Rhino Poaching 2014

[Flutterby]

[Duke]

Rhino killed in Mapungubwe

LINK

[Flutterby]

[Richprins]

A slightly different account in today's paper, with Dlamini stating no rhino have been sold by Kruger this year? Crazy!

The same paper posted an article documenting the catching of rhino for emergency purposes, as posted earlier on the forums?

Even if the rhino are still in the capture bomas, the effect remains the same?

[Toko]

http://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/t ... o-poaching

Since the beginning of the year, KNP has lost over 380 rhinos as a result of poaching incidents and the numbers are likely to increase closer to the end of the year. Thus far, 64 arrests have been made.

[nan]

380 Rhinos sacrified... 64 arrested...
how many "bad men" are on the ground

[Richprins]

A lot of the "bad men" under the ground, nana!

[Toko]

DNA used to catch rhino killers

July 31 2014 at 08:33am
By Tankiso Makhetha

An unusual silence hung heavy in the air as investigators combed the crime scene searching for evidence that could have led to the brutal killing of yet another rhino in the Kruger National Park on Wednesday.

The stiff and lifeless body of the dehorned bull was on its legs with two 30cm markers protruding, one from its head and the other from its neck. “We use them to determine the trajectory of the bullet and where the poachers could have been when they shot it,” said Kobus de Wet, the head of crime investigations at the national park.

“Poachers are very smart. They shoot rhinos on their heads causing them to fall immediately,” he said.

Planting pink flags into the ground, De Wet explained that these are used to mark where bullet cartridges are found. “We also use them to mark any kind of DNA evidence that could have been left behind by the poachers,” he said as he planted another flag into the ground. “See, one of the poachers left a water bottle cap here.”

At least 381 rhinos have been poached in the Kruger National Park since January, and more than 540 have been poached across the country.

SANParks spokesman Reynold Thakhuli said three poachers were arrested in Tshokwane section of the Kruger National Park. One was wounded in a shoot-out with rangers and is receiving medical attention in hospital under police guard while two remain in custody and are expected to appear in court soon. Since the beginning of the year, 67 suspects have been arrested for poaching-related incidents.

The 10-year-old rhino was killed on July 27 at about 6pm. Its tail and ears were missing. “We think scavengers could have eaten them off,” De Wet said. About nine vultures could be seen circling above, waiting for their turn to feast on the carcass.

“Four gunshots were heard and reported by lodgers at the Talamati Bush Camp, which is about 5km away from this scene,” said the section commander, Richard Sowry. “There are 20 rangers who have to cover 96 hectares and protect the animals within the boundaries,” he said.

De Wet, who has been at more than 500 crime scenes involving rhino carcasses, explained that the poachers responsible for the killing used a knife to cut off the smaller horn and an axe to cut off the main one. “We are going to try to extract DNA from the remains.”

He said a suspect was arrested in Singapore in January. “We did a post-mortem of a rhino on December 30, 2013, and the suspect arrested had a horn that was linked to the rhino through DNA,” he added.

Pretoria News

[Toko]

DEA 31 July 2014

[Lisbeth]

Team effort only way to beat rhino poaching
BY: ALBERT PULE | 30 JUL 2014 10:21

SKUKUZA: Strong partnerships between different role players in and around the Kruger National Park (KNP) remains the key to defeating the scourge of rhino poaching.


© JohanSwanepoel – za.fotolia.com

South African National Parks (SANParks) has called on communities living close to the KNP to work in collaboration to help eradicate the scourge of rhino poaching ravaging the park.

Since the beginning of the year, KNP has lost over 380 rhinos as a result of poaching incidents and the numbers are likely to increase closer to the end of the year. Thus far, 64 arrests have been made.

Last week, a poacher was sentenced to 77 years of imprisonment, one of the heaviest sentences handed out for poaching. This month, two Mozambican nationals were each jailed 16 years for killing and dehorning rhino.

Acting Head of SANParks Communications, Reynold Thakuli, says the involvement of communities in managing South African parks remains a key element of conserving and preserving the country's biodiversity.

"We have a number of programmes that we have in partnership with different communities, particularly now with the scourge of rhino poaching.

"We have engaged faith-based organisations, traditional healer associations and tribal authorities to co-opt them into the management of these parks. Some of the guys who are poaching live within these communities," said Thakuli.

"We are not managing these parks as islands. We are working together with them and so far, we have received cooperation from them, especially on the South African side of the border."

KNP shares a border with Zimbabwe and Mozambique and covers over two million hectares of land with a variety of animals roaming free.

Earlier this year, South Africa and Mozambique signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the field of biodiversity and conservation.

Since the signing of the memorandum, cooperation between the two countries has increased. In the past year, a fence along the eastern boundary of the KNP has been erected and the buffer zone in Mozambique has been strengthened.

Echoing Thakuli's sentiment is retired Major General Johan Jooste, who says good intelligence from the community will go a long way in helping the two countries in dealing with the problem.

"You cannot win the war against poaching from inside the park - you must start outside and deal with the bosses and for that you need good intelligence from the communities to help you achieve that."

He said that partnerships between communities in Botswana, Swaziland and Namibia have yielded positive results in dealing with rhino poaching and that South African communities can learn from their neighbours.

SOURCE
SAnews.gov.za
SAnews.gov.za is a South African government news service, published by the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS). SAnews.gov.za (formerly BuaNews) was established to provide quick and easy access to articles and feature stories aimed at keeping the public informed about the implementation of government mandates.
Go to: http://www.sanews.gov.za

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