Photo Caption: Rangers at Manyara Ranch training and simulating arrests
Once again community informants assisted Honeyguide Foundation in an operation that led to the arrest of a poacher in Manyara Ranch.
On the night of January 29, rangers responded to information about a poachers’ camp in the Esilalei area of Manyara Ranch. Sure enough, the Honeyguide-supported team discovered the camp and set an ambush. Unfortunately, an untold number of poachers escaped in the darkness, but not before the rangers could chase, seize, and arrest one of them.
The carcasses of 9 wild animals lay about the camp ready to be skinned and sold as bush meat: 1 lesser kudu, 4 impalas, 2 porcupines, 1 Grant’s gazelle, and 1 dik dik. With the growing towns of Mto wa Mbu and Makuyuni close to the ranch, bushmeat has become big business for some in the area.
On the exact same night, Honeyguide-supported rangers of the nearby Burunge Wildlife Management Area (WMA) also heard gunfire and later called in Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) to help investigate the situation. By currently supporting Burunge and Manyara Ranch, and potentially providing resource protection among other surrounding WMAs and villages in the future, Honeyguide Foundation has quickly established a significant beneficial presence throughout the Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem. Collaborating with a cross-section of stakeholders and partners across the ecosystem, Honeyguide specifically works with the Africa Wildlife Foundation (AWF) at Manyara Ranch.
Courageous community informants lead to the vast majority of all poaching arrests. By providing incentives and strict confidentiality for informants, Honeyguide has built up a vast and formidable community informant network. So it truly pays in many ways to stay on the side of communities against poachers.
