zambia!
So proud of our Nsefu Wildlife compatriots at IFAW doing a KICK ASS job in Zambia. Look at these cowards who have BUTCHERED God knows how many animals including this beautiful 40 year old elephant bull... for his tusks. And you know what? One of them cried for "his mommy" when he got arrested. SUCH SCUMBAGS!!! These arrogant bastards thought they were so cool being poachers and bragged about their accomplishments...and then they got caught in a fantastic operation. Yeah, NOW WHO IS SO COOL? Crybabies. Imagine the baby animals who saw their mothers or family members butchered in front of them and were left to die of grief, trauma, predators, starvation, or thirst. BASTARDS ARE GOING DOWN!!!! Well done IFAW!! Buh bye poachers!!!!!!!!!!
Breaking News! African Wildlife Foundation Welcomes Rakuten Ban on Ivory Sales!
Read more about the new Ivory Ban!
Japanese giant Internet retailer, Rakuten, on July 6, 2017, announced that it was banning the sale of ivory on its site with trading to be phased out over the next month.
Ranger Station Construction & Chabwera Community School
We are making progress in Zambia, check out the photos!
Our Zambian team sent us photos showing the Nsefu Wildlife Conservation Foundation (NWCF) Ranger Station during the final phase of its construction as well as the Chabwera Community School with students! Your donations help to make this possible and we are making a difference! If you would like to give, you can donate HERE!
Nation's Broadest Wildlife Trafficking Ban Takes Effect
Read more about Hawaii's Senate Bill that is the most comprehensive U.S. state law targeting the illegal wildlife trade.
Hawaiian Senate Bill 2647 (Act 125), sponsored by Senator Mike Gabbard, was supported by local residents and dozens of grassroots and national conservation and animal protection groups including The Humane Society of the United States, Conservation Council for Hawaii, Nsefu Wildlife Conservation Foundation (NWCF), the Global March for Elephants and Rhinos, Vulcan Inc., International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Humane Society International (HSI), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
Witch Creek Winery and Nsefu.org working together to save wildlife!
Check out how Witch Creek Winery is helping Nsefu.org protect wildlife!
Witch Creek Winery is supporting Nsefu.org in its efforts to preserve the wildlife in Zambia. They've set aside a corner in their tasting room that's all set up for Nsefu, featuring our Wild Wines, the "Save Us" collection. They've also been promoting our organization in their monthly newsletter and on Facebook.
We'd like to thank Witch Creek Winery for their partnership and support!
Find out more about Witch Creek Winery at: witchcreekwinery.com
Breaking News, Nsefu Rangers are making an impact on Poaching! WARNING, GRAPHIC PHOTOS!
Here's an update from our Rangers in the field.
Our Rangers found a poached impala last night during their multiple-day patrol. Unfortunately the four poachers got away, but the people have been identified.
The rangers confiscated the rifle the poachers were carrying and their belongings (bikes, clothes, shoes) and handed it over to ZAWA. When searching one of the bags, a phone was found. The owner of the phone was identified on one of the pictures. To be continued...
