Counter Poaching Efforts

[BunnyHugger]

Well done SANPARKS.

I only have a few questions for y'all.

Why did it take so long for you to recognise that it is indeed a crisis?

How much longer will it take before you implement the technology? (or put in a slightly different way, How many thousands of dead Rhino can we use to measure the effectiveness of the implementation process?)

Dr. Mabunda, your previous comments on this (Rhino poaching) only becoming a problem in about 5 years time leaves me little choice but to conclude that you either have no idea of what you are talking about, and or that you Sir, are a first rate liar.

You have done irreparable damage to SANPARKS and far too many Rhinos have died on your watch. You will NEVER earn my trust or support and I wonder why you don't resign.

A bloody nose is when you get into a small scrap with forum members calling for you to step down. Losing a few battles is like going home when Kruger is burning and you are tired. Losing hundreds of Rhino a yer is a catastrophe Sir, Not a bloody nose.

Now do the honorable thing and step aside so someone with a passion for conservation can do a better job.

[Flutterby]

[Sprocky]

On paper this sounds great!

My question is, who is going to operate this equipment?

Placed in the wrong hands it would aid the poachers as "they" would use it as a counter-counter measure.

[Richprins]

SANParks CEO David Mabunda said the initiative would bring back the confidence of the South African public

Interesting....

[Richprins]

I'm pretty sure Denel initiated his, not the other way around. Well done!

[BunnyHugger]

SANParks CEO David Mabunda said the initiative would bring back the confidence of the South African public

Interesting....

And he is grossly wrong. I have zero confidence in him or his board. And while on the subject, I see the DA are trying to arrange a Debate of No Confidence in one Jacob G Zuma.

Would it not be possible to get a panel together and do something like this for SANPARKS board? Get the press involved and call for the resignation of the board.

And I think Sprocks is correct. The poachers are organised and they have equipment. As long as the government is too tight-fisted to spend money giving the guys on the ground the best equipment, this war will never be won.

There is also a distinct lack of desire. I think the guys doing the poacher tracking don't have their hearts in this. To them it's just something to do to draw a paycheck. Now if we could fund a small group of the old unemployed recces from days gone by, and pay them, we could have this thing wrapped up inside a month. Iin my opinion.)

[H. erectus]

All above suggestions boil down to the same what would seem
to be the solution to this crime, that is , pay money to the right
kind of people.

recces from days gone by, and pay them, we could have this thing wrapped up inside a month.

Indeed BH.

[Toko]

Briefing Parliamentary Portfolio Committee

Rhino poaching 'could hit new high'
Nov 13 2012 3:09PM


The number of rhinos poached this month could hit a new high despite the best efforts of authorities, MPs heard on Tuesday.

"So far [this year]... we have lost more than 500 rhino. [As of] yesterday [Monday], the figure was at 549... The problem is still increasing," environmental affairs deputy director-general Fundisile Mketeni said.

Responsible for biodiversity and conservation in his department, Fundisile was briefing members of Parliament's environmental affairs portfolio committee.

According to figures tabled at Tuesday's briefing, there has been a sharp increase in poaching activity in recent months. They show 25 rhino were illegally killed for their horns in June this year.

This rose to 49 in July, 63 in August, 62 in September, and 75 last month. So far this month, 40 rhino have been killed.

Democratic Alliance MP Gareth Morgan said the figures were worrying.

"I'm deeply concerned about the high number of poachers. I'd really hoped we'd turn the tide in 2012... I'm particularly worried about the November figures, which look at the current rate like this will be the biggest month in 2012."

Morgan asked if something unique had happened in recent weeks that might explain such a "spike" in rhino poaching.

Responding, Mketeni told him: "Honestly, it's difficult to say what is happening."

He said the department would examine its records to see if there was a similar spike in previous years.

Sanparks chief executive officer David Mabunda told the committee the situation was complex.

"We indeed accept there is a challenge. Resources have been made available and arrests have increased, but the numbers of rhino killed have not decreased. It's a very complex situation."

He said SA National Defence Force troops, sent to the Kruger National Park to help stop poaching, were only deployed along the southern half of the flagship reserve's eastern border with Mozambique.

"They are not yet active from Masinga Dam to Crook's Corner [the northern point of the park]. So that is still an open area that is not monitored by the defence force, to give us the first line of defence before we can deal with the poaching inside the park."

However, there were gangs of poachers operating out of villages on the Mozambican side of this area, Mabunda said.

This section of the park's boundary is understood to coincide with the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, proclaimed a decade ago. The international boundary fence in this area, which separated the two countries, was dropped at that time.

"On the Mozambican side, there are 38 villages that dot the Limpopo valley, from the Zimbabwean border to the Komati River, where in some instances unemployment is 100 percent," Mabunda said.

"In [some of] these villages... there are known gangs of poachers operating in that area. They are in another country, and we are not able to go in there and deal with the problem."

Mabunda said he hoped once a buffer zone agreement had been signed between the South African and Mozambican governments, they would be able to work with the Mozambicans and deal with the problem.

"In any given day, we experience between 15 and 20 attacks anywhere along that boundary."

Mabunda said there was a need to "deploy technology" to give "early warning detection" of poachers, and allow troops to move in on them.

Removing the fence along this section of the park's eastern boundary was not necessarily a mistake.

"I don't think fences solve problems," he said.

According to figures tabled at the briefing, 224 poachers have been arrested so far this year. A total of 232 were arrested last year, and 165 in 2010.

Over the past six months, 39 people have been convicted for rhino poaching or related crimes. Many of these have been Mozambican nationals.

Last week, a Thai national was given a 40-year sentence for selling rhino horn. Chumlong Lemtongthai pleaded guilty to 59 counts in the Kempton Park Magistrate's Court, including, among others, illegally exporting about 26 rhino horns, trading in rhino horn, breaching the Customs and Excise Act, and tax fraud.

According to environmental affairs, of the more than 1600 rhino killed by poachers over the past five years, more than half have been killed in the Kruger National Park.

-Sapa



Download Recording (audio file) Department of Environmental Affairs on progress report on Rhino Poaching

[Tshukudu]

"On the Mozambican side, there are 38 villages that dot the Limpopo valley, from the Zimbabwean border to the Komati River, where in some instances unemployment is 100 percent," Mabunda said.
Mabunda said there was a need to "deploy technology" to give "early warning detection" of poachers, and allow troops to move in on them.

I think Mabunda should start looking in his own villages where there is 100% employment and greed. You want early warning, make sure your own house is in order (Add a few very horrible words here)

[Toko]

‘No need for dedicated rhino unit’

‘No need for dedicated rhino unit’

November 13 2012 at 03:53pm
By Laea Medley and Sapa


Durban - Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has rejected a call for a specialised police unit to combat rhino poaching in the province, saying the number of rhinos poached in KwaZulu-Natal this year was not as high as other provinces.

Radley Keys, the DA’s KZN spokesman on conservation and environmental affairs, said Ezemvelo should concede defeat in the battle against poaching and hand over this task to a team “better equipped” to fight the scourge in the province.

He said the precautionary suspension of a senior Ezemvelo official, after investigations of the “Black September” rhino massacre in Zululand, was proof enough that the conservation body could no longer be regarded as a credible force in the fight against poaching.

The senior conservation manager was suspended by Ezemvelo on Friday.

The body’s executive director of operations, Bheki Khoza, said no official charges had yet been laid, but evidence pointed to negligence on the manager’s part in carrying out his duties.

“Preliminary investigations reveal his absence during the terrible weekend period when rangers found seven carcasses poached in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park,” he said.

But according to Keys, problems within the organisation were “endemic”.

Keys also called for a specialised SAPS unit to be brought into effect to spearhead the battle in the province. “Funding must be allocated so that this unit is able to function at optimal level,” he said.

“The consequence of allowing KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife to continue to lead this initiative, with neither the capacity nor suitability to perform such a task, does not bear thinking about.”

But Ezemvelo spokesman Musa Mntambo said poaching in KZN was not as bad as in other provinces.

“We have developed various strategies to combat the poaching problem, and if we hadn’t done this, the province’s poaching statistics would be much higher,” he said.

“We also work closely with the SAPS in carrying out these strategies, so there is no need for a specialised SAPS unit.”

According to the Department of Environmental Affairs, KZN has lost 57 rhinos to poaching since the beginning of the year – out of a national total of 488.

The province’s total last year was 34, compared with a national total of 448.

Environmental group WWF SA rhino co-ordinator Jo Shaw agreed with Mntambo, saying there was already a national wildlife crime reaction initiative in place, making an additional SAPS unit unnecessary.

On Sunday, the Hawks shot dead an alleged rhino poacher and injured another in the Kruger National Park.

Captain Paul Ramoloka said the Hawks received information about alleged poachers, spotted in the Skukuza area at about 2pm.

“When our team confronted the four men, they opened fire on the police, who returned fire. One of the poachers was killed, another is in hospital [and] the other two were arrested,” he said.

Police confiscated a hunting rifle, axe, saw and sedan used by the alleged poachers. The three men would be charged with attempted murder and being in possession of dangerous weapons, Ramoloka said

“We are still trying to link the suspects with some of the rhino poaching which has taken place in the Kruger National Park over the past week,” he added. - Daily News


Link to the DA KZN statement: KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife must concede defeat in war against poaching