Fires burning on Mount Kenya may have been set by poachers; flames rage through bamboo area
An area of forest that was burned to the ground by forest fires is seen on the slopes of Mount Kenya, the second-highest peak in Africa at 5,199 meters (17,057 feet), in Kenya Tuesday, March 20, 2012. Fires that have been raging across Mount Kenya may have been set by poachers trying to create a diversion from their illegal attacks on animals, a wildlife official said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Burned scrub lies smouldering on the slopes of Mount Kenya, the second-highest peak in Africa at 5,199 meters (17,057 feet), in Kenya Tuesday, March 20, 2012. Fires that have been raging across Mount Kenya may have been set by poachers trying to create a diversion from their illegal attacks on animals, a wildlife official said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Simon Gitau, deputy warden of Mt. Kenya National Park, takes photographs of forest fires from a helicopter, in order to show to those on the ground trying to locate and extinguish the fires, over the slopes of Mount Kenya, the second-highest peak in Africa at 5,199 meters (17,057 feet), in Kenya Tuesday, March 20, 2012. Fires that have been raging across Mount Kenya may have been set by poachers trying to create a diversion from their illegal attacks on animals, a wildlife official said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
The shadow of a helicopter carrying park officials and media is cast on an area of forest that was burned to the ground by forest fires on the slopes of Mount Kenya, the second-highest peak in Africa at 5,199 meters (17,057 feet), in Kenya Tuesday, March 20, 2012. Fires that have been raging across Mount Kenya may have been set by poachers trying to create a diversion from their illegal attacks on animals, a wildlife official said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Simon Gitau, deputy warden of Mt. Kenya National Park, seated center, discusses strategy with other members of the Kenyan Wildlife Service as they attempt to put out forest fires on the slopes of Mount Kenya, the second-highest peak in Africa at 5,199 meters (17,057 feet), in Kenya Tuesday, March 20, 2012. Fires that have been raging across Mount Kenya may have been set by poachers trying to create a diversion from their illegal attacks on animals, a wildlife official said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Members of the Kenyan Wildlife Service point to locations of fires on a map as they discuss their strategy to put out forest fires on the slopes of Mount Kenya, the second-highest peak in Africa at 5,199 meters (17,057 feet), in Kenya Tuesday, March 20, 2012. Fires that have been raging across Mount Kenya may have been set by poachers trying to create a diversion from their illegal attacks on animals, a wildlife official said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Members of the British military, working with Kenyan Wildlife Service workers wearing high-visibility orange jackets, gesture to indicate their success at extinguishing an area of wild fire, to an over-flying helicopter carrying park officials and the media, on the slopes of Mount Kenya, the second-highest peak in Africa at 5,199 meters (17,057 feet), in Kenya Tuesday, March 20, 2012. Fires that have been raging across Mount Kenya may have been set by poachers trying to create a diversion from their illegal attacks on animals, a wildlife official said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Forest fires burn across the slopes of Mount Kenya, the second-highest peak in Africa at 5,199 meters (17,057 feet), in Kenya Tuesday, March 20, 2012. Fires that have been raging across Mount Kenya may have been set by poachers trying to create a diversion from their illegal attacks on animals, a wildlife official said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Fires burn across the slopes of Mount Kenya, the second-highest peak in Africa at 5,199 meters (17,057 feet), in Kenya Tuesday, March 20, 2012. Fires that have been raging across Mount Kenya may have been set by poachers trying to create a diversion from their illegal attacks on animals, a wildlife official said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
An elephant takes a dust bath as he grazes on the lower levels of Mount Kenya, the second-highest peak in Africa at 5,199 meters (17,057 feet), as forest fires burn on the slopes above, in Kenya Tuesday, March 20, 2012. Fires that have been raging across Mount Kenya may have been set by poachers trying to create a diversion from their illegal attacks on animals, a wildlife official said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
A helicopter from the Lady Lori charter company drops water from the air in an attempt to put out a fire on the slopes of Mount Kenya, in Kenya Monday, March 19, 2012. A fire on the slopes of Kenya’s tallest mountain has already consumed hundreds of acres of forest and is sending big game animals like elephants fleeing for their lives, as wildlife agents and British troops are fighting to put out several fires, officials said Monday. (AP Photo/Sokomoto Images, Teeku Patel)
A patch of forest burned by forest fires on the slopes of Mount Kenya is seen from a helicopter, in Kenya Monday, March 19, 2012. A fire on the slopes of Kenya’s tallest mountain has already consumed hundreds of acres of forest and is sending big game animals like elephants fleeing for their lives, as wildlife agents and British troops are fighting to put out several fires, officials said Monday. (AP Photo/Sokomoto Images, Teeku Patel)
