KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Oct. 10 (UPI) — Four men in the Democratic Republic of Congo are dead after anti-poaching forces clashed with elephant poachers in the nation’s Garamba National Park.
The men were killed earlier this week in a firefight that broke out after a ten-man patrol unit traced the tracking collar of a killed elephant to a poachers camp. Outnumbered by poachers, the patrol unit was forced to disperse and retreat, but not before four men were fatally shot.
On Friday, African Parks, a conservation group that helps manage and protect Garamba, announced the names of the men killed in the skirmish.
The fatalities included: Garamba rangers Anselme Kimbesa Muhindo, Andre Gada Migifuloyo and Djuma Adalu Uweko, and Colonel Jacques Sukamate Lusengo, a member of the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) who was assisting the patrol team.
The four men leave behind four wives and 14 children among them.
Six members of the patrol unit were successfully rescued by an African Parks helicopter, which took fire from poachers as it picked up the fleeing rangers.
The helicopter was unable to return due to the damage suffered during the rescue mission, but another larger and heavily armed patrol unit retrieved the bodies of the four killed men the following day. The poachers had since relocated their camp.
“Our sincere condolences go to the families of the four men who tragically lost their loved ones while they were bravely eliminating the scourge of elephant poaching from Garamba National Park,” Peter Fearnhead, CEO African Parks, said in a press release. “This brings to eight the number of people who have lost their lives in Garamba in 2015 alone.”
Garamba is one of Africa’s oldest national parks. It’s known for its sizable (but shrinking) African elephant population, and was the last place to host wild northern white rhinos (a species now relegated to zoos). In 2014, poachers were reported to have killed 68 elephants in Garamba.
