August 30, 2017
Pool at Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti. Image credit: Four Seasons
Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti is helping the Frankfurt Zoological Society take on poaching by funding its mobile de-snaring team.
The lodge is among the tour operators supporting the effort, which patrols Serengeti National Park looking for poachers operating in the bush meat trade. Hotels often take on causes central to their community, and with Four Seasons' property centrally located in the Serengeti, environmental and wildlife conservation are at the heart of its outreach.
Poaching prevention
Members of the first de-snaring team include a current Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) ranger, a former TANAPA ranger and four locals. Among the patrol team are former poachers, who provide their insights on the locations and activities of poachers.
Since the effort kicked off in April, the team has been able to rescue 21 live animals caught in snares. It has also found and removed 3,603 snares and discovered 28 poacher camps.
Snares found in Serengeti National Park. Image courtesy of Four Seasons
"The starting phase is focusing on integration of the de-snaring program with the park authority’s routine operations,” said Patrick Eickemeier, Africa communications manager at Frankfurt Zoological Society, in a statement. “Collaboration has been very successful and we hope to support more teams in the future to counter snaring as the most prevalent form of poaching in Serengeti.
“We’re building on the support from the tourism stakeholders,” he said. “The program can really have a very positive and visible impact on the ecosystem.”
Four Seasons’ support of this team came from money it raised through its Discovery Centre Fund, which takes contributions from guests. The hotel also fundraises through the operation of game drives and walking safaris, as well as some products sold through its on-property boutique.
"Through our Discovery Centre Fund, we look to support both the local communities in the region and, of course, the Serengeti's wildlife,” said Martin Cody, general manager of Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti. “Poaching in the National Park is a serious issue, with many people looking to secure bush meat for food or money, yet not realizing the impact that snares are having on dwindling animal populations, not to mention the harm this can cause the individual animals.
“With this in mind, we are so pleased to be a founding member of this new de-snaring program and will continue to work closely with Frankfurt Zoological Society and all other partners to help raise awareness and funds for this essential program."
Due to poaching, many species that call Africa home are seeing their numbers dwindle, with some becoming endangered or extinct. Besides Four Seasons, other brands have taken on the conservation cause.
U.S. jeweler Tiffany & Co. recently rolled out the first part of its social media campaign aimed at raising awareness for ivory poaching with the #KnotOnMyPlanet call to action.
The #KnotOnMyPlanet campaign is raising funds through a limited-edition golden elephant brooch, as well as a new line of elephant-related charms found within the jeweler's #TiffanySaveTheWild collection. Tiffany's jewelry for the effort is available through online retailer Net-A-Porter with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the Elephant Crisis Fund (see story).
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