TANZANIA: TANAPA Deploys Surveillance Aircraft In Serengeti National Park

German Ambassador to Tanzania handed over a surveillance aircraft to the Tanzanian Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism which was donated a few months ago during an official visit of the German Foreign Minister to the country. The Husky aircraft will be operated by the Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) for surveillance of the Serengeti National Park to support TANAPA’s fight against poaching.

'We are seeing the large mammals of our protected areas under a severe threat of local extinction because of poaching' said the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Prof. Jumanne Maghembe on the occasion of the handover in Seronera. He thanked the German government for the support in countering the recent upsurge in poaching.

'Stringent law enforcement, community involvement and ecosystem management are key in the fight against poaching', said the German Ambassador Mr. Egon Kochanke before adding: 'I am very proud to be able to hand this aircraft over to the Tanzanian authorities and FZS. This is an important cornerstone of our close and longstanding cooperation'.

It is the Frankfurt Zoological Society which will operate the aircraft in close cooperation with the Serengeti National Park Authority. With aerial support, poacher camps and illegal activities can be detected and the pilots can provide critical information to reaction forces on the ground.

Tanzanian wildlife authorities are faced with a dramatic upsurge of poaching threatening the country’s populations of elephants and rhinos. To counter this threat and to support wildlife and habitat monitoring, the German Government through the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has provided funding for the acquisition of overall three aircraft.

The other two Husky A-1C Aircraft will be deployed in the Tanzanian Selous Game Reserve, one of the hardest hit areas by elephant poaching gangs and the Zambian North Luangwa National Park. The Husky is well suited for monitoring and anti-poaching surveys as it operates at low heights and slow speeds.

This support is part of longer-term financial and technical development cooperation measures implemented by FZS, GIZ, KfW, in collaboration with Tanzania Wildlife Authority TAWA, Tanzania National Parks TANAPA, and the Zambian Department of National Parks and Wildlife DNPW.