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Re: Anti-Poaching Campaigns & Initiatives

Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 7:52 pm
by Richprins
\O \O \O

Re: Anti-Poaching Campaigns & Initiatives

Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 8:46 pm
by Bush Brat
An orginisation came to our school a couple of weeks back called "Rhino SA". The school donated money from our Entrepreneurs Day towards the organisation and we also presented them with a cheque for R7000 which was raised by the Grade 5's throughout the year. The people from "Rhino SA" asked us all to write a letter to President Jacob Zuma which all the of the senior phase did while the junior phase drew pictures and made posters to send to him. This organisation had a group of older men that climbed Mt. Kiliminjaro in October to raise money that will be used to make a DVD that will hopefully be shown on our TV and then be taken to Asia. One other thing they did is they have made rhino badges which they sold to each student for R20 and if requested we were able to get for our family members etc. My family has and if you would like to get them too just search up "Rhino SA" which will then give you there number where you can order the badges. All this money will also be used for the DVD and mainly towards getting it broadcast in Asia. \O

Re: Anti-Poaching Campaigns & Initiatives

Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 11:20 pm
by Flutterby
^Q^ ^Q^

My car's got a rhinose! ;-)

Image

Re: Anti-Poaching Campaigns & Initiatives

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 6:42 am
by Tshukudu
SA using aircraft to fight poaching
2012-12-04 18:44


Kruger National Park – Faced with a dizzying spike in the rate of rhino killings, South Africa announced it was deploying a reconnaissance aircraft to combat poaching.

Officials at the internationally-famed Kruger National Park said the military aircraft is equipped with highly sophisticated surveillance technology, including thermal imaging, and it would be deployed to detect poachers looking for rhino horn.

The aircraft was donated to South African National Parks (SANParks) by the Ichikowitz Family Foundation, whose chairman also runs a defence company.

"You have to fight fire with fire," Ichikowitz, chairman of the foundation and also chair of Paramount Group, Africa's largest privately held defence and aerospace company, said.

A record 588 rhino have been killed so far this year in South Africa, home to the world's largest rhino population, more than 18 000 white rhino and around 1 600 critically endangered black rhino.

Of these 364 have been slaughtered in the Kruger National Park, a vast reserve that borders Mozambique.

Ivor Ichikowitz said poaching gangs have become sophisticated and well resourced.

"The war has been declared... enough is enough, we cannot afford to lose any single rhino," Kruger spokesman William Mabasa said.

The rhinos have become victims of a booming demand for their horns, which are believed to have medicinal properties in some traditional Asian medicine.

The animals' distinctive horns are hacked off to be smuggled to the Asian black market where the fingernail-like substance is falsely believed to have powerful healing properties.

The horn is touted as a potent aphrodisiac and even a cure for cancer and turn up on the black market in Vietnam, China and other east Asian nations where they are literally worth their weight in gold.

A Thai national was this year jailed for 40 years for running bogus rhino hunts as cover to sell horns on the black market.


- AFP

Re: Anti-Poaching Campaigns & Initiatives

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 7:54 am
by Sprocky
Well done to the Ichikowitz family!! \O
Tshukudu wrote:"The war has been declared... enough is enough, we cannot afford to lose any single rhino," Kruger spokesman William Mabasa said.
My dear William...you had been warned about this long ago, if only you and your buddy David had got up off your backsides then already and started taking action, it would surely not have escalated to this point! :evil:

Re: Anti-Poaching Campaigns & Initiatives

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 8:28 am
by Penga Ndlovu
Nothing more to add. O/ :evil:

Re: Anti-Poaching Campaigns & Initiatives

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 8:41 am
by RobertT
Sprocky wrote:Well done to the Ichikowitz family!! \O
Tshukudu wrote:"The war has been declared... enough is enough, we cannot afford to lose any single rhino," Kruger spokesman William Mabasa said.
My dear William...you had been warned about this long ago, if only you and your buddy David had got up off your backsides then already and started taking action, it would surely not have escalated to this point! :evil:
Agree, well done to Ichikowitz family, will reserve my judgement on the reasons behind it after a google search of the family. \O

Looks like everyone else is pitching in to help, but until Sanparks get their own house in order (namely access control and who is in and out of their staff quarters) I fear it will all be for nought. Personal opinion is most of the horn is going out through gates and a little over border. :evil:

Re: Counter Poaching Efforts

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 9:07 am
by Toko
DEA Media Releas: SA and Vietnam to sign Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of Biodiversity Conservation and Protection next week

South Africa and Vietnam to sign Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of Biodiversity Conservation and Protection next week
4 December 2012

Ms Edna Molewa, the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, will next week sign a Memorandum of Understanding with her counterpart, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Dr Cao Duc Phat. The MoU between the two countries is on cooperation in the field of Biodiversity Conservation and Protection and will be signed in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The signing of the MoU signals another significant intervention in the bid to address the scourge of rhino poaching. This intervention on the international front is intended to promote cooperation between the two countries and compliance with CITES. The MoU will be addressing, in particular, the illegal trade in rhino horn that has seen a scourge in rhino poaching.

Government is convinced that for South Africa to effectively deal with the current scourge of poaching, and with illegal hunting largely driven by international demand for the rhino horn, these international engagements and agreements are crucial. The latest rhino poaching statistics indicate that a total of 598 rhinos have been lost to poaching since the beginning of this year, with the total number of arrests at 246. The Kruger National Park has lost 364 rhinos to poaching. KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and the North West provinces continue to be the hardest hit by poachers, collectively accounting for the loss of 194 rhinos.

In September 2011, the governments of Vietnam and South Africa agreed on a process towards the finalisation of the MoU that will see the collaboration of natural resource management, wildlife protection and law enforcement.

Re: Anti-Poaching Campaigns & Initiatives

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 11:57 am
by Richprins
Agreed on all points, Robert! :evil:

Re: Anti-Poaching Campaigns & Initiatives

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 1:00 pm
by Tshukudu
Image
This is the type of plane given to sanparks.

I could mention certain facts here as well, however I must refrain from doing that as it would be about politics. O/