3 suspects to face charges over 13kg ivory
Officials display illegal ivory. Three suspects who were found in possession of 13 kilograms of ivory will be arraigned in court on February 27, 2019. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
They were arrested days after Kenya Wildlife Service rangers gunned down a suspected poacher within Tsavo West National Park.
One suspect was killed while his colleague his accomplice escaped with injuries.
KWS report released last year showed that Kenya made remarkable strides in the fight against elephant poaching.
Three suspects who were found in possession of 13 kilograms of ivory will be arraigned in court today.
The three, Moses Leshinga, 24, Frankline Lekashina, 26, and Raymond Kahura Wambui, 32, were arrested by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations on Monday.
The suspects were arrested days after Kenya Wildlife Service rangers gunned down a suspected poacher within Tsavo West National Park.
SUSPECT KILLED
Three rangers were on routine patrol within the park when they met two armed suspected poachers on February 16 at around 10am before a shootout ensued. One suspect was killed while his colleague escaped with injuries.
Police recovered a weapons including one heavy caliber rifle; a heavy caliber rifle cartridge; three automatic rifle cartridges and a mobile phone.
POACHING
KWS report released last year showed that Kenya made remarkable strides in the fight against elephant poaching. The report indicates that there were 40 cases of poaching in 2018 compared to 80 in 2017.
Kenya lost 396 elephants in 2018 due to diverse causes such as disease, drought, drowning, territorial fights, old age, human-wildlife conflicts, accidents and poaching compared to 727 that died in 2017.
It is estimated that Kenya has about 35,000 elephants.
