Africa-Press – Tanzania. A total of 25 wild animals in the Serengeti Ecosystem have been successfully rescued from traps and treated, thanks to an undertaking by the Grumeti Fund (GF).
According to the Fund’s Impact report 2020 seen by ‘Daily News’ yesterday, the number of wild animals had been saved from a programme that aims at rescuing wildlife alive yet suffering from human induced injuries.
It was established that the wild animals roaming the Serengeti Western corridor’s ecosystem had been rescued from their death traps following the removal of 903 snares as of last year.
“When tourism essentially dried up overnight in response to the pandemic, unemployment skyrocketed, paving the way for increased illegal activities such as poaching. We saw a 57 per cent increase in snares recovered, along with approximately three tons of dried bush meat,” the report reads in part.
The animals are mostly trapped and poached either for bush-meat and ivory, with the GF report further suggesting some 3,305 kilogrammes of bush meat recovered had been recovered in 2020.
“We were able to record a total of 158 arrests last year,” it says.
The GF also took conservation efforts a notch higher by bolstering the law enforcement unit.
“The vast majority of poaching incidents within the Grumeti concession involves commercial bush-meat poaching; however, elephant poaching for ivory is an ever-present threat which our team must always be prepared to prevent,” the report adds.
In light of such challenges, the GF’s Anti-Poaching unit has adjusted the department’s strategy to focus on intelligence, aerial surveillance and strengthening prosecutions.
The 350,000 acre Grumeti concessions form a crucial part of the Serengeti ecosystem.
In addition to rejuvenating and preserving the landscape, the Grumeti Fund works with government, local communities and other stakeholders on various conservation projects, ranging from the re-introduction of locally extinct animal species to managing wild fires and reducing the impact of invasive alien plants.
Its mission is to contribute to the conservation of the Serengeti ecosystem, its natural landscape, and its wildlife.
Its operations combine cutting-edge technology with well-trained boots on the ground to combat poaching menace.
The fund partners with local communities and other stakeholders to build capacity and thereby help them to realize their development aspirations.
