Supporting the rangers could save their lives 31 July 2012 |
News story Killed by soldiers, rebels, drug and animal
smugglers, wild animals or simply by accident, 70 rangers have
lost their lives this year. Rangers protect our parks and the
people that visit them but who protects them? In June, the Okapi
Wildlife Reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was
brutally attacked by armed poachers who killed seven people,
including two rangers. In early July, rangers and their families
were evacuated from Virunga National Park, also in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, as the latest chapter in the
country’s ongoing civil war in its Eastern provinces raged out
of control. In India, nearly 30 rangers have been killed this
year either by drug smugglers or poachers. Some parks have very
few vehicles for patrolling, making it difficult to control
poaching. In others, rangers work for months without salaries,
forcing them to take on other jobs to support their families, or
the park is engulfed in conflict and ran