Problem
What we are facing
“Greed is good.” Not sure who said it, but to us, greed is evil, and
Evil is out of control in Uganda.
Between 2008 and 2018, 1,000 Park Rangers were killed by poachers.
Poachers in the Gorilla Park ambushed six Rangers and their driver. They kill the gorillas for the head, feet, and organs.
They hunt rhinos by helicopter. Shoot or tranquilize the rhino. Land with a chainsaw in hand and cut off the horn, leaving the magnificent creature to die a horrible death.
Challenges
With an elephant tusk for forest elephants fetching USD 2,000 per pound, every ounce of the tusk is USD 125. No matter the age, the poachers cut out all of the tusks they can, leaving the elephant to bleed to death. In addition to snares, the poachers use Russian machine guns to down the elephants.
The worldwide ban on ivory went into effect in the 1970s. At that time, there were 1.3 million elephants; now, there are only an estimated 400,000.
Join the Fight.
Combating the African Big 5 (and the giraffe!) poaching operations to protect the endangered wildlife in Uganda.
Rangers issues
In this image you see what just one day’s worth of searching can yield. In addition to these wire snares, another popular “tool” is what we call a bear trap.
The Rangers are getting some Military Working Dogs (MWD), but even with them, it is daunting to look for traps and prepare for an ambush at any time.
