Tanzania to install CCTV cameras in southern sanctuary to curb poaching

Author(s)

Xinhua

Date Published

ARUSHA, TANZANIA: Tanzania is set to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the Mikumi National Park in a move aimed at curbing poaching incidents in the sanctuary, located in southern part of the east African nation, a senior official said Saturday. 

Hamis Kigwangalla, Tanzania’s minister for Natural Resources and Tourism said that the surveillance cameras will also help reduce accidents, which kill hundreds of wild animals in the park that is located 250 km from the country’s commercial capital, Dar es Salaam. 

He said that the cameras will be installed across the Mikumi national park as well as on the 50 km-stretch of the park along the busiest Tanzania-Zambia highway. 

“This is the only way we can save this important sanctuary from poaching and reckless driving,” he said in an interview. 

“The CCTV cameras will ease the task of managing the important park in the country,” he said, without divulging the amount of money that will be spent in the project. 

According to the minister, the Tanzania-Zambia highway in the park has complicated the management of the park as it makes it easier for poachers to get into the park using different means of transport such as vehicles, and motorcycles.

“In this project we’ll team up with police traffic department, who ensure that the 50 km-stretch of the park is an accident-free area. As government, we’re very optimistic that CCTV cameras will play a big role in addressing accidents in the park,” the minister stressed. 

In 2016, it is estimated that about 313 wild animals were killed in the Tanzania’s fourth largest park. 

Animals in the park include giraffes, elephants, lions, zebras and wildebeests.