I am writing this post from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in West Africa, where our team is leading a wildlife crime threat assessment. As we are meeting with a wide range of national authorities tackling poaching and wildlife trafficking every single day, I am reminded that this work often gives us opportunities to redefine and fully understand the word “hero.”[teaserbreak]
Today, as we are driving on red dirt roads towards the Ghana border post to check on customs capacity to fight wildlife crime, the reality of the fight against poachers grabs me by the heart once again. Our car pulls off onto the side of the road to pay our respects to Kaboré TAMBI, a former park warden working in the area. His tomb is visible on the edge of the park where he was laid to rest after his body was found.
Good conservation work gets in the way of pitiless poachers who want to continue their activities unabated. Because Kaboré TAMBI was great at dismantling smuggling networks and arresting poachers, he paid with his life. Poachers tricked him into the bush under false pretense and killed him in the middle of the park he was so excited to protect. After killing him point blank, they went to his wife’s house and stole all of his clothes and his large motorcycle before fleeing to Ghana. She was left with nothing, and the authorities had to seek the support of the army to locate a body for proper funerals.
Now, the park is named after him, and Kaboré TAMBI is resting in peace next to the animals and plants he was trying to save. He would have retired last year at 62 years old.
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Alice Stroud
