A small crime scene stands where conservationist Wayne Lotter was killed. Photo: Daniel Hayduk
A memorial for slain conservationist Wayne Lotter is going to be held at 16:00 on Tuesday, August 22 at Baobab Village on Mwaya Street.
Lotter was gunned down while in a taxi at the corner of Haile Selassie Road and Kaole Road in Masaki late on Wednesday, August 16.
His taxi was forced to a stop, an assailant opened the taxi door and shot Lotter, who co-founded the PAMS Foundation in Tanzania.
The PAMS Foundation supports over 200 game scouts as well as the anti-poaching unit responsible for arresting thousands of poachers.
“Wayne Lotter’s life mission was to protect elephants and dismantle the illegal ivory market. He had known for some time that he was a target,” says a tribute written on National Geographic.
Tanzania’s Tourism and Natural Resources minister Jumanne Maghembe says it is too early to know the motive behind the killing.
On Friday, August 16, Maghembe announced the seizure of 28 tusks of ivory weighing 377 kilograms in a warehouse in the Mbezi Beach area of Dar, leading to the arrest of six men, including the local leader and imam.
A fundraising page in Lotter’s memory has been set up here.
