Live vs dead

The Gorongosa scout unwrapped the smoked meat from the bound-up reeds and the flies came in immediately to the charred pieces of flesh and exposed bone.  It was hard to tell there were two animals on the ground before me.  It was even more challenging to tell what species they were.  The scout in his dark green fatigues with Parque Nacional de Gorongosa arm patch leaned over and picked up a larger and flatter piece of meat.  He turned it over and I could recognize that the split-open head was that of a reedbuck. 

Reed buck, bush buck, snares, and machete.

 The scouts had been at an outpost on the edge of the Park and had located the two animals hanging dead in a tree in a poacher’s camp.  The poachers were gone.  However, in the area the scouts had picked up 36 wire snares.  In the camp were also a machete and a spear.  Typically a spear like this is used to put away an injured animal trapped in a snare.

A major struggle with the effort of restoration in the Park is the continued poaching or illegal hunting of wildlife.  The rangers and scouts here are doing excellent work but the Park is huge.  There are currently 24 outposts spread across the perimeter.  Each post has 2 to 4 scouts, but more patrols are needed.  

Inspecting one of the largest of the gin traps confiscated in
the Park with Gorongosa science technician Luis Oliveira. 

One important item about bushmeat that I stress with my students working on the African Bushmeat Program is that “bushmeat” is a misnomer. The concept of illegal hunting applies to fish as well.  This showed up in Gorongosa last week with a poacher’s camp along Lake Urema.  It didn’t have dead antelope but dead fish.  Lots of fish.  The camp had hundreds of catfish laid out on the grass.  Two fisherman were seen on approach but they deserted the camp as the scouts arrived.  I was able to see the fish when they were brought back into camp to dry.  This confiscated meat was not to be discarded but actually kept to feed the local community. 

During our helicopter survey the other day we actually passed over an illegal fish trap set up along a stream coming in to Lake Urema.  The traps were made of woven reeds and looked fairly elaborate.  I had a thought that such traps could actually be sold in the Chitengo gift shop for tourists.  I found out that Greg had tried this but no interest showed up. Sure would be a nice turn to take these traps off the river and sell them as art for more money than could be brought in from the fish.

Illegal fish traps leading to Lake Urema.

An important idea we are working on related to poaching in the region is to reinforce the value of a live animal over a dead animal.  This is something that we hope to build on with the local Community Education Center (CEC).  I am trying to develop some lessons around the concept with Adrienne McGill of the CEC during this expedition.  We hope to have local school children take this important lesson back into their own communities.  The value of the animal for ecotourism is a hard thing to measure but we think the idea can be of huge value in helping curb poaching.  Post a comment if you have an idea on reinforcing this idea.