We have all horns of 10 dead rhinos, says KWS
What you need to know:
KWS head of communications Paul Udoto said the horns, totalling 20, were in safe custody in Nairobi and at Tsavo Park.
He said the identity of the rhinos from which each pair was extracted had been documented.
He said a microchip implanted in each rhino had made it easy to match the horns.
The Kenya Wildlife Service has allayed fears that the horns of 10 rhinos that died in Tsavo National Park this month were missing.
Speaking on Sunday, KWS head of communications Paul Udoto said the horns, totalling 20, were in safe custody in Nairobi and at Tsavo Park. He said the identity of the rhinos from which each pair was extracted had been documented, adding that a microchip implanted in each rhino had made it easy to match the horns.
Microchips were implanted in most endangered species in Kenya during a drive initiated in 2013 to combat poaching.
INVESTIGATIONS
“The identities of the rhinos, their ages and general profiles are known. We have all their horns. The issue we are dealing with now is the cause of death. We already have a team conducting investigations,” Mr Udoto said.
He added that when the rhinos died, their horns were extracted and 10 of them moved to Nairobi. The exercise was tracked by GPS because of the chips. Two horns of a rhino that died later are yet to be transported from the Tsavo, he said. Samples from the rhinos' carcasses were extracted for toxicological analysis. The carcasses were then left in the wild, he added.
CONFISCATED
“There are so many speculations about the whereabouts of the horns. We displayed the horns last week to the Tourism Cabinet Secretary and the media. Then we kept them. They are under tight security, together with other trophies from other dead animals and those confiscated from poachers. KWS is the only custodian of these trophies,” he said.
Already, Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala has put in place a multi-agency team to investigate the death of the 10 rhinos after translocation from Nakuru to Tsavo National Park two weeks ago.
SUSPENDED
The team comprises Prof Peter Gathumbi, a senior veterinary pathologist from the University of Nairobi, Dr Markus Hoffmeyer, a rhino veterinarian and translocation expert from South Africa, and experts from the ministry of Livestock, Tourism and Environment. Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations are also helping in the investigations.
Mr Balala demoted KWS Director-General Julius Kimani after the deaths, and suspended six senior officials.
On Sunday the Ministry of Tourism refuted claims by former KWS Board of Trustees Chairman Richard Leakey that trustees had opposed the translocation of 14 black rhinos.
