By Desiree Smith | Conservation Intern
In the first quarter of 2019, an average of 122 ICCN rangers were out working hard in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve (OWR). During this time, they walked a total of 146 patrols and covered a total over 4800 km. They trudged through the dense, thick forest and crossed rivers to cover about 19% of the Reserve. During their patrols, the rangers observed a total of 14 different wildlife species. Some of the fauna they observed were: 6 Okapis, 13 Chimpanzees, 76 Red-tailed monkeys and 15 Grey Parrots, 14 baboons, 1 Buffalo and 15 Black-casqued Hornbills. They also observed Elephant dung piles and footprints in the area.
The rangers patrol the reserve looking for illegal mining, poaching and logging activities. During the first quarter of 2019, illegal mining was at the top of the list with 357 miners removed from the area. Miners on their first offense are peacefully removed from the Reserve and they are educated on how gold mining is illegal in Reserve. If it is a miner's second offense, they are arrested. They found a total of 26 abandoned mining camps and another 30 camps were still in use. Illegal mining cases were followed by 100 cases of poaching with snares, 8-armed poaching cases and 8 cases of illegal logging. The use of snares was a common observation in almost all areas checked by rangers. There were 2678 nylon snares found and 139 mental snares. When snares were found they were either dismantled or collected. There was a total of 38 arrest made on illegal people in the reserve and 151 people were transferred to justice. During patrols, there were a total of 15 types of confiscated items. Including 249 spades, 99 rounds of ammunition, 10 guns, and 36 machetes.
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