Children are victimized by Mozambique poaching wars
Poaching pulls in children
These two young boys forced into poaching by local village poachers were found by a Mozambique park ranger and a Stronghold team member. September 2023.
The poaching crisis in Mozambique doesn’t just victimize animals.
Animals like black rhinos and lions ultimately pay for the poachers’ atrocities with their lives — but the villagers who live close to the poaching also pay a dear price with their peace and security.
Because of the oppression from groups like poachers or the Chinese syndicate, villagers find themselves trapping unlikely animals for food. It’s poaching of a different kind (desperation), but still poaching nonetheless.
Survival supplies hidden in the bush for children who are forced to participate in poaching
What makes the situation more tragic is that poachers (whether the oppressive kind or the desperate kind) will enlist children to set traps. This is done to keep the adults from being captured if the illegal activity is detected.
Here’s just a first-hand glimpse of one such scenario that the Stronghold team witnessed in Mozambique:
Today I went out on a driving patrol with the head ranger… and I spotted a middle-aged gentleman running approximately 500 feet from the road. [The ranger] started chasing the individual with the truck through the grass lands then two kids started running too. The adult got away, but we got the two kids.
The kids were super dehydrated. The smaller kid was malnourished with the classic sign (big belly).
So the adults in this area use the kids to set the traps for the animals because they will not go to jail if caught.
The parents send them out for days at a time with no water or food and they have to find the supplies in the bush.
The Stronghold team empowers local park rangers with training to help fight poaching and better care for the oppressed.
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Right now, you are helping us save lives and support those who face oppression and violence every day.
Thank you.