By KWS Veterinary Department

Somali herdsmen reported an adult male elephant with a tightly embedded wire snare on its neck to KWS MacKinon outpost in Tsavo East National Park. Dr. David Ndeereh, a Senior Veterinary Officer based in Tsavo East attended to the case on 22nd May 2006 at the KMC ranch in MacKinon. The snare had cut deeply on the right side of the base of the trunk and the left ear pinna. The snare was removed and the wound cleaned and treated. The animal was administered systemic antibiotic.

According to Dr. Gakuya, "a snare tightly embedded in an animal leads to development of a deep wound that becomes infected. The wound becomes gangrenous with subsequent systemic spread. This leads to a slow painful death. Imagine such a 5-ton mega-herbivore being felled by a simple wire snare."

A question arises as to why one should subject a living organism to such cruel painful death. "We are calling on the community bordering conservation areas to stop snaring this important natural heritage. In case the community members sight any snared animal they should report to the nearest KWS outpost or station. A KWS vet is always available to rescue our wildlife from these human inflicted conditions," Dr. Gakuya appealed.

With these concerted effort we can avoid death of our wildlife from this snaring menace.