This last week promised to be an especially busy and productive one for the Born Free USA Africa team. After many months of planning, we finally began a CITES enforcement training for 20 customs and forest officers coming from seven regions across Cameroon. We also were organizing training on the identification of CITES-listed shark and ray species for the Guinea Bissau authorities, and reports from the field were very positive for both projects.
In addition, we were following up with West African authorities on the development of a funding proposal to provide counter-poaching/counter-trafficking training to rangers working in the WAP (W-Arly-Pendjari) ecological complex, a major expanse of Sudano-sahelian savanna straddling the borders of Benin, Burkina Faso, and Niger, which still shelters elephants, lions, and a wide range of other highly endangered, protected species.
As we were nearing the end of the week, I felt positive and excited about the progress we were making.
But then, the news hit almost casually as I was texting with the director of wildlife from Burkina Faso…
While I was sleeping on Thursday morning at 4:30 AM, a heavily militarized group of unidentified poachers attacked the forest guard post of Nassougou in the city of Matiacoali (Gourma province) on the Burkina Faso side of the WAP complex. They cowardly waited until the middle of the night to come to the camp and shoot everything in sight (more than 400 AK 47 casings were recovered by authorities responding to the incident in the morning), burning a vehicle and stealing weapons and personal effects. And, during the attack, Mr. Jules Sombouaya Yameogo, one of the seven forest guards posted at the forest guard post of Nassougou, lost his life.
Mr. Yameogo would have turned 29 years old on April 9, 2018. He was married, the father of a young child, and he and his wife were expecting the arrival of their second child in May or June of this year. He chose to devote his life to wildlife and was fighting the fight against poachers so well that they decided to stop him in his tracks. This was the fifth attack of this kind in the Burkina Faso side of the WAP complex this week.
Mr. Yameogo’s sacrifice must not be in vain. Let’s keep the fight going in his name and in the name of all the unsung heroes who have died trying to make a difference for wildlife in the field. Join us in celebrating him!
Born Free is raising funds to help support Mr. Yameogo’s family during this tragic time. Please consider making a donation. All of the money donated will be passed on to Mr. Yameogo’s widow.
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
