Kenyan ‘poacher-turned-gamekeeper’ describes former life

The majority of illegally-killed wild animals die at the hands of local people struggling to make ends meet

Protected areas act as an important wildlife corridor for Kenya’s major national parks (Lawrence Avery)

The number of elephants poached in the Taita Taveta area of southern Kenya has been zero for more than two years. That’s in good part thanks to people like Ayub Vura, who turned his life around when he joined the ranger training program with Wildlife Works. He used to hunt wildlife but now works to protect the animals and their habitat. Along with other locally-trained rangers, he patrols the Taita Taveta Wildlife Conservancies, which cover over one million acres. Dan Kaburu joins the team to learn how their unarmed approach working with local people is paying dividends.

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This article is reproduced here as part of the Space for Giants African Conservation Journalism Programme, supported by the owner of ESI Media, which includes independent.co.uk. It aims to expand the reach of conservation and environmental journalism in Africa, and bring more African voices into the international conservation debate.