Poachers Flee Empty-Handed as Rangers Interrupt Illegal Activities in Elijio Panti National Park

A group of poachers that was found in the Elijio Panti National Park in the Cayo district, ran off empty handed after they were approached by park rangers. The rangers were from the Itzamna Society, a member of the Association of Protected Areas Management Organizations (APAMO). While conducting routine patrols in the thirteen-thousand-acre national park on January 4, the unarmed rangers responded to the sound of gunshots and found three men with bags of illegal items. Jose Perez, Executive Director of APAMO, spoke on what the rangers managed to recover. 

The rangers handed the items over to the police. Perez says that the rangers must be commended because they perform a service to the country on a volunteer basis, in very dangerous environments. 

One of the poachers was identified as a Guatemalan national who lives in San Antonio Village. The Elijio Panti National Park was established in 2001.