Three more rangers killed in a deadly month around the world for wildlife defenders
Three rangers have been
killed in separate countries in a deadly month for wildlife defenders.
A ranger at Serra da
Capivara national park, in Brazil’s north-eastern Piaui region, was killed by
hunters on 18 August. Edilson Aparecido dos Santos and two other colleagues
were patrolling the park when they were ambushed by a group of four armed men
who are believed to have been hunting in the park illegally. Dos Santos was
killed in the shootout that followed, while the other two rangers were injured.
They were protecting
the Serra da Capivara park, a Unesco world heritage site home to
25,000-year-old rock paintings. Dos Santos was a
contractor from the company Thor, working for the Chico Mendes Institute for
Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio). ICMBio said
in a statement that “both ICMBio and Thor are taking steps to provide
support to staff and their families, and are collaborating with police
authorities to clarify the facts”.
In a separate incident
in Mexico, Gabriel Ramos Olivera, a ranger at the Chacahua national park in
Oaxaca, was shot and killed by suspected poachers. His body was found on the
morning of 18 August. The 37-year-old biologist worked as a guard protecting
the conservation area of the Chacahua lagoons, home to endangered leatherback
turtles and crocodiles.
The same week in Mali,
Corporal Souleyman Tangara of the country’s combined army/ranger anti-poaching
brigade, died along with a UN peacekeeper at the hands of jihadists in Douentza
on 14 August. Tangara’s brigade, tasked with protecting the country’s last
desert elephants, were responding to a call to assist the United Nations whose
base was under attack in what the UN has described as an act of terrorism.
Two of the gunmen died in the violence. “This gives a clear picture of the
hazards the brigade, trainers and indeed people of this area face on a
day-to-day basis,” said Nigel Kuhn, combat tracking trainer at Chengeta
Wildlife, an NGO based in Mali… read more:
