Africa Wild

Emulate Namibia’s rhino triumph

JUNI 12 2013, 00:00


RHINO poaching can be stopped dead in its tracks, and Namibia can show South Africa, Africa and the world how to do this.

Namibia has created wildlife conservatories that employ local people, pay them to use their land as wildlife reserves, and relies on their eyes and ears on the ground to spot poaching. Rehabilitated poachers are now assisting in the fight against poaching.

Over the last few years, Namibia has had few incidents of rhino poaching and this was set to be a rhino poaching-free year — unfortunately, a female rhino carcass was found in the remote, desolate and sparsely populated area of Damaraland.

Habitats of this nature are a poacher’s dream. Swift action was taken by the local community and in no time the alleged poacher was arrested and the rhino horns were recovered.

The figures are a testimony to what works: In 2010, two rhino were poached in Namibia. In South Africa, the figure was 333. In 2011 in Namibia, zero were poached compared to 448 in South Africa. Last year, one rhino was poached in Namibia, while 668 were killed in South Africa.

And up to February 20 this year, no rhinos had been poached in Namibia, while 102 had been poached in South Africa. The total number of rhinos poached between 2006 and 2012 stand at five in Namibia and 1,805 in South Africa.

Much has been said about rhino poaching and how to stop it: dehorning, better protection by the state and private security companies, stricter law enforcement, harsher sentences, co-operation at national and international government level, dealing with international crime syndicates by involving Interpol and other major crime fighting agencies.

These very expensive methods have achieved very little success.

A new approach is required. The major crime syndicates are successful because, among others things, they add value to the living conditions of poor peasant communities in South America, Afghanistan, Cambodia and even in South Africa and elsewhere.

These subsistence farmers produce coco leaves, poppy plants and dagga. The drug lords either buy from them, or pay them to work on their farms.

Why can’t we make communities living in and around the parks our partners in fighting crime?

We resettled them.

We forcefully removed them. They were treated like impediments to conservation. Why should they assist in the fight against poaching? The poachers use them as aids in their diabolical operations.

The local communities know where the rhinos are grazing and when the game rangers are operating in their areas.

Criminals pay them for this intelligence when they plan their raids. These communities are turning a blind eye. They have no interest in the survival of the rhinos. It means nothing for their hungry children or their sick wives, and the only ones who are really gaining are the poachers.

Namibia has succeeded in turning this around. The Namibian elephant herds have doubled and t he number of black rhino herds has stabilised. This was made possible by creating wildlife conservatories.

A conservation miracle. Communities were no longer forcefully removed or resettled. They were allowed to remain — or resettled on their ancestral land.

They lived in and around protected areas. They became economic and conservation partners. Communities are employed in the parks and game lodges as tourist guides, hunters, drivers and many other available positions.

Conservation adds value to the lives of these communities. They have a vested interest and will protect and conserve what has become their livelihood and way of life.

Make the poachers game rangers and conservationists. South Africa can learn from this.

Johann Durand

Parliamentary and stakeholder relations, Department of Tourism

All fair and well, but this has to be tackled by a government/parliament that actually are concerned about and want to stop poaching. Not even our parks custodians show that much interest in halting the form of crime!

Braam Malherbe: An Integrated Approach of Multiple Solutions is Needed in Fight Against Rhino Poaching
by Ceri on Jun 12th, 2013

Braam Malherbe, author of The Great Run, has written about South Africa’s fight against rhino poaching. He thinks that “2013 may be the critical turning point for the survival of the remaining rhinos on earth” and says that he believes an integrated approach is needed.

Malherbe writes that as “a passionate and committed conservationist, I have spent many years exploring the potential solutions to saving this iconic species from extinction”, he then examines the pros and cons of the various solutions that have been suggested:


2013 may be the critical turning point for the survival of the remaining rhinos on earth. These are the few that have managed to escape the onslaught of poaching in South Africa. The rhino murders are now possibly resulting in more deaths than calves being born. Have we reached a tipping point to their survival, what is the true situation and what are the solutions?
The official death toll for rhinos killed in poaching incidents in 2012 was 668, including an estimated 30 critically endangered black rhinos. This figure was up from 448 in 2011, of which 19 were black rhino. This equates to almost two rhinos killed every day for 365 days. By the 25th May 2013, the death toll had already reached 350, with most of the animals dying gruesome deaths.

Source:http://sunbird.bookslive.co.za/blog/201 ... -poaching/

'More willing poachers than rhino'
2013-06-13 10:00
Chantelle Nicholas

Cape Town – Rhino poaching is close to resulting in more deaths than calves being born, Braam Malherbe, extreme conservationist and 50/50 television presenter, said.

"In 2008 an average of 19 to 20 rhino were poached annually. In 2009 122 rhino were poached, in 2010 the figure increased to 333, in 2011 448 rhino were poached and in 2012 668 rhino were poached," Malherbe told News24.

"From 2010 to 2012 the figures doubled. This year as at the end of May more than 350 rhino were killed. Out of the 350 rhino killed nationally 242 were killed in the Kruger Park. And of the 668 and 448 rhino killed nationally, between 2011 and 2012, an average of 72% of the rhino killed were in the KNP."

According to him the KNP accounts approximately for 48% of the national total rhino population. He said most of the poaching is also taking place in the eastern boundary between Mozambique which is about 400km long and is largely unprotected.

"There are more willing poachers than there are rhino. The elements driving the rhino killings are highly organised crime syndicates who will stop at nothing to fuel the trade."

The number of people arrested countrywide on rhino poaching-related charges was currently at 121. Fifty-six of them were arrested in the KNP.

He said rangers must be rewarded and deserve to be acknowledged for arresting poachers.

"I feel strongly that our rangers, who risk death in a confrontation with armed poachers, should be financially incentivised. A field ranger is not highly paid. To expect him to risk his life to save a rhino when he has a family to feed is a big ask. Most are dedicated but some are open to temptation to collude with the enemy. Simple GPS co-ordinates from a cellphone, giving the location of a rhino to a poacher, may secure a significant sum of money for a struggling family."

Rhino horn trade

Michael Eustace, an environmental economist and asset manager, said the ban in trade in rhino horn has been a dismal failure, pushing the trade underground where it has thrived.

"Southern Africa could supply the market with 676 horns a year from natural deaths alone. There are also legal stockpiles of over 5 000 horns. Southern Africa could easily supply the market with 940 horns a year and increase this by 40 horns a year from natural deaths, provided poaching was controlled.

"In addition, private farmers in South Africa could provide the equivalent of 1 000 horns or 4 000kg a year by cropping their horns. The horn re-grows at the rate of 0,8kg a year. In theory, Southern Africa could provide the market with 1 940 horns a year, or more than twice the current demand."

Malherbe said not enough people have successfully been prosecuted for poaching as "the process from the crime scene to an arrest to an actual conviction takes way too long".

He said the parks do get tip-offs from the public about suspected poaching activities but more people need to do so. The National Wildlife Crime Reaction Unit number people can call if they know of any poaching activities is 0800 205 005.

"There is no such thing as a single solution to end rhino poaching, we will have to gather an arsenal of tools to form a successful strategy. We need a fundamental paradigm shift in our current failed rhino conservation strategy and a far more collaborative approach in seeking solutions.

"We must make informed decisions, remove sentiment and take decisive action in helping win the rhino wars," Malherbe said.

Kruger just the start
South Africa is in a low-intensity war in the Kruger National Park. If it loses on that front we can expect to fight across the rest of our wildlife parks.

25 June 2013

The Department of Environmental Affairs reported this month that 428 rhino has been poached so far this year (267 alone in the Kruger National Park), and 122 poaching-related arrests made.

We are well on track to exceed last year’s record of 668 dead rhino, a continual rise since the loss of seven of these beasts at the century’s turn.

But there are 3 600 black rhino and 11 300 white rhino in South Africa, and SA National Parks reports a birthrate of more than 8% a year compared to a current poaching rate of less than 4%.

That’s heartening news but the numbers don’t tell the whole tale. Firstly, bald statistics hide nuances, such as rhino producing more male than female births, but female mortality exceeding male mortality when they are poached.

In an illegal wildlife industry worth an estimated of R90 billion globally last year, rhino horn fetches $650 000 a kilogram; and an entire sub-economy on the Mozambique side of the Kruger border has sprung up to benefit from and support this trade.

That particular border is the crux. Former US military attaché to SA, and now head of the Reserve Protection Agency, Major Scott Williams, says that South Africa is in an undeclared low-intensity war with poachers, who are facilitated by the Mozambican army, commanded by Vietnamese officers. The Mozambicans use aggressive tactics and, says Williams, deploy their forces well within SA territory.

“This year has already seen more than 100 combat contacts between rangers and poachers in Kruger.

“For tourism to collapse we need just one incident of foreigners caught in the crossfire,” he said.

In response, SANParks appointed former SANDF army Major-General Joop Jooste in December to co-ordinate the counter-war.

He describes South Africa as “under attack in an undeclared war”. But, despite an announced injection of R53 million from government to help fight this war, this hasn’t appeared.

Government has also announced its intention to re-erect a border fence alongside Mozambique, although a full-scale fence with detection devices would cost about R1 billion.

In a country awash with rhino poaching “awareness” fundraising drives, there doesn’t seem to be awareness that what is most needed is military-type equipment.

The equipment exists, notably in the US, and includes gyrocopters that can be armed with machine guns and grenade launchers, groundbased mobile radar trucks that detect up to 300 simultaneous land and air targets over 45 000ha and infra-red devices that follow humans over that area.

Unmanned drones, says Williams, are less effective than may seem.

“Although relatively cheap, using drones over the bush is like looking through a straw and hoping for the best. We need to be far more serious than that.”

He is echoed by renowned conservationist Ian Player, who regards the Kruger’s war as just the start.

If we fail to turn the poaching tide there, it will move onto KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

“The Kruger Park is the front line. The killing will not stop there. We will lose them all. Kruger is just the buffer,” he says.

So true!!

It all comes down to war. Serious large scale military intervention is long overdue. I say again, clear the park of all staff and tourists, let the military in and fight this as a bush war, which we were damn good at in the 70's, 80's and early 90's. Even employ mercenaries if the current foot soldiers are not sufficiently trained.

Closing the park NOW is the only way forward!!!

“For tourism to collapse we need just one incident of foreigners caught in the crossfire,” he said.

This is a bit dramatic, as are some of the other statements, but not without merit. There is a lot of technology being used, no doubt, that is not revealed, understandably!

As for the technology being used.

The stuff being used is "infancy" and redundant technology.

The technology that they need is stuff that costs multi billion $ and that the SA government is not willing to spend.

Now you may think I am crazy RP but beleive me.
I know what I am talking about.

And that is all I will say about that as I have already said enough.

PN, I tend to agree with you on this as I’m in the game of surveillance, tracking, etc and there are plenty products out there that could be of major benefit, but as you say, they cost big bucks

Let me put it another way:

Would this happen to bears at Yellowstone National Park in the states

An interesting point in Kruger regarding training and equipment may be served as follows: number of poachers kiled/arrested...hundreds

Number of Law enforcement injured by poachers...0

Touch wood!