Zambia: Antelope Whistleblowers Fear for Safety

A conservationist and a journalist have told how they now fear for their safety following the revelations they uncovered surrounding the removal 80 black lechwe, a rare species of antelope, from a protected area in Northern Zambia.

Conservationist Nsama Musonda-Kearns discovered that the lechwe had been moved by the government without prior consultation with the local community, as the law demands.

The story was broken on a privately-owned radio station by Logic Lukwanda, who has subsequently been required to answer questions and record a statement at a police station in Lusaka.

“When I heard that 80 black lechwe had been captured from the Bangweulu Wetlands and trans-located to private ranches, I was deeply concerned about their survival because they are a rare species endemic to the Bangweulu Wetlands and listed under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List as vulnerable”, Musonda-Kearns said.

She says she fears that a change in habitat could endanger the antelope.

But the Zambian government has hit out at the pair, and the Minister of Tourism Ronald Chitotela accused them of being paid off by the opposition to make the government look bad.

The pair say they have both suffered intimidation and threats from police, leading Musonda-Kearns to appeal to the international charity Amnesty International for protection as a whistleblower.