Sunday 25 January 2015

$2m from US Foundation buys helicopter to fight poaching in DRC

The efforts of on-profit organisation, African Parks, to resolve the poaching crisis in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been bolstered by a $2 million grant from the Howard G Buffett Foundation (HGBF) in the United States.

The funding was used to purchase a the Eurocopter (Airbus) AS 350 B3 model helicopter, designed to accommodate a pilot plus five rangers with sufficient weapons and equipment for a 10-day patrol.

It is equipped with night vision capabilities and has been fully fitted for African Parks’ law enforcement operations to implement a variety of dedicated anti-poaching and support initiatives.

These activities include show-of-force operations, the rapid deployment of anti-poaching rangers, surveillance flights, the transportation of tracker teams in follow-up operations, the gathering of information on unauthorised aircraft flying over parks, the drop-off of supplies to ground units and the evacuation of ranger casualties.

No comments:

Post a Comment

You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!

Related Posts with Thumbnails

ShareThis