Africa Wild

Quite a sad video, was speaking to Bruce Lesley about it today, he told me to watch it.

SA Government welcomes GEF funding to fight rhino poaching

The Department of Environmental Affairs has welcomed the approval by the Council of the Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) of a R25 million funding aimed at strengthening the current wildlife forensic capabilities in South Africa to combat wildlife crimes.

The funding is aimed at assisting the South African government in reducing poaching of rhinoceroses and the illegal international trade in their horns by strengthening enforcement capacity in Southern Africa through enhancement of forensic-based technologies.

South Africa is home to approximately 22 000 white and black rhinoceros of which 12 000 are found in the Kruger National Park. This represents 93% of the world’s total rhino population. The South African population is one of the last viable rhino populations in the world which makes it vulnerable. South Africa is therefore the remaining hope for the world in terms of rhino conservation.

Advances in the field of science have made it possible to use DNA analysis for the examination of evidence for a variety of legal issues involving wild animals. To this end, the Department of Environmental Affairs intends to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Pretoria to facilitate collaborations to thwart the ongoing scourge of poaching, particularly of rhinoceros, in tandem with the norms and standards for the marking of rhinoceros horn and the hunting of white rhino for trophy hunting purposes.

The allocation, which is a shot in the arm for efforts by government to fight rhino poaching, comes two months after the gazetting of revised norms and standards in terms of which samples are to be taken for DNA analysis of the live rhinoceros when translocated. The norms and standards further prescribe that DNA samples are collected from the hunted animal and the hunting trophy including horns to verify the legality of the hunt. The bona fide status of the hunting client and specifications in terms of horn identification and microchipping are also addressed by the revised norms and standards.

With regard to the collection of samples for DNA profiling, the norms and standards state that when live rhinoceros is darted for translocation, treatment or any other management purpose, samples of the horns and blood must be collected by using the RhODIS™ DNA kits provided by the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory. Samples may only be collected by either a registered veterinarian responsible for the darting of live rhinoceros, an official from the issuing authority trained in the collection of samples or the official or environmental management inspector who attended the hunt and is trained in the collection of samples. As soon as possible after it has been collected, the samples must be sent to the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory of the Faculty of Veterinary Science of the University of Pretoria at Onderstepoort for analysis for the purpose of DNA profiling and incorporation into the RhODIS™ database.

The allocation comes as a South African Government delegation prepares to visit Hong Kong to take DNA samples of the rhino horns confiscated by the Hong Kong authorities late last year. The DNA will be taken on these horns and matched with the samples in the RhODIS™ database. Matches between these recovered horns and the RhODIS™ database may provide evidence that could be used in further prosecutions. The South African government would like to urge all Non Government Organisations and organisations involved in fighting rhino poaching to continue working together with law enforcement agencies and research institutions to utilise science based evidence for the conviction of alleged poachers.

Note to Editors:

On 14 November 2011, Hong Kong Customs intercepted 33 pieces of rhino horn and worked ivory concealed in a 40 inch container which was declared as 2 scrap plastic in 63 packages. The rhino horns and worked ivory were seized for investigation. There were 33 pieces (86.54kg) of rhino horn, 127 pieces (9.2kg) of ivory bracelets and 759 pieces (13.22kg) of ivory chopstick in the consignment which were transported by sea from Cape Town. This is the biggest consignment of illegally traded rhino horn originating from South Africa which has been seized outside of South Africa and any information that can be obtained will be used to facilitate the arrest of the perpetrators.


Media queries:
Albi Modise
on 083 490 2871

Issued by:
The Department of Environmental Affairs on 27 June 2012

2012-06-27 13:09

Cape Town - Environmental affairs has welcomed the $3m (about R25m) it received earlier this month from the Global Environment Facility to fight rhino poaching.

The money would be used for, among other things, the "enhancement of forensic-based technologies", including DNA identification of rhino horn, the department said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Advances in... science have made it possible to use DNA analysis for the examination of evidence for a variety of legal issues involving wild animals."

The department would sign a memorandum of understanding with the University of Pretoria to "facilitate collaborations to thwart the ongoing scourge of [rhino] poaching".

This followed the publication earlier this year of new norms and standards for the marking of rhino horn, and the hunting of white rhino for trophy purposes.

Department spokesperson Albie Modise said the funding would mainly be used to help improve the capabilities of the university's Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, and a "broad suite of measures" to combat rhino poaching.

A rhino DNA database was being established, he said.

South Africa is home to about 22 000 white and black rhino, about 93% of the world's rhino population.

- SAPA

Dogs to help curb rhino poaching
2012-07-14 13:30

Johannesburg - Dogs have joined the mission to stop rhino poaching around the country, The Citizen reported on Saturday.

Three highly trained pedigree pooch dogs will be set out into the Pilanesberg, Kruger National Park and a third undisclosed Eastern Cape park on Sunday to help rangers capture rhino poachers.

"These are not your ordinarily trained sniffer dogs but dogs who had a bush approach," Stop Rhino Poaching founder Elsie Daffue told The Citizen. The dogs will spend the next few days familiarising themselves with the animals and the bush with their rangers.

"Being out in the bush and with their trainers around them would help the dogs to adapt, Each park has also constructed specially built kennels for their protection, as they would be exposed to poisonous snakes," Daffue was quoted as saying.

According to the paper, the foundation spent around R4 700 on military training for the dogs at the Mechem Training Centre in Tshwane. The animals would not be given any bulletproof gear but would rely on their trainers and their instincts for survival.

Three trusted rangers had been allocated to work with the dogs. "They had undergone nine week of training with their dogs in order to become their handlers," Daffue told the paper.

South Africa has seen a surge in the number of rhino poaching incidents.

More than 270 rhinos had been slaughtered for their horns so far this year. Rhino horn is used to make traditional medicine, which is mainly consumed in Asia.


- SAPA

Have their not been mention of this for Kruger too? Maybe they have only mentioned specially trained dogs

More like sniffer dogs at the gates for Kruger RP

They are using dogs in Kruger, in pursuit of poachers. Dogs based in Skukuza.

Thank you! I knew I had heard it somewhere

Dog to track rhino poachers
2012-07-23 08:31

Johannesburg - Russell, a Belgian shepherd dog, is the Pilanesberg Nature Reserve's newest weapon against rhino poachers.



Beeld newspaper reported on Monday that Russell and his handler walked around the Pilanesberg Nature Reserve in the North West on Sunday - the dog's first day on the job.

He "graduated" from Mechem in Centurion two weeks ago, a department in Denel which trains sniffer dogs.

Russell's brief is to track down rhino poachers.

"It takes 36 hours before a person's smell disappears from a scene. When we hear gunshots or suspect that there are poachers in the reserve, Russell will track them down easily," said his handler, who did not want to be named for safety reasons.

A total of 281 rhinos have been poached this year, according to numbers released by the environmental affairs department earlier this month.

SABC radio news reported on Monday that another rhino had been killed on a game farm in Hartbeesfontein in the North West.

- SAPA