CONSERVATION NEWS
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).