Conservation of Wildlife in the Luangwa Valley

Anti-poaching and anti-snaring patrols

Activities and Projects of SLCS

Snaring is one of the worst kinds of poaching as it is indescriminate and targets virtually every species. Although most snares are laid to catch smaller antelope for meat, many snares are set for buffalo and hippo and more often than not other animals such as lions, hyaenas and elephants are also caught.

A poacher may lay up to thirty snares at one time but when checking them a few days later he might only remove the first or next few snares if something has been caught. The remainder will be left and any animals that are caught are not even used

Snaring is also one of the most gruesome ways to kill an animal, as unlike shooting where death is usually immediate, death by snaring can take anything from days to weeks and sometimes even months. The pain will be excruciating and the animal eventually dies from starvation and infection.

Anti Snaring Campaign

In partnership with ZAWA and the community, we are promoting the anti-snaring awareness campaign to sensitize children and adults within local schools and villages. A combination of drama, raffle competitions and sports days are held and slide shows and are presented.

SLCS Supports Uyoba Community School

Uyoba Community School, based about 5km’s from the South Luangwa National Park, was founded in 1994.

The school was initially set up to assist parents in the area who had difficulties raising the necessary school fees, and to create a learning environment where no uniforms or shoes are required.

For many years teachers held their classes under a wild mango tree but to date, with the support of Elefence International and Nathalie Bouille, the school has three classrooms and two teachers offices. We are currently fundraising to build two teachers houses.

The school has four teachers and 170 children who are regularly taken in to the park for game viewing activities.

Construction of the new SLCS Base

In 2003 The Honorable Chief Kakumbi gave SLCS a plot of land adjacent to the South Luangwa National Park in order to house the SLCS scouts and build a base camp to operate from..

Construction of the SLCS Base has been completed with funding secured from Elefence International (USA) and The Royal Danish Embassy. The offices, storeroom, garage and scout houses are finished and we are currently accommodating 22 village scouts. In terms of law enforcement, the base allows patrols and emergency operations to be organized in a smooth, swift and proficient manner as the scouts can be found at a central location at any given time. It also ensures that rations, vehicles and patrol equipment are ready in the quickest time to be deployed. The radio, telephone and other communications systems also ensures that information is passed on in a skilled and rapid method.

In terms of community relations, the base acts as a central location where incidents of human animal conflict can be reported and dealt with accordingly.

A small office has also been constructed for the Kakumbi Natural Resource Board, whereby the Community can charge for and administer control and policy on natural resources in the Kakumbi Chiefdom through Forest Guard management.

Village Scout Training

SLCS supports 35 Kakumbi Village Scouts under the Kakumbi Community Resources Board.

These scouts conduct regular patrols in and around the national park and have removed thousands of snares over the years that we have been operating.

SLCS also runs a darting programme that enables us to chemically immobilize animals that have been snared, so that we can remove the snares and treat the wounds as necessary. Over the years we have managed to save many elephants, lions, hyaenas, puku and other animals that would otherwise have died.

Drugs for these operations are extremely expensive and darting an elephant can easily cost up to U$500. With ZAWA’s approval and assistance, SLCS has managed to import the immobilizing drugs for such operations.

Chilli Fence Project

Human animal conflict is becoming an increasing problem in South Luangwa partly due to the ever increasing human population just outside the national park. South Luangwa does not have any man made boundaries and animals have the freedom to move outside of the park.

During the farming season, fields are regularly devastated by elephants and hippos. Grain storage facilities within villages are also poor and often demolished.

SLCS is trying to address this situation using the chilli fence method. This is a simple cost effective way of deterring elephants, hippos and bushpigs using sisal rope, used engine oil, grease, old bits of cloth and crushed dried chilli. The paste is mixed applied to the string surrounding the fields.

Elephant dung bricks are also made using elephant dung and crushed chilli, and are set alight during the night to smolder and deter elephants.

Workshops are held in the field and we use a "real" field for demonstration. It is essential that farmers accept ownership of the fence and do not rely on SLCS to continue to provide materials. To achieve this we also supply farmers with seedlings for growing chillis.

SLCS sponsors ongoing village scout training programs using Senior Instructors from the ZAWA Field Training Unit based in North Luangwa National Park. The scouts attend a 10 week intensive para-military style training course.

o date SLCS has sponsored and coordinated the training of, and fully equipped 100 scouts who are all employed.