Africa Wild

Dunno, Lis?

This one is very important! :



Trampled child’s death motivates artist to tackle anti-poaching awareness
Communties around the Kruger National Park came together under the inspired leadership of a well-known artist to create awareness for anti-poaching and conservation.



MATSULU – The death of a teenager who was shot in one of the game reserves near to his village in a poaching incident a few years ago and a child trampled to death by an elephant a while ago, motivated artist and actor Fanikie Mlombo to pioneer a conservation awareness festival.

“Because poaching is rife in our villages surrounded by the Kruger National Park and the Mthethomueha Game Reserve, our kids are vulnerable to rhino-horn dealers. It is true and very real to us that our sacred creatures, especially rhinos, are close to becoming extinct. We need to find ways to protect them,” said Mlombo.

As chairman of the Maweni Art and Craft Co-operative, he started an arts and cultural festival for participation by pupils of the four primary schools of Ndlaphu, Luphisi, Mpakeni and Lupisi.

The aim was to create awareness about the importance of conservation and anti-poaching.

On December 3 the fourth festival event was held by way of a carnival to make communities aware of the consequences of poaching.

Dance, poetry, painting, wire art as well as beading combined with soccer to keep the more than 500 people taking part in the festivities busy for the whole of Saturday.

The theme was “Let Us Protect and Save Our Rhinos”.


The co-operative worked with an organisation, Dreamfields, which organised the five-aside soccer games.

The carnival started with a parade from the Luphisi Community Hall to the Luphisi Sports Ground where four soccer games were held.

There were dance, poetry and stilt-walking performances in between the soccer games.

“It is vital that we do such events to create awareness. The adjacent communities and the kids are starting to realise the importance of the animals. They are now also aware of this cultural initiative and why it is important to take part,” said Mlombo.

He feels that almost all anti-poaching awareness campaigns are done in major cities while the problems are mostly prevalent in the rural areas.

“We need these campaigns most where the problems occur. It has proved to make a difference. The communities really enjoyed the festivities, especially the parade. The leaders of the villages even delivered some anti-poaching speeches during the event,” enthused Mhlambo.

He studied graphic design at the then Wits Technikon, and speech and drama at the Cuba Academy in Johannesburg.

He worked on productions for the Market Theatre and also performed in prestigious theatres outside the country such as in Germany.

His artwork has been exhibited internationally. As art teacher, he recently completed a mural on the cooperative’s outside walls with the children of the communities.

At present he is building a house from recycled bottles and bricks with kids attending his creative classes.

“The reason I came back was to plough back into these marginalised villages what I have learned in the cities. From here I want to reach out to the world that we can be joined in our endeavours to save our heritage.”

When he is not busy with art or culture projects at the co-operative, Mlombo is an actor in a soapie called Ngalutfota Jolumanti on Ligwalagwala FM.

“We don’t want to lose our animals and must use what we have to get this message across,” said Mlombo. “Art and culture can and should be used to promote efforts to make everybody aware of conservation.”

http://lowvelder.co.za/367642/trampled- ... awareness/

More on the fake horn project:


3D Printed Rhino Horn Developed to Stop Poaching?
Several biotechnology firms have developed undetectably fake rhino horns as an anti-poaching measure, but wildlife experts aren't thrilled about the innovation.
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CLAIM

A biotech company has developed a 3D synthetic rhino horn that will eventually undercut the market for poached horns.
RATING
Mixture
WHAT'S TRUE

At least four companies have announced intent to manufacture synthetic or fake rhino horn genetically identical to its real counterpart.

WHAT'S FALSE

Conservation and wildlife groups almost universally rejected the idea, it's unclear whether producing fake rhino horn will decrease demand for real rhino horn, and it's uncertain whether the synthetic product can be legally sold under extant anti-poaching laws.

ORIGIN

On 9 July 2016, the Facebook page “The Medical Facts” published the image and explanation shown below, reporting the development of synthetic rhino horn as an anti-poaching measure:

A biotech startup has managed to 3-D print fake rhino horns that carry the same genetic fingerprint as the actual horn. The company plans to flood Chinese [the] Chinese rhino horn market at one-eighth of the price of the original, undercutting the price poachers can get and forcing them out eventually.
3-d print fake rhino horns

The International Rhino Foundation (IRF) and Save the Rhino International (SRI) issued a joint statement after “monitoring the progress of four US-based companies that have announced their intentions — with varying degrees of success — to produce synthetic or bio-fabricated rhino horn, and occasionally also other products including e.g. elephant ivory, lion bones or pangolin scales.” In that statement, both groups expressed their opposition to the introduction of fake rhino horn to international markets:

We are opposed to the development, marketing and sale of synthetic rhino horn [because]:

o Selling synthetic horn does not reduce the demand for rhino horn or dispel the myths around rhino horn and could indeed lead to more poaching because it increases demand for “the real thing”

o More than 90% of “rhino horns” in circulation are fake (mostly carved from buffalo horn or wood), but poaching rates continue to rise annually.

o Synthetic horn could give credence to the notion that rhino horn has medicinal value, which is not supported by science.

o Users buy from trusted sources and value “the real thing.”

o The availability of legal synthetic horn could normalise or remove the stigma from buying illegal real horn.

o It will take time to develop synthetic horn and meanwhile the poaching crisis continues.

o How can consumers and law enforcement officials distinguish between legal synthetic horn that looks real, and illegal real horn?

o Companies benefitting from making synthetic horn have shown very little commitment to use their profits to help the core problem of rhino poaching; besides which, those profits would meet only a tiny fraction of the total rhino protection costs that would remain to be met as long as demand reduction campaigns falter, as they would with the marketing of synthetic horn.

o Finally, the manufacture / marketing / sale of synthetic horn diverts funds and attention from the real problem: unsustainable levels of rhino poaching.

A December 2015 National Geographicarticle covered the efforts of one such biotechnology outfit producing synthetic rhino horn (Pembroke) and outlined some conservationist concerns about the unintended consequences of such a venture:

“I frankly don’t see that it’s any better, to be honest,” says Susie Watts, a consultant for WildAid and co-chair of the Species Survival Network Rhino Working Group, referring to Pembient’s move to put faux powder on the back burner. While she’s aware that people buy rhino horn jewelry, Watts has never heard of rhino horn cell phone cases and chopsticks.

But opposition to Pembient’s synthetic horn plans extends beyond the possible new market it could create. “There’s very little, if any, relief on wild populations when we see commercial farming develop or commercial trade of a protected species,” says Douglas Hendrie, manager of the wildlife crime and investigations unit for conservation group Education for Nature – Vietnam. “The wild trade continues right alongside.”

Patrick Bergin, CEO of the African Wildlife Foundation, also believes that inserting fake horn into the market could counteract efforts to educate people about why they shouldn’t buy wild horn, a strategy most activists push as the best way to reduce demand.

“If you start to nuance that message with some rhino horn is good, some of it is bad, some of it is legal, some of it is illegal,” he says, “you lose people and lose the clarity of the message.”

There’s also concern that fake horn could increase the workload for law enforcement in countries already struggling to contain the illicit trade. According to Hendrie, Vietnam doesn’t have the enforcement capacity to regulate the black market along with the legal one.

A February 2016 followup article presented a five-point set of objections to the introduction of genetic copies of rhino horn to the market, filed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by the Center for Biological Diversity:

The service already has the authority to ban cultured horn under existing laws. Both the Endangered Species Act and the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act ban the export, import, and interstate sale of endangered or listed species and their parts, products, and derivatives.
Trade in cultured rhino horn provides cover for the illegal trade.
Trade in cultured rhino horn hinders law enforcement. Because cultured rhino horn has the same appearance and chemical and genetic characteristics as real horn, proving that an item comes from an illegal, wild rhino will be difficult, if not impossible
Trade in cultured horn expands consumer demand. Pembient has said it can sell its rhino horn for one-eighth the price of real rhino horn. That opens the market to a new base of less affluent consumers and expands it for those who want rhino horn to “show off.” It also confuses consumers by signaling that it’s legal to buy and sell rhino horn.
Trade in cultured horn lends credibility to the unproven claim that rhino horn has medicinal value and undermines efforts to reduce demand. Despite no scientific evidence that rhino horn has health benefits, rumors persist that it can treat everything from cancer to impotence.

Additionally, U.S Fish & Wildlife Service Law Enforcement Deputy Chief Ed Grace commented:

Experience demonstrates that efforts to ‘flood the market’ with products produced from protected wildlife—either by producing synthetic alternatives or raising animals in captivity for harvest—often fail to achieve their stated goal. Such efforts often create more demand from consumers, even as products from wild animals and plants continue to command a premium over synthetic or farmed alternatives. … We also have significant concerns about injecting products into the market that would make it harder for law enforcement to detect poached and trafficked wildlife products, or allow criminals to disguise the source of illegal products by commingling them with these alternatives.

In short, it’s true that at least four biotechnology firms have engaged in some form of development of synthetic material genetically identical to rhino horn. Although progress in that area was initially hailed as a potential anti-poaching measure, conservation groups and wildlife officials have since expressed strong skepticism that the overall effects on the rhinoceros population of selling such material wouldn’t be deleterious. Members of both groups have espoused positions opposing the introduction of fake rhino horn to any market, citing anticipated demand uptick and burdens on already taxed enforcement agencies.
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Filed Under: biotech Business Ingenuity poaching +2 more

Fact Checker: Kim LaCapria

Published: Jul 11th, 2016

Updated: Mar 7th, 2017
Sources:

Actman, Jani. “Can Fake Rhino Horn Stop the Poaching of an Endangered Species?”
National Geographic. 2 December 2015.

Neme, Laurel. “Petition Seeks Ban on Trade in Fake Rhino Horn.”
National Geographic. 10 February 2016.

Save the Rhino International. “Joint Statement by the International Rhino Foundation and Save the Rhino International.”
July 2015.


http://www.snopes.com/3d-printed-rhino-horn-developed/

Hard-hitting rhino movie and Google Ads help new rhino orphan Trust
Taking hands across various interests in the world of rhino orphans, a newly established Trust aims to put together a reaction team run from a central operations hub.
4 hours ago

Elize Parker

JOHANNESBURG – A new umbrella wildlife organisation with a masterplan to create a rapid-response team and ten safe havens across Africa, was launched earlier this month. It aims to save every single rhino and elephant victim of poaching.

Board chairman, Mr Dex Kotze, founder of Youth 4 African Wildlife, said that the launch was the springboard for the marketing and fund-raising of the non-profit organisation, the Now or Never African Wildlife Trust (NNAWT).

A website and range of social-media platforms went live in January, as well as a Google Ads campaign which forms part of the Google for Nonprofits programme.

NNAWT also secured the first of two stronghold reserves of over 30 000 hectares. These will be home to rhino orphans.

SEE more about the movie that will raise funds for the Trust

Bloodline: Now or Never is described as “a hard-hitting fictional take on the international rhino horn trade. It is the first fictional action movie centered around the rhino poaching crisis. A percentage of the film’s proceeds will go towards helping NNAWT to save calves orphaned by poaching.

Kotze told Lowvelder that involving influential role players and having committed global alliance partners gave momentum to the vision of rescue, rehab and release.

This vision includes raising funds for the leasing of Bell helicopters and skilled pilots who can be ready at all times should there be a rhino orphan that needs to be rescued and transported to one of the orphanages.

This would be done from a central operations hub where a team of vets and trackers can be managed from.

Once rescued, animals will be transferred to medical-care and rehabilitation centres like Care for Wild and The Rhino Orphanage. When they are old and strong enough, they will be released.

READ MORE about Christmas at the rhino orphanage

Kotze has extensive experience in saving rhinos and elephants. He a former strategist of the Global March for Elephants and Rhinos.

Partners in the trust are a concerned group of people already intricately involved in rhino and elephant conservation.



NNAWT’s directors are Ms Petronel Nieuwoudt of Care for Wild, Mr Arrie van Deventer of The Rhino Orphanage and rhino surgeon, Dr Johan Marais of Saving the Survivors, Mr Thomas Ropel from Germany and Mr Chris de Bruno Austin, a well-known Lowveld businessman and CEO of Kishugu.

NNAWT has a Kenyan alliance partner, the Tsavo Trust.

Ropel is an advocate of rhino orphanages and based in Hamburg.

He offered pro-bono support to a range of rhino-focused charities in his capacity as a global digital-marketing expert.

Ultimately, other organisations will be able to apply for funding to NNAWT.

Van Deventer said that the trust was one of the best things that could have happened to the saving of rhino and elephant orphans.

“It is good for all these organisations to take hands. In the past there was too much politics involved between these organisations. It is unnecessary. Now there is unity of purpose and of will. I can see this initiative succeeding,” he said.

http://lowvelder.co.za/380575/hard-hitt ... han-trust/

Kruger tightens security to stop poachers entering park through gates as 'guests'

017-03-28 06:32 - Louzel Lombard Steyn

Cape Town - The iconic Kruger National Park (KNP) is being forced to tighten security at its southern gates in an attempt to protect rhinos and prevent poachers from accessing the park.

This is according to South African National Parks (SANParks) Chief Ranger Nicholas Funda, saying that the park has picked up that some poachers enter the area as guests and get dropped off.

“We realised that the gates became our weakest point… Some of the poachers are paying at the gate as guests. For example, when they come in, there are four of them in a vehicle and on the way out, there is only the driver.

“We call them ‘drop-offs’," Funda says. And they are a "problem because we can’t track their spoor in the veld."

The fight against rhino poaching is intensifying on both a global and local scale - and SANParks hopes new security measures will aid in ending the epidemic.

How are visitors affected?

As part of the gate access control system, guests who visit the KNP will now be expected to produce a permit, the vehicle registration will be checked against the vehicle disk, the number of people in the vehicle will be checked against the permit, whether guests are staying for the day or overnight.

The new security measure is expected to be implemented at the southern gates of the park within the next month.

The gate access control system will be implemented at the northern gates at KNP at a later stage, SANParks says.

Visitors to the KNP are urged to work with officials to ensure a smooth process.

Rhino poaching intensifying

According to figures released recently by Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa, a total of 662 rhino carcases were found in the KNP last year, compared to 826 in 2015. This represents a reduction of 19.85% in 2016.

Despite the decline, the number of illegal incursions into the Kruger National Park continues to increase.

For 2016, there were a staggering 2 883 instances of poaching-related activities (such as poaching camps, contacts, crossings, sightings, tracks and shots fired) in the Park, compared to 2 466 recorded in the same period in 2015. This is an increase of 16.9%.

The park, however, is increasing its anti-poaching range, with Postcode Meerkat wide area surveillance marking the latest move.

The Postcode Meerkat comprises a suite of radar and electro-optic sensors that detect, classify, monitor and track humans moving in the park over a wide area.

This is according to SANParks technical operations manager Mark McGill, who says the system gives the KNP an added advantage as it can show the operator more or less where the poacher is going and rangers can be positioned to arrest them.

“We are fighting to protect our rhinos - that is our objective," McGill says. "For every rhino that we can save, it’s a success. We don’t only want the poachers in handcuffs, we want the rhinos to be safe so we are trying to get to the poacher before he can get to the rhino."

McGill said the system has been very successful in the operations, as it has had a 90% success rate. The KNP is hoping to have three wide area surveillance systems by 2019.

This should have been implemented ages ago!!!

Wasn't it decided some time ago that everybody entering and exciting the park were going to be controlled They must have forgotten about it

This is too much info, especially saying North will come later. But hopefully not too concrete?

But good! Most visit friends in staff quarters, I think.

It is also vitally important to concentrate on fixing CCTV cameras at all gates, this will help for all offenders, not just poachers. AW actually offered to fix the cameras at Malelane gate a couple of years ago, but we were redirected.

Of course You might see something which was not supposed to go public

KUKUZA – Thirteen suspected poachers were arrested in the Kruger National Park (KNP) in three different operations on March 28.

One of the suspects was fatally wounded in Pretoriuskop after dark and a ranger was shot in the foot.

An employee of SANParks was among those arrested.

The arrests were carried out in various parts of the KNP.

A high-calibre rifle, ammunition and poaching equipment was confiscated in Pretoriuskop. This is where the suspect was fatally wounded. His accomplice was arrested.

During these operations, one of the SANParks field rangers was shot and his foot injured. He was airlifted to hospital where he has been stabilised. His injury is not life-threatening. He is receiving medical treatment and counselling.

Five suspected poachers were arrested at the Paul Kruger Gate when they attempted to enter the KNP. The suspects include a member of SAPS Bushbuckridge.

Six suspects were taken into custody at the Phalaborwa Gate. They include a SANParks Environmental Monitor based at Letaba.

The suspects were found in possession of a firearm, ammunition and poaching equipment and were apparently on their way into the park.

The Chief Ranger, Nicholus Funda, congratulated the rangers saying, “this is a befitting honour to our fallen colleagues, one of whom we laid to rest on Sunday, that we are carrying out our mission to jealously guard our natural assets. Technology coupled with our member’s determination is ensuring that we successfully apprehend those intending to poach our rhino.”

Investigations are ongoing in all the cases.

Even one Sanparks employee is too much but better arrested than running loose