Africa Wild

Depressing thought!

Media Release: Ranger shot and wounded by poachers in the KNP

Date: 2016-03-07

South African National Parks (SANParks) announced today, 7 March 2016 that a Ranger was shot and wounded during a contact with suspected armed poachers in the Kruger National Park (KNP) yesterday, 6 March 2016.

There was a contact with three suspected poachers in the Houtboschrand section of the Park at around 17:30 hours yesterday. During a follow-up to apprehend the suspects, a fire-fight ensued wherein Field Ranger Killers Ubisi was shot and wounded in the arm by the suspected poachers. He was subsequently airlifted to a medical facility in Nelspruit and is in stable condition. During the contact, one of the poachers was fatally wounded and two managed to escape arrest.

The KNP Managing Executive, Glenn Phillips, has extended his well wishes to Field Ranger Ubisi on behalf of all staff in SANParks. “Field Ranger Ubisi is an endearing member of our Ranger Corps and we would like to wish him a speedy recovery. We also wish to thank all our Rangers who are in the face of these cross-fires day and night, in an attempt to protect our natural resources. Our appreciation also goes out to the team who played a critical role in getting Ranger Ubisi to the safety of a hospital in time”.

No arrests have been made as yet and the SANParks with the support of SAPS are currently conducting follow up investigations into the incident.

“SANParks remains committed to doing everything in its power to fight the scourge of poaching. We would like to encourage members of the public to report poaching or other wildlife criminal activities to 013 735 0197 or 076 801 9679 to ensure that those who commit these deeds are brought to book”, concluded Phillips.

Issued by:
South African National Parks, Kruger National Park

Media enquiries:
Reynold Thakhuli
Acting Head of Communications, SANParks
Tel: 012 426 5203; Cell: 073 373 4999
Email: rey.thakhuli@sanparks.org

William Mabasa
GM: Communications & Marketing, Kruger National Park
Tel: 013 735 4363, cell: 082 807 3919
E-mail: william.mabasa@sanparks.org

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IUCN reports deepening rhino poaching crisis in Africa
09 March 2016 | International news release
The number of African rhinos killed by poachers has increased for the sixth year in a row with at least 1,338 rhinos killed by poachers across Africa in 2015, according to new data compiled by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission’s African Rhino Specialist Group (AfRSG).
This is the highest level since the current crisis began to emerge in 2008. Since then poachers have killed at least 5,940 African rhinos.
Demand for rhino horn from South East Asia is being illegally supplied by sophisticated transnational organised crime networks. “The extensive poaching for the illegal trade in horn continues to undermine the rhino conservation successes made in Africa over the last two decades,” says Mike Knight, Chair of IUCN’s AfRSG, which just concluded its biennial meeting.
However, increased law enforcement effort and expenditure in recent years have coincided with a slowing down in the rate of increase of poaching continentally from 2013-2015. Over the last two years, poaching has declined in Kenya and, for the first time since 2008, the number of rhinos poached in the major range state, South Africa, fell slightly last year (including in Kruger National Park).
“This is testimony to the valiant and enormous efforts underway – often against overwhelming odds – to curb the losses,” says IUCN Director General, Inger Andersen. “It also demonstrates the commitment of field rangers who – at tremendous cost to themselves and their families – work tirelessly, risking their lives daily. Sadly, these improvements have been dampened by alarming increases in poaching over the past year in other vitally important range states, such as Namibia and Zimbabwe.”
The continued poaching has impacted on rhino numbers. According to the experts who met recently in South Africa, numbers of the more numerous white rhino (Ceratotherium simum) appear to have levelled off on the continent, with 2015 numbers provisionally estimated at between 19,682 and 21,077. While the total white rhino estimate is down -0.4% per annum since 2012 (compared to the updated 2012 estimate), this difference is within the margin of error around the estimates and not statistically significant.
The black rhino (Diceros bicornis) – listed on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ as Critically Endangered – has fared slightly better with continental numbers for 2015 estimated at between 5,042 and 5,455 rhinos, representing a statistically significant +2.9% per annum increase on the updated 2012 estimate. Poaching has, however, reduced growth in black rhino numbers to below the usual +5% per annum target growth rate.
South Africa currently conserves 79% of Africa’s rhinos and has suffered the bulk (85%) of poaching on the continent since 2008. The country’s vast Kruger National Park is home to the world’s largest rhino population and has borne the brunt of the killing. While the margins of error around the Kruger National Park rhino population estimates between 2012 and 2015 overlapped, statistical modelling suggests that in all likelihood the populations of both black and white rhinos have decreased in the Park. This has however been countered by net increases in the numbers of black and white rhino elsewhere in South Africa and other countries.
Rhinos lost to poaching also represent a significant loss of revenue for African countries, reducing incentives for the private sector and communities to conserve rhino. Based on recorded average live rhino sale values from some major sellers, rhinos killed illegally in 2015 in South Africa alone represent an estimated loss of around US$25 million. The meeting heard how substantially increased security costs and risks to staff and rhinos, coupled with declining and limited economic incentives, is resulting in increasing numbers of private white rhino owners in South Africa selling or looking to sell many or all of their white rhino. Poaching threatens to reduce the range area available to rhino in future as well as cutting conservation agency revenue and budgets.
IUCN’s AfRSG recognises the important role that commercial wildlife enterprises, including live sales, tourism and limited controlled trophy hunting, have played in generating incentives for conservation and stimulating population increases of rhinos on state, private and communal land in Africa. Other themes such as alternative conservation funding mechanisms, the importance of community livelihoods, and strategies to reduce demand for illegally sourced rhino horn were discussed at the meeting to both enhance the value and conservation of rhinos on the African landscape.
While there is certainly room for improvement, Mozambique, which has been heavily implicated in much of the poaching and trafficking of horn, has made some recent progress, with AfRSG noting increased collaboration with neighbouring Kruger National Park. The country is also in the process of tightening legislation, increasing penalties and entering into bilateral agreements. The IUCN Group remains hopeful that proposed new laws with increased penalties for poaching and trafficking will be passed soon and then stringently enforced. Mozambican progress in implementing its National Ivory and Rhino Action plan is being followed closely; with the country due to report back to CITES on progress.
Wildlife crime is just one form of organised criminal activity undertaken by powerful transnational crime syndicates that also traffic in drugs, weapons and people. These criminals are now widely recognised as a global challenge and threat to national security. Such networks control much of the illegal trade in wildlife, destabilising communities and countries and corrupting government officials and structures. There is worrying evidence of the increasing involvement of Chinese citizens along with nationals from South East Asian countries like Vietnam, Laos and Thailand, as well as North Korea, in the illicit trade in rhino horn.
“With immediate, urgent interventions on all fronts,” Dr Knight concludes, “we hopefully will be able to get rhinos onto a more positive growth curve again.”
For more information please contact:
Alistair Burnett, Media & Communications Manager: + 41 79 452 2872, alistair.burnett@iucn.org
Goska Bonnaveira, Communications Officer: +41 22 999 0245, goska.bonnaveira@iucn.org

Perhaps the latest incident is the biggest part of the problem - gate control. It is now a month since I addressed an e mail to the top Management of KNP wherein this was raised and I have still not received a reply regarding a shocking incident at Crocodile bridge gate!

Now this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A police official that was based in Skukuza was apprehended earlier this year for poaching. He has not been charged yet because the investigation is still underway, but he was discharged from the SAPS. Now he was again caught, with hunting rifles etc. in his vehicle. If he was dismissed from the SAPS, there was no reason why he had to be in the park. How did somebody like this get in through the gates? As we witnessed ourselves (at Kruger Gate), the guards at the gates seems to know most of the personnel that regularly commute in and out.










Deur Buks Viljoen 11 Maart 2016 00:16

Hy is vroeër vanjaar ook gevang, maar omdat die ondersoek teen hom nog aan die gang is, is hy nog nie aangekla nie. Hy is wel uit die polisie geskors.

Volgens brig. Hangwane ­Mulaudzi, woordvoerder van die Valke, is die polisieman en drie makkers in Skukuza aangekeer terwyl hulle blykbaar gereed gemaak het om renosters te gaan stroop.

Hulle is voorgelê en by hul voertuig vasgetrek. Die polisieman het glo probeer weghardloop, maar is deur ’n veldwagter platgetrek.

In die voertuig het die polisie ’n .458-jaggeweer met ’n knaldemper en ’n magasyn met 20 koeëls, nege messe en kapmesse, ’n saag en twee radio’s ontdek.

Met die inligting wat die verdagtes aan die polisie gegee het, is ’n tweede voertuig opgespoor en nog verdagtes aangekeer.

’n Helikopter van die wildtuin is gebruik om na ’n derde voertuig te soek. Dié voertuig is ’n ent van Skukuza af deur die helikopter voorgekeer.

Veldwagters het toe nog ’n verdagte vasgetrek en ’n jaggeweer in sy voertuig ontdek.

Die verdagtes verskyn na verwagting môre in die hof.



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How brazen! Caught before, suspended, comes back with 3 vehicles and guns into the headquarters of Kruger.

F this!

Helicopters, dogs, night seeing gear etc. are useless if they are not even able to control who comes in and goes out

Security at gates are far more interested to hire out beautiful ladies than to check the vehicles for weapons

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12.3.2016 11:00 am
Rhino will never go extinct – SANParks
Amanda Watson


Kruger National Park – It’s not possible for rhino in South Africa to go extinct, said the Kruger National Park’s head of scientific services Danie Pienaar.

“There is no way they are going to go extinct, they cannot go extinct, because there is just too many of them, they are in so many places,” said Pienaar.

“In the Kruger Park, their numbers can go down, yes, if they get to about, I don’t know what, a 1 000 rhino, 2 000 rhino, we are going to make a big camp which we will fortify like Fort Knox and they are going to be safe there.

“They cannot allow it to go extinct because South Africa and the people will not allow it to happen.”

The numbers chosen by Pienaar were purely arbitrary for example only and do not reflect official policy. He said ultimately the message to poachers was, don’t bargain on extinction, it’s not a good investment.


-Poaching trends stabilise-

The International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission’s African Rhino Specialist Group (AfRSG) released its update on the stars of rhino in Africa and poaching trends this week.

Many have picked up on growth in numbers of live rhino was slowing and a prediction by AfRSG if poaching continued exponentially at a rate of more than 38% per annum, then by 2019 less than 10 000 would remain on the African continent.

“The latter extinction in the wild however will be unrealistic as this simplistic modelling ignores the likelihood that the last few rhinos are likely to harder to find and poach and most probably would be under very high protection,” the AfRSG report stated. “Thus in reality it probably would take longer to reach extinction than predicted by this simple model.”

AfRSG noted poaching continued to decline in Zimbabwe, while poaching at a continental level continued to escalate in 2013 with just over 1 100 being recorded poached.

“South Africa conserves 82% of Africa’s rhinos and it also has experienced the most poaching in absolute terms since 2009. Poaching also spiked in Kenya in 2013, and in relative terms while at similar levels, rhino poaching in Kenya is now a little higher than in South Africa,” AfRSG said.

It also found poaching rates in South Africa had stabilised over the last 15 months.


-Poachers lives to be made more difficult-

Inside the western border of the KNP lies the Wildlife College of Southern Africa, which works closely with SANParks in order to feed an ever growing demand for qualified personnel.

Recognised as one of the best wildlife colleges in the world since its inception in 1996, and with the support of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-SA) and the Peace Parks Foundation, the college has trained more than 14 000 people from 46 countries, but mostly from countries in the SADC region, in natural resource management and conservation practices.

It also trains field rangers from across Africa in anti-poaching in a programme designed by KNP for KNP.

AfRSG noted the relative distribution of rhinos remained similar with 98% (25 000) continuing to be conserved by four range States: South Africa, Namibia, Kenya and Zimbabwe.

“Just over 500 rhino occur within three other range states – Botswana, Tanzania and Swaziland – with each conserving over 100 rhinos.

“Encouragingly, after a period when poaching levels were sufficient to depress rhino numbers, Zimbabwe’s rhino numbers have again been increasing in response to the reduced rhino poaching,” the report stated.

Also, Mozambique reported this week it had 25 rhino of its own under 24 hour surveillance by battle hardened veterans, and officials in the Parque Nacional do Limpopo were optimistic about growth.


-Poaching a deadly business-

“Stoprhinopoaching.com reports an increasing number of poachers in South Africa have suffered fatal wounds in shoot outs with anti-poaching units,” AfRSG stated.

“A minimum of 54 poachers died following shootouts in 2011 and 2012 increasing to at least 50-plus in 2013 with the majority in Kruger Park and small numbers in KwaZulu-Natal.

“So far this year a further 30 poachers have died as a result of armed contacts in Kruger and another two in KwaZulu-Natal.”

With a Bat Hawk microlight at the college’s disposal, chief pilot Bruce McDonald spends many hours finding rhino, assisting in anti-poaching operations and in recovery operations where, for instance, a rhino calf has been orphaned due to poachers.

Rangers have highly specialised tools at their disposal including night vision equipment, sniperscopes, ground to air communication, and tracker dogs. Mozambican authorities revealed this week once all the villagers have been moved out of its park bordering KNP, the fence would come down between the two parks which would allow rangers free movement across the border.

Limpopo Park project manager Anthony Alexander said with some villages still within 10km of the border, it was an easy walk. However, relocation had reduced attacks from Mozambique to about 25% of incidents.

Once the relocation was complete, would-be poachers would have to cross 75km of hostile territory before even entering the Kruger.

So are they waiting for the numbers to decrease and then start protecting them?