Kenya launches major security operation to track down the killers of four rhinos

Kenya's wildlife authorities on Monday launched a major security operation to arrest poachers who killed four rhinos in the past week across the East African nation. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said the rhinos were killed in Lake Nakuru National Park, Solio Ranch (Nyeri), Ngulia Sanctuary (Tsavo West National Park), and Meru National Park. "Security teams are following crucial leads and expect to catch up with the perpetrators of the heinous crime," KWS Corporate Affairs Manager Paul Udoto said in a statement released in Nairobi. The wildlife agency has enhanced the round-the-clock surveillance at all Kenya's entry exit and entry points while sniffer dogs and their handlers have proved incorruptible and have once again outsmarted the smugglers. The East African nation says it's at a point where it cannot allow further poaching of wildlife because the animal numbers have been reducing at an alarming rate. Most recent statistics from the KWS for instance indicate that the number of elephants for instance has reduced from a high of 160,000 in 1970s to below 30,000. KWS said between the 1970s and 1980s Kenya lost over 80 per cent of her elephants, mainly due to intensive poaching of elephants for ivory. Udoto said the East African nation has lost 21 rhinos and 117 elephants to poachers since the beginning of 2013. Out of these elephants, he said, 37 were killed in protected areas while 80 were outside protected areas. "These numbers include last week poaching incidents. Last year, Kenya lost 384 elephants and 30 rhinos to criminals, a worrying trend that is not sustainable," he added. Kenya lost 289 elephants to poaching in 2011 and another 384 elephants in 2012. Lion is also one of the most endangered animals not only in Kenya but across Africa. Kenya has an estimated 1,800 lions, down from 2,800 in 2002. The country had 30,000 lions in the 1960s, KWS data reveals. Source: Capital FM, Nairobi