Africa Wild

Richprins wrote:Reynold is not General Manager of SanParks, however...rather spokesperson!

J'hust nog a loophole!!!!

The New Age

Feature: Soldiers make impact
Kim Helfrich

The return of soldiers to the iconic Kruger National Park and proactive tactics employed by the South African army since its return to border protection and safeguarding duties, has yielded positive results in terms of its primary function, as well as an important collateral aspect – that of curbing the slaughter of rhino.

Acknowledging this, SANParks’ anti-corruption unit head, Ken Maggs, told a briefing in the Kruger park that the return of soldiers to the renowned game reserve had “undoubtedly strengthened our hand in the war on poaching”.

When the police were tasked with the border protection function they operated in a more reactive manner, as befits the national agency tasked with leading the way in fighting crime, said national defence force director of conventional operations at the joint operations division, Brig Gen Koos Liebenberg.

He stressed police were still “very much part and parcel of our border and anti-poaching operations”.

Illegal immigrants, of whom close on 10 000 have been caught to date this year, are arrested and handed to the police. Poaching and other crime scenes where, for example, contraband such as cigarettes, liquor and clothing are found, are secured by soldiers who then call in police forensic experts to fine comb the scene for traces of evidence.

“We work closely with them and I believe this is another reason for our success since coming back to border protection,” Liebenberg said.

Maggs said the mobility aspect of the SA army deployment was another factor contributing to an improved arrest rate of poachers and a fall in the number of rhino being killed solely for its horn.

“When soldiers move about, as rangers do on irregular patrols, intelligence for poachers is also not as good and they have to take more chances to get their illegal booty.”

In essence, the high mobility concept with soldiers working in groups of five, known as “sticks” from a 4X4 vehicle based at an observation-listening post for 14 days at a time, enables them to move quickly into areas where intelligence indicates a potential threat, either from poachers, smugglers or those intent on coming into the country illegally.

The success achieved to date will see joint operations building further on the concept to make its border protection deployment even better.

“We are at an advanced stage with development of a generic mobile base, which will further enhance our strategic effectiveness,” Liebenberg said.

The base will be fully self-contained to maintain a company deployment at post and “stick level”. It will include medical, logistics and command and control facilities.

So far this year, 1300 soldiers from 7 and 21 SA Infantry Battalions have seized nearly R77m worth of contraband and apprehended close to 10000 illegal immigrants, mostly on the country’s borders with Mozambique, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.

With the exception of the Free State-Lesotho border, where a company from 1 Tank Regiment is deployed, the rest of the soldiers doing border duty are on these borders.

The Mozambican factor is a headache particularly for Maggs and his national Operation Rhino team, with people from this neighbouring country responsible for 70% of rhino poaching in the Kruger park this year.

“It is a problem and while we have cordial relations with the Mozambican wildlife authorities, more has to be done at a higher level,” he said.

He is quietly confident that the decreasing number of rhino being poached, as well as the increasing number of arrests, will continue.

“We now have a team at national level driving Operation Rhino. It includes SANParks, the military, police and other government departments and agencies.

“Looking at the slide downwards in the number of rhino poached this year, one has to say it is encouraging, but we must carry on being proactive, following up on intelligence, going to where the poachers are and also working up to the consumers of rhino horn in China and Vietnam,” Maggs said.

Excellent developments here! The bigger question is the easy exit of contraband to Asia...which makes all these efforts a moot point!

Definite progress!

Table Mountain lights up for rhino

2013-01-29 16:26

Cape Town - Even though Cape Town may be physically removed from the Rhino poaching challenge, it does not mean that Capetonians stand aloof. Table Mountain National Park, announced that they will be pledging their support for the campaign to eradicate rhino-poaching through a special light display against Table Mountain on Tuesday evening.

The park announced that an image of a rhino and the Hawks' anti-rhino poaching helpline number, 071 348 8630, will be projected against the face of Table Mountain, this evening, January 29 from 21:00 to 22:00.

"All nations, all the people of South Africa must work together to save the majestic large rhino; if we don't - what chance is there to save the smaller species from extinction? By the gesture of the projected image, we all pledge our support to all those who are battling this scourge against our beautiful natural assets," they said in a statement.

Last year 668 rhino died at the hand of poachers, while 32 rhino have been killed in less than a month across South Africa this year.

Stunning!!!!

Thanks, Flutts!

Treatment of rhino horn ?????

The Witness

Poaching: toll reaches five in kzn after white rhino killed near Hluhluwe
31 Jan 2013
Supplied

THE province has lost another rhino.
A female white rhino was shot dead on a private reserve near Hluhluwe-Imfolozi on Monday night, bringing to at least five the number of rhinos lost in the province this year. Nationally, the toll is at 32.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife’s Jabulani Ngubane said there was no doubt that the KZN Rhino Watch helicopter was making a difference.
“We’ve seen incidents going up without a chopper and we’ve seen incidents going down with the chopper,” Ngubane said.
Yvette Taylor, of Rhino Watch’s partner organisation, The Lawrence Anthony Earth Organisation, said she was interested in the news that had emerged about a potential deterrent to poachers.
Taylor explained that treatment was applied to the horn to rid the animal of parasites, but if humans ingested the horn, they would suffer nausea, vomiting, convulsions and nervous system disruptions.
The treatment coloured the horn, which could prove a deterrent, she added.
Meanwhile, the KZN Rhino Watch fund has received R1 044 826 in donations and pledges. Make a donation via EFT to The Lawrence Anthony Earth Organisation through First National Bank:
Account: 62080145983
Branch: 223526
Use your name as reference and let us know about your donation via
rhinowatch@ecr.co.za.
If you’d like to sign up for a debit order, call The Lawrence Anthony Earth Organisation at 031 266 2024.

I'm pretty sure some farmers add things that cause much more than "convulsions" by now!