David Muthika from Wildlife and Conservation Group has attributed the rise in cases of poaching in Gilgil and Naivasha, to the harsh economic times and the recent drought in the area.
The areas most affected by this issue are North Lake, Kasarani, Longonot, Hellsgate, Moi Ndabi, and Marula, which border game parks and private game ranches.
This comes a couple of days after a man caught by KWS ferrying game meat was jailed for six months by a Naivasha court after pleading guilty to the offence.
Muthika said antelopes, zebras and warthogs were targetted with the meat finding its way into a ready market.
“We have seen an upsurge in cases of game meat trade in parts of Naivasha and Gilgil but KWS officers have managed to arrest several suspects and masterminds of this illegal trade,” he said.
Speaking after a consultative meeting in Naivasha, Muthika said the recent drought had pushed wild animals from their natural habitats to nearby homes.
He said this had given the public an easy chance to snare and kill the wild animals so that they could get their daily meals.
“The most affected areas by this trade are those that border both Hellsgate or Mt Longonot national parks and tens of ranches in the two constituencies,” he said.
David Kilo, a KWS's honorary warden, said the trade was rife with some of the meat finding its way into several informal settlements in Naivasha.
He said that they had managed to recover tens of snares in North Lake and Crater areas of Naivasha with the poachers mainly targeting zebras due to their size.
“Many of the game corridors in Naivasha have been closed down by investors or capital projects leaving the wild animals at the mercy of these poachers,” he said.
Kilo added that the recent fencing of private ranches along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway had also pushed the animals into nearby homes.
A senior KWS officer who spoke on anonymity said that over 80 per cent of wild animals in Naivasha and Gilgil were either in ranches or open fields.
“Our officers have arrested over 10 suspects in the last couple of months and arraigned them in court as part of dealing with this menace,” said the officer.
