EDITORIAL: Intensify war on poachers

In recent years, Kenya has witnessed a decline in the loss of wildlife, especially elephants and rhinos, to poachers as a result of hawk-eyed efforts to protect the game.

The anti-poaching measures have ensured that the country retains its attractiveness as a tourist destination given that it is home to some of the rarest wildlife species.

However, these gains are at risk of being reversed as increased poaching has been reported since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease pandemic this year.

While hunting for ivory and rhino horns is still the mainstay for poachers, they seem to have changed tack and are now eyeing bush meat for money and food as lockdown measures have hit hard people’s pockets.

Conservation areas are faced with declining revenues due to restrictions of movement and have had to scale down operations.

This has made it easy for poachers to take advantage of the situation and roam the parks and reserves effortlessly.

But, we cannot allow this trend to continue and there is need to be even more vigilant to ensure that post-Covid the tourism industry recovers fast.

The use of drone technologies to monitor wildlife and supporting communities in areas hit by the financial impact is paramount.