Unkahili (left) and Abacari (right) of me holding a new GPS bought with donations to Protect Mareja UK - we are at a waterhole looking for tracks of a cow elephant that had been ambushed nearby by poachers a few days previously. She had been shot several times and escaped, we knew not where.
Skull of a baby elephant (approximately 2-4 yrs old) killed by poachers - see my thumb in bottom left of shot for scale. These people are paid by weight of ivory they collect, so they do not care how small the creature may be. The honey comb structure of its head reduces the weight but retains strength.
Unkahili (L) and Abacari (R) sat in the grove where Unkahili used to live, before the area became a Reserve.
Unkahili (L) and Abacari (R) sat in the grove where Unkahili used to live, before the area became a Reserve.
The magnificent tree dominating the image is a Pod Mahogany Afzelia quanzensis, about 3.5metres in circumference. Unkahili had previously defended it from timber poachers.
You can see my hand on top of a huge section of pod mahogany that timber poachers had cut from a Pod Mahogany branch - it was about 12 inches x 16 inches x 8 feet long (and that was only a branch!) that Dominik had found and confiscated. In the background, you can see the red timber planks of confiscated pod mahogany and larger sections of African Teak Pterocarpus angolensis.
From the rear of image; poachers' wire snares collected on anti-poaching patrols by Mareja Rangers; baby elephant skull; sable antelope skulls and horns that have been collected from poached animals. The sable are the most numerous of the large antelope species still to be found in Mareja. However, they are under tremendous pressure.
Every time a snare is collected, it is labelled with the date, place and people on the patrol when it was collected.
I hope this has given you a greater insight into what is happening in Mareja? I welcome any further comments and questions.
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