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On the outskirts of Arawale Nature Reserve in Ijara District, residents keep vigil. They take turns to man all the exits and entries, and visitors to this sleepy district are viewed with suspicion.

Any vehicle leaving the area is thoroughly checked by hawk-eyed residents, who are on a 24-hour surveillance.

This pro bono operation has been prompted by reports that the Government is targeting for export an animal close to their hearts and an endangered species � the Hirola antelope. The community associates the animal with good luck, and their fears have been accentuated by reports that the Government will soon export 175 wild animals to Thailand.

Former Foreign Affairs minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere and his Thai counterpart, Kantatni Suphamongkhon, signed a memorandum last year, witnessed by President Kibaki and Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawata, for the animal exports.

"The Hirola will be exported over our dead bodies," vows Abdikadir Sheik Hassan, who claims that the Government intends to keep the alleged plan secret.

Since news of the Thai exports deal was announced, Ijara has been a no-go zone for "suspicious characters".

Kenya Wildlife Service personnel in the remote district are also being watched closely. Leaders, residents and members of the Ijara Wildlife Conservation and Environmental Management Trust (IWICET), have been assigned strategic places to monitor any suspect activities.

Any visitor alighting from a bus is trailed to their destination until it is ascertained that they have no "ill mission". The residents have formed their own intelligence team, manning the Garissa/ Ijara and Ijar/ Hola roads, the only entry and exit routes, and are on alert for any strange vehicles.

IWICET project co-ordinator, Mr Ali Hirey, says the Government�s move to sell what he terms Kenyan heritage to another country, is unfortunate, adding that the residents are in solidarity with other Kenyans opposed to the deal.

The trust was formed to conserve the endangered antelope and indigenous trees. The residents have armed themselves with all manner of weapons and court injunctions stopping anyone intending to move the animal from its natural habitat without the residents� consent � which is not likely to be forthcoming.

"The Hirola antelope is our pride, which we readily show off to visitors with the good intent of just admiring it," says Hirey.

They say the current tussle over the export of wildlife to Thailand is reminiscent of a row between the local community and KWS over conservancy rights of the Hirola some years back. The matter ended up in court where the community triumphed.

"Our resolve should be a lesson to those too eager to see our wildlife relocated, that there is need to protect what is Kenyan," says the co-ordinator.

KWS invited the wrath of the residents in 1996 when it translocated 36 Hirola antelopes to Tsavo National Park, after classifying the animal as an endangered species in accordance with World Conservancy Union regulations.

Hirola is perhaps the only species that researchers are yet to establish its reasons for being extinct in the rest of the continent. The animal was nicknamed "hunter�s antelope" in honour of HCV Hunters, a sportsman who discovered it in 1887.

The residents now do not trust anybody, not even KWS � the body mandated to look into the safety of wildlife � to protect their beloved Hirola, for which they are ready to lay down their lives.