Park’s buffer zones encroached as poachers kept in check
Illegal poaching is a thriving trade that generates profits in billions of dollars for well-connected criminal syndicates and organisations.
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With estimated 4,500 elephants, the park straddling Arusha and Manyara regions reportedly has the largest number of jumbos compared to other game sanctuaries countrywide. It is also famous for its tree-climbing pythons.
Arusha. The killing of elephants in Tarangire National Park for their tusks has been largely contained, according to Geoffrey Mboma, a tourism officer with the park.
He told reporters who visited the protected area this week that between July 2014 and January this year, only four elephants were mowed down by suspected poachers.
With estimated 4,500 elephants, the park straddling Arusha and Manyara regions reportedly has the largest number of jumbos compared to other game sanctuaries countrywide. It is also famous for its tree-climbing pythons.
Indiscriminate killing of animals for their trophies has also been contained due to intensified patrol and involvement of the local communities in conservation activities, Mr Mboma explained.
However, the chief park warden, Mr Stephano Qolli, emphasised that the wildlife corridors linking Tarangire with other protected areas should be safeguarded to minimise the impact of human activities inside and around the park.
He said the animal pathways, mainly linking Tarangire and Lake Manyara national parks, had been turned into human settlements while livestock grazing inside the parks was now common despite being prohibited.
The park official expressed concern that increased human activities might be one of the reasons for the declining number of wild animals in the park and the adjacent protected areas.
“Once there is an ecological disturbance due to the increase in human activities, the animals will simply migrate to other areas or get killed when they wonder into the villages”, he pointed out, without giving any statistics.
He pleaded with the Tanzania National Parks (Tanapa) and relevant ministries, including Natural Resources and Tourism and Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries to coordinate on how to address invasion of protected areas by livestock keepers and farmers, saying it defeated the whole purpose of conservation.
During a visit to Arusha National Park (Anapa), the journalists were told that plans were underway to promote bicycle riding in the park, a large part of which lie in the eastern slopes of Mt Meru in Arumeru District, Arusha Region. A tourism officer with Anapa, Mr Jerome Ndanzi, however, said there were few domestic tourists visiting the park compared to visitors from abroad.
