Help Stop Illegal Wildlife Trafficking

As a supporter of this project, you know the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team travels Cambodia rescuing animals that have been illegally taken from the wild. But did you know that, when time allows, the Team also helps local rangers to crack down on hunting in community forests? During an April night patrol with rangers from Prambei Mom Community Forest, in Kampong Speu Province, the Team disrupted a rifle hunter on a mission to kill and seized enough evidence to build a strong court case against him.

Wildlife Alliance began supporting community conservation at Prambei Mom in 2018 when local villagers requested help to continue protecting herds of wild banteng under threat from large numbers of snares and safari-style rifle hunting expeditions. This beautiful and elusive wild cattle species is Red-Listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and scientists believe the species has been extirpated from Southwest Cambodia’s protected areas. The dedicated Prambei Mom rangers have been conducting patrols since 2003 to safeguard a banteng population of great conservation value in their small community forest.

To counter a recent surge in the numbers of snares being set in Prambei Mom, our Team has been conducting more joint patrols with these rangers in recent months. As a mobile, nationwide law enforcement unit with the power to arrest and file cases against wildlife offenders, the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team’s presence greatly strengthens community patrols. The Team visited Prambei Mom to join community ranger patrols on 6 occasions between December 2022 and April 2023. Having uniformed law enforcement officers present signals to hunters that setting snares is a crime and helps to boost morale among the rangers. During a night patrol on March 30, the WRRT and rangers chased an offender and confiscated 1 homemade gun while the hunter escaped into the dark jungle.

One local guy with a homemade gun is less of a threat than safari-style hunting expeditions by trucks of wealthy outsiders, which reemerged in early 2023 after several years without these incidents. During a night patrol in mid-April, the community rangers heard rifle shots and encountered a vehicle that quickly drove off when they approached. The rangers were unable to identify the plate number in the dark but found bloodstains, presumably from hunted wildlife, on the ground where it had been parked. They requested back-up and some members of the Rescue Team were able to visit again 10 days later.

The Team and rangers patrolled together until 11:30 pm, but no signs of hunting nor vehicles were spotted, so they returned to camp. Around 1 o’clock in the morning, headlights were spotted in the distance and the group dispersed by motorbikes and a truck to search for the suspect. At around 2 am, the Team’s truck encountered the suspicious vehicle and pulled alongside to request the driver stop but he accelerated in the opposite direction. After chasing the suspect for 10 kilometers, on a steep and difficult hillside they lost sight of the truck for a few minutes. This allowed the driver time to park on the roadside while he, and any passengers, escaped on foot with their weapons, leaving the truck unattended.

Inside the Landrover Defender, they found over 80 bullets for an M16 rifle, a shotgun, a long-range rifle, and an airgun, a scope, a case for an M16, and 5 identification and bank cards all matching the same name and Phnom Penh address. All confiscated evidence was handed over to the local Forestry Administration Division to proceed with a legal case against the offender for violating the Forestry Law. Wildlife Alliance will follow this case closely and sincerely hopes the offender is found guilty and his sentence is severe enough to strongly deter other hunters.

The support of GlobalGiving donors like you makes it possible for the Team to respond to urgent requests to help wildlife in all corners of Cambodia by applying their wildlife law enforcement expertise. Thank you so much for supporting this life saving work!