12-tonne Pile of Tangled Snares and Metal Traps Reveal Ongoing Battle against Poachers in Uganda

Images, showing Ugandan government rangers posing with the traps, illustrate an African success story and a world of pain, say those who helped create it. The pile, nicknamed “snare mountain”, was collected over 12 months as part of continuing conservation efforts at Uganda’s Murchison Falls national park. At the bottom are so-called bear traps, used by poachers to catch elephants, hippos and lions. At the top are wire snares used for smaller animals. “Over the past 10 years, we’ve removed about 47 tonnes of snares and bear traps,” says Michael Keigwin, the founder of Uganda Conservation Foundation (UCF), a charity that works with the country’s wildlife authorities.