KWS senior officer, 4 poachers killed in fiery shootout in Tsavo East Park.

juma chrispinus

March 4, 2017 1:11 PM

Voi police boss Joseph Chesire has said that already they have the leads on the whereabouts of the two poachers who escaped injured, and a manhunt is underway. One poacher is said to have escaped with serious wounds.

A day after the celebration of the World Wildlife Day themed

The shootout which also saw one ranger sustain gunshot injuries, left four poachers dead, at the coast based Galana Kulalu near the Tsavo East National Park.

Police in the area have pledged to gun down the suspects who have vanished in the vast area, as the injured ranger fights for his life at St Joseph Shelter of Hope Hospital in Voi, Taita Taveta, police have said.

Sources from KWS told a local daily that the suspects escaped with guns recovered from the slain officer.

Intensified war

The killing of four poachers comes exactly two weeks after the police manning Tsavo East National park gunned one poacher as it is suspected to be a revenge mission being perpetuated against the police.

Poaching incidents in the Tsavo has escalated in the recent past with some citing the invasion of livestock into the park as the main reason for the spike. The biting drought in the country is forcing herders to push their livestock into the protected areas, bruising the KWS officers.

Currently, over 80, 000 livestock from the North Eastern part of the country have invaded the Tsavo in search of water and pasture.

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