Rwanda Turns Poachers Into Gorilla Guardians

Claude Hakorimana started poaching at 14 because it was all he knew—watching his parents hunt buffaloes and zebras to survive near Volcanoes National Park. Today, the 32-year-old former poacher protects the same wildlife he once targeted, representing a stunning reversal powered by community investment and smart enforcement.

Rwanda's approach goes far beyond arresting poachers. The country channels 10% of all park tourism revenue directly back to neighboring communities, funding schools, health centers and clean water infrastructure that give families better options than illegal hunting.

The shift worked for Hakorimana after local leaders explained how poaching destroyed tourism income and wildlife populations. Combined with tougher penalties and real enforcement, the message hit home and changed his path completely.

Now Rwanda has organized former poachers into cooperatives like the Gorilla Guardians. These reformed hunters use their intimate knowledge of poaching routes and methods to warn rangers about planned illegal activities and educate their communities about conservation.

The numbers tell a remarkable story. Snare recoveries soared from 446 in 2019 to 2,336 in 2025, but the Rwanda Development Board says that's actually good news—it means better patrol coverage and improved detection technology are finding traps that previously went unnoticed.

The Ripple Effect

Rangers now use GPS tracking to monitor gorilla groups and digital tools like SMART Conservation to map every snare location. These heat maps reveal poaching hotspots, letting authorities deploy resources exactly where they're needed most.

Physical barriers help too. Rwanda built a stone wall with deep trenches along much of the park boundary to prevent buffaloes from wandering into farms, which often triggered retaliatory snaring by frustrated farmers.

The park expansion launching soon will add 23% more land, creating crucial buffer space between wildlife and communities. That extra room should reduce conflicts that push people toward poaching.

Challenges remain, especially along porous borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda where insecurity fuels cross-border poaching. Rwanda works with neighboring countries through joint patrols and intelligence sharing, though coordination stays difficult in unstable regions.

Eugene Mutangana, Head of Conservation at Rwanda Development Board, says cheap bicycle brake wire snares stay hard to detect in dense forests. His team is testing advanced detection technologies to spot traps faster and monitor poacher movements.

The real breakthrough is making conservation pay for communities. When families see tourism dollars building their children's schools and improving health centers, protecting gorillas becomes protecting their own future—and former poachers become the fiercest guardians.