Michael Lenaimado - Poachers, Politics & The Battle for Survival

Описание: 00:00 – Aphrodisiacs and Myths
00:52 – East Africa’s Conservation Crisis
01:58 – Meet Ranger Michael Lennai-Maido
02:49 – What Rangers Actually Do
04:06 – Government Rangers vs Community Rangers
07:56 – The Training & Equipment Gap
09:20 – Culture, Terrain and Conflict Patterns
09:56 – How Community Conservancies Began
12:05 – When Wildlife Starts Paying the Community
12:52 – Human–Wildlife Conflict Explained
15:28 – Kenya–Tanzania Coordination on Wildlife Corridors
18:59 – Retaliation, Compensation & Community Pressure
20:55 – What Actually Works: Fences, Pepper, Bees & Light
23:06 – Poaching as Big Business
36:22 – Under Fire: Michael’s Encounters with Poachers
51:57 – The Future: Youth, Tourism & Policy Priorities

Poaching networks, shrinking habitats, foreign market demand and political neglect are reshaping conservation across the region. And rangers are paying the highest price.

In this episode of Panel 54, veteran ranger Michael Lenaimado joins Waweru Njoroge to break down what’s really happening on the front lines. He exposes how organised poaching networks operate, why demand in China for rhino horn and pangolin scales continues to drive killings, and how weak policy and blocked wildlife corridors are pushing entire ecosystems to the brink.

Michael also reveals the human cost:
armed confrontations, poor equipment, low pay, no insurance, and communities losing crops, livestock and livelihoods with little compensation.

This is a story about survival, sovereignty and the people carrying the weight of conservation — told by a ranger who has lived it.

Lagos to Lamu. Cape Town to Cairo.
A global perspective through an African lens.

📩 Let’s talk: [email protected]

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🎙 Recorded in Nairobi, Kenya
🎧 Produced by Commex Africa and E & C Talent