Anti-poaching is now “guerrilla warfare”
Date: April 10, 2013 | Posted in Nelspruit News
Rangers in the Kruger National Park (KNP) are engaged in what the park’s new head of anti-poaching calls a “full-blown guerrilla war” against the poachers who have claimed the lives of over 150 rhinos this year alone.
“This is a full blown war, with close combat guerrilla tactics and fights to the death against fearless insurgents, the Kruger is under siege,” said retired army Major-General and KNP’s co-ordinator of anti-poaching activities, Johan Jooste.
Jooste was speaking at Skukuza camp in the south of the KNP on day one of a four day media tour, from 8-12 April, behind the scenes of the escalating crisis which has plagued South Africa’s largest national park for the past few years.
Employed in December 2012, Jooste’s 35 years in the infantry are a testament to Kruger’s new stance on rhino poaching.
At Skukuza, the headquarters of the park’s anti-poaching squadron, staff employ military tactics similar to those used on battlefields around the globe.
In co-ordination with air response teams, sniffer dogs and sophisticated technology, rangers specifically trained in military combat spend days at a time scouring the bush for signs of poachers.
Incursions usually take place on the Mozambique border, with 179 such incidents occurring this year. Groups of two to four poachers engage in hit and run strikes in the south, recruiting internal collaborators.
“In Mozambique, the government does not have the same concern for rhino poaching as South Africa does,” said Ken Maggs, head of Environmental Crime Investigation in the KNP.
The South African National Defense Force (SANDF) and South African Police Service (SAPS) have been roped in to help, but even armed with R75 000 night vision binoculars, R45 000 thermal imagers and R1 assault rifles, rangers still struggle to apprehend poachers.
“These guys are unafraid of the dark, unafraid of wild animals and unafraid of sentences,” Maggs said.
Jooste explained that poachers are desperate and hungry, governed by no rules and have superb bush skills, making them ever the more difficult to apprehend.
“We do not have a ‘shoot to kill’ policy, and unless the rangers’ lives are in danger, we have to physically lay a hand on these poachers and arrest them,” he said.
These are just a few of the many challenges faced by anti-poaching teams.
Over the Easter weekend, air response teams filmed a shocking slaughter of a female rhino close to Skukuza. The footage showed that the badly wounded rhino was still alive, despite having its horn, nose and mouth removed.
“Such incidents show the ruthlessness of poachers,” said Mark Greef, an independent contractor brought in to train rangers. “They are criminal saboteurs, sabotaging the welfare of our country.”
Greef said that normally he would be required to work in war zones such as Iraq or Syria, but that the rhino poaching crisis had reached a “warlike” status which necessitated his involvement.
Jooste’s strategy going forward is multifaceted.
“It’s a very complex issue and we have a huge amount of work to do,” he said.
This work reportedly includes developing the readiness of the Ranger Corps, improving reaction times, using sophisticated technology and building the fledgling doctrine on rules governing anti-poaching activities.
Huge investments in training and equipment are needed, in addition to increased intelligence, while root causes such as poverty, greed and massive demand for rhino horn in the Asian market also need to be addressed.
“This is syndicated, organized crime at its best. We need to focus on all these issues and usher in a new era of parks management. South Africa’s reputation is at stake and our wildlife tourism under severe threat,” Jooste concluded. – The Write News Agency
But was this a problem in the past?
It might not go down well some places, but good luck in your search. 
