Kenyan communities turn to bush meat as an accessible option for sourcing food and earning an income during tough drought season and challenging economic times. Many low-income earners source bush meat illicitly in protected and non-protected areas for subsistence and commercial purposes by trapping and killing animals using different snares, bows and arrows.

In Taita Taveta, some living in the rural villages source the wildlife meat and ply the trade in Kasigau Conservancy and its environs. Kasigau Guardians have continued to respond to incidences where they confiscate pieces of dried meat at surrounding villages. They, other times, also encounter dik-dik skins during patrols.

It is important to note that cases of human-wildlife conflict were on the increase towards the end of April and in the mid-May.

In May, the guardians covered 25 patrol areas. The conservancy dams, water pans and boreholes had water which sustains the living conditions of both wildlife and the livestock.

Our appeal to Friends of ANAW has been to help support the Guardians with GPS kits, camera and camera traps, binoculars, permanent outposts or buildings, cyber trackers, uniforms and raincoats, night visuals and thunder flashes to enhance their surveillance work.