Poaching on the decline

“We’re showing up in places where they never expected to see us,” he said, “so they are now on their guard. They are actually lying low right now and I think this would continue for the rest of the closed season.”

He continued, “Now with the new postings of the game wardens, there would be a heavier law enforcement presence in the forests.”

Another source agreed that poaching has been reduced but it was still a problem, especially in the southern part of the island.

“Poaching has been reduced to some extent,” he explained, “in certain parts of the country, for example, in the Central Range and in the northern areas, but it’s still prevalent in the South. This is so because in the South,” he revealed, “there are a lot of unemployed people and most of the poachers are usually unemployed, so they poach as a means of supporting themselves and their families. And secondly, there was a manpower shortage of law enforcement officers in policing the hot areas of southern poaching.”

However, he warned against complacency by the nation’s law enforcement officers towards this problem.

“Although, poaching has gone down in the Caroni Swamp, it’s still going on in that area and we have to be wary of that,” he said.

He cited an example where a gang of poachers from Southwest La Brea recently entered the Caroni Swamp to catch iguanas.

“The hunting season is closed and iguanas are game species,” he said.

As for the reorganisation of the game warden structure, he agreed with the move.

“It would make a difference because now that we have three game warden’s heading each patrol,” he explained, “it means we have more manpower and therefore, we’d be in a better position to target the hotspots with full contingents of game wardens on patrol throughout the country. Furthermore, we have three competent game warden’s in South now — Cleve John, John Michael Clarke and Andrew George — and they are no nonsense men when it comes to their jobs.”

He said the reshuffling exercise was being planned for quite a while by senior forestry officials because of the increased reports of poaching and illegal hunting over the past five to six years.

“And some of the game wardens were not detecting and arresting the offenders,” he added, “which made the working of the combined units of the game wardens and foresters ineffective because the officers didn’t know exactly who they had to report to, whether it was the conservancy coordinator, or the assistant conservator of the forester in charge of the area. So, this made some of the officers disorientated, resulting in their poor performance and the eventual disbanding of the combined units.”

He continued, “A game warden, who is precepted, is a person who has the power of arrest and like a police officer and estate constable, they are only supposed to take instructions from a senior precepted officer.”

“In fact,” he stated, “it’s unlawful for a civilian to give them instructions in relation to game warden policing duties.

“And there’s now one body who the game wardens have to report to, namely the head of the Wildlife Division,” he added.