Zimbabwe snare collector gets motorbike

A wildlife activist in Zimbabwe who has been waking up at 5 o’clock every morning, 365 days a year, and walking through the bush collecting snares has been rewarded with a motorbike to use during his work.

Steve Kok has been living in the Charara area of Zimbabwe for 13 years and has become a familiar sight to people there who see him walking with his little dog everyday removing the snares.

Charara initially had an abundance of wildlife including a herd of 650 buffalo. The buffalo herd has now dwindled to 65. Steve then decided to try and minimise the decimation of the wildlife by collecting wire snares from the bush and numerous animals have been saved from a gruesome lingering death by the removal of these snares.

Kok told well wishers that if he could get an off-road bike, he would be able to collect a lot more snares than he has been doing on foot. In response Jenni Ferguson and the members of Mabelreign Country Club in Harare organized a fund raiser and purchased a brand new 200cc off road bike for Steve.

‘We would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to Jenni for all the time and effort she put in to this very successful event which raised a total of $2 450.00. The cost of the bike was $1 895.00 and the balance of $550.00 was donated to Steve for fuel and maintenance,’ wrote e the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force in its newsletter.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: CHARLIE WOODS, CHAIRMAN, OF MABELREIGN COUNTRY CLUB, JOHNNY RODRIGUES, JENNI FERGUSON AND STEVE KOK.

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