PAMS
Foundation, an institution that supports the country’s wildlife conservation,
has supplied two patrol aircraft to Tunduru district authorities to facilitate
efforts to contain raids from elephants now invading their residential areas.
The
Foundation’s Coordinator, Mr Maximillan James, said here yesterday that the
planes would be used to monitor people who are implicated in poaching, saying
residents should report to the authorities when elephants invade their
residential areas.
Mr James was
speaking during a tour by the Tunduru DC Juma Homera, who is also the
district’s chair on security and defense, at Wenje Village of Nalasi Division,
where two elephants are said to have been killed by the residents.
However, Mr
James urged the residents not to kill elephants and that they should plant
chillies near their homes, pointing out that the plant was “the safest way to
intimidate the animals.” He noted that the Foundation uses different ways to
fight poaching and to safeguard animals, along with property belonging to
people living next to wildlife sanctuaries.
Acting
Director for antipoaching operations, Mr Robert Mande, said some 320 suspects
had so far been arrested on suspicions of poaching, and that 284 of them had
been brought to court. He advised those still ‘committing poaching’ to stop in
their tracks, and revealed that the number of elephants killed by poachers had
dropped from 184 to 84.
Meanwhile, Mr
Homera has ordered those who illegally own guns to surrender them to police
posts, saying the district authorities had since discovered that some residents
were “doing barter trade” under which the guns were being exchanged for food
with residents of a neighbouring country.
Mr Homera
mentioned some of the suspects as Juma Saidi Ally (36) ,Mwini Omary (24),
Salumu Charamanda Aski (46), Kalengo Mkenda( 45), Fadhili Mohamed (43), Abduli
Shaibu (37), Ahamad Yasini (30) and Rashid Hausi (46).
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