Elephant Management and Poaching in South Africa

[Richprins]

I have been informed that poaching elephant and rhino are two different propositions, depending on how greedy you are.

Firstly, it takes a long time to remove tusks, as up to a third of the tusk is in the skull, which requires a lot of chopping and time. One could saw off the extending piece, but that would spoil a possibly very valuable collector's set. Looking at the rest of Africa, it seems ivory trinkets are the way to go, so that may happen.

Secondly, white rhino are not hyper-intelligent, compared to elephant, which are. So no using darts with anaesthetics, as the herd will not run away etc. Also elephant require good shots with high-powered rifles to kill, or alternatively a large amount of automatic weapons fire. This confounds night attack, and conversely makes a lot of noise.

Thirdly, Kruger has not been particularly drought-stricken for maybe a decade, quite the opposite compared to our Northern neighbours, so poisoning water may not be as effective for the time being.

[Flutterby]

Tembe beheaded for muti

March 21 2014 at 10:44am
By NOSIPHO MNGOMA

Durban - Tembe the lion, the pride of the KwaZulu-Natal elephant park from which he got his name, has been killed and his head cut off for suspected muti purposes.

The killing of one of the oldest lions in the park, on the border between Zululand and Mozambique, has been met with great sadness by conservationists, as well as the Tembe people and royal family.

KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife spokesman, Musa Mntambo, said yesterday that staff had come upon the rotting carcasses of Tembe and a sub-adult lioness on Monday.

They had been caught in snares.

Mntambo said a row of six snares had been found nearby and it was suspected they were set up by hunters who trapped nyala for meat.

The lioness was not beheaded.

Nkosi Mabhudu Tembe said he was deeply saddened by the loss of the lion, which he described as being a “friend of the Tembe people”.

The lion was in the pride translocated to the park in 2002 to complete the Big Five and grow the brand of Tembe Elephant Park, thereby attracting more tourists for the benefit of the people, he said. “He was part of the heritage of the park and his killing is a great loss to the royal house and the people of Tembe, his people.”

Mntambo said suspicions were that the lion’s head had been given or sold to a nyanga (healer) to make muti.

Ezemvelo had increased foot patrols in the park to try to catch the hunters who would return to check their snares.

Silwane Gumede, a nyanga in the uMhlabuyalingana area where muti is commonly used, confirmed that lion parts, mainly bones, were used to make muti. They were ground and mixed with other ingredients to make a potion “guaranteed” to make one strong like a lion, he said.

Daily News

[Lisbeth]

[nan]

what

[Mel]

And

[Toko]

Sad

But they are also culling lions there to keep the growth of lion population under control .

[Toko]

SHOCK AS SANParks DISCOVERS FIRST POACHED ELEPHANT IN TEN YEARS
The South African National Parks (SANParks) has today announced the first confirmed elephant poaching incident in the Kruger National Park (KNP) in well over 10 years. The incident occurred in the Pafuri region, in the northern part of the KNP.
According to SANParks Officer Commanding Special Projects, Major General (Ret) Johan Jooste, forensic evidence suggests that this elephant bull was purposefully shot for its tusks, which were hacked off and carried away by suspected poachers.
He said Rangers patrolling the area noticed footprints of approximately four suspected poachers leading towards Mozambique and leaving the park. “Upon further investigations, which involved intensive backtracking and patrol effort, the rangers came upon the elephant carcass.”
Jooste said a post mortem carried out on the carcass and ballistic evidence found at the scene has confirmed that the animal was shot. Investigations are currently underway.
***ENDS***
For previous media statements please go to http://www.sanparks.org
Issued by:
South African National Parks (SANParks) Corporate Communications: Tel: 012 426 5170
Enquiries:
Reynold “Rey” Thakhuli: SANParks Acting Head of Communications. Tel: 012 426 5203, Cell: 073 373 4999 or Email: rey.thakhuli@sanparks.org
OR
Ike Phaahla: SANParks Media Specialist. Tel: 012 426 5315, Cell: 083 673 6974, Email: Isaac.phaahla@sanparks.org

From FB SANParks https://www.facebook.com/groups/2454761977/

[Flutterby]

Just saw this on FB!!!

[Richprins]

And so it begins. From the North.

Pafuri area is a nightmare regarding incursions across the Limpopo from Zim...no real fence. The border post is also a joke...seen it with my own eyes over and over.

Next will be Transfrontier Park Moz side, where poaching has been going on very slowly for the last year or so, and then Olifants/ Letaba, as they come further South. Then Phalaborwa...mark my words.



Ellie poaching takes a lot more time and effort than rhino, as the herds are wide awake and potentially deadly, killing requires better shooting and guns, tusks need to be chopped out as a third of the tusk is in the skull etc.

It would be very interesting to know if the tusks were chainsawed off at the lip...that would really show it's the same rhino types?

[Flutterby]

And the north is where most of the big tuskers are!!