Counter Poaching Efforts

[Penga Ndlovu]

A good thing or a bad thing????

Media Release: KNP joins hands with Traditional Health Practitioners to fight poaching
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Date: 31st August 2012

Kruger National Park (KNP) joins hands with Traditional Health Practitioners in an attempt to fight the escalating rhino poaching pandemic. Over 500 Traditional Health Practitioners from Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces gathered at Skukuza soccer stadium today (Friday, 31 August 2012) to declare their stand against rhino poaching.

"A lot of the suspects that have been arrested have alluded that they use muthi to avoid detection by Rangers and dangerous animals. Whether this allegation is true or not, is irrelevant. What is important is that we have entered into a pact, to ensure that we fight these criminals, for the good of our beautiful country. This pact means that no criminals or poacher will get any muti. If they are to get any muti, it must be one that will expose them" said KNP Managing Executive Mr Abe Sibiya.

Traditional Health Practitioners are of the opinion that through their ‘muti’ they can be able to make a contribution towards the reduction of rhino poaching in the park. This initiative headed by Dr Sylvester Hlati is the first of its kind, where communities bordering the park come publicly to declare their stand against rhino poaching.

"Society cannot stand by and watch helplessly as international criminals declare war on our nation. We all need to defend our heritage with everything we have" added Mr Sibiya.

He furthermore urged communities to take part in anti-rhino poaching initiatives. "To the rest of us, we need to go out there and expose these selfish detractors and betrayers of our country. They live in our neighbourhoods. They are easily identifiable through their lifestyles".

The Traditional Health Practitioners had a night vigil at Mkhuhlu stadium where they performed the rituals and asked intervention from their ancestors.

The KNP is the main target for poachers as it hosts the highest number of rhinos. The number of rhinos killed in the park alone so far stand at 226.


Issued by:
Public Relations Department, Kruger National Park on behalf of the Media Relations Practitioner.

Tel: 013 735 4262

Enquiries:
William Mabasa, HOD: Public Relations and Communication, Kruger National Park.
Tel: 013 735 4363, cell: 082 807 3919 or
email: william.mabasa@sanparks.org

[Sprocky]

The only way to get the community involved is to pay them, and pay them well. If they get offered more from the poachers, no muti or small change will help. They should grant handsome rewards to those that offer info that leads to arrest, let the community have something to work towards.

[H. erectus]

A good thing or a bad thing????

Not a bad idea at all providing, "we don't go promise them a world
of health"!!!

[Flutterby]

Aon South Africa
Author: Anne da Silva
Posted: 07 Sep 2012

In 2012 to date, South Africa has already lost 265 rhinos to the savagery of poaching

Leading insurance brokerage Aon South Africa and financial services provider ONE Financial Services Holdings PTY LTD (ONE) have thrown their weight behind the Rhino Rescue Project in a bid to halt the ferocious and unabated poaching of South Africa's rhinos.

More than 600 rhino were poached between 2010 and 2011. This year alone, South Africa has lost 265 rhinos (as at 30/6/2012) to the savagery of poaching that seems unstoppable in the face of massive demand for Rhino horn from Asia.

"With a 100% increase in the number of rhinos killed between March 2011 and March 2012, this is a very serious and deeply concerning issue."

"Without concerted, high level and even radical intervention to stop the poaching, South Africa's estimated 18 000 white rhino and 2500 black rhino will be extinct in a few short years, only to be seen in museums and books," says Bill Moyes of Aon South Africa's Commercial unit.

The Rhino Rescue project was conceptualised and launched by conservationist Lorinda Hern of the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve and veterinary specialist Dr Charles van Niekerk, and is positioned as an out-of-the-box solution to an out of control problem.

The project promotes the treatment of the rhino horn while the animal is under sedation, infusing it with an indelible dye that contaminates the horn.

The dye is mixed with a compound of ectoparasiticides which serve to protect the rhino from ticks and other parasites that spread infection.

The compound is toxic to humans but completely safe for animals, including ox-peckers and vultures.

A full DNA sample is also harvested from the rhino and three matching identification microchips are inserted, one per horn and the third on the animal.

To add leverage to the project, Aon and ONE have stepped on board to provide insurance cover to rhino owners, covering all risk of mortality for the animal including during the treatment process, as well as providing cover for poaching once the treatment has been completed and the DNA registered on the database at Onderstepoort.

Peter Darroll, Marketing Manager at ONE adds: "To date, we are providing the only insurance cover currently available for rhino owners against poaching available without additional monthly premium, on condition that the animal undergoes a rhino horn treatment process offered by The Rhino Rescue Project (RRP), which is offered at a once off cost.

"Prior to the introduction of this new product solution by ONE and Aon, insurance cover for rhinos specifically covering poaching was exceptionally expensive and in many cases, simply unattainable," explains Peter.

From the outset, Aon was adamant that they would never support the legalisation of trade in rhino horn.

Besides the fact that dehorning poses serious behavioural and social challenges within the herd for the dehorned animal - it's also subject to significant levels of fraud and corruption.

And dehorned animals still get poached for their horn bases.

"We desperately need to get the message to consumer markets to stop buying rhino horn and once and for all explode the myths about the non-existent medicinal properties thereof."

"We cannot undermine the education efforts and expect consumers to stop buying rhino horn when we are willingly supplying it by legalising the trade in horns,' adds Bill Moyes of Aon.

In September 2010, Dr Albert Lim Kok Hooi, a consulting oncologist based in Kuala Lumpur, made an impassioned plea in an article in Malaysia's The Star Online news portal in which he dismissed the medicinal properties of rhino horn.

"To all this, I say that something that works for everything usually works for nothing. I also say that something that has been used for hundreds or thousands of years does not make it right."

"The whole sad story of killing the rhino for its horn is not only criminal, it is cruel, immoral and unforgivably, without any scientific basis."

As far as ONE and Aon are concerned, there is only one place for a rhino horn, and that's attached to the rhino roaming our reserves and savannahs.

"We believe that a comprehensive insurance product for owners of rhino covering the animal for the risks posed by sedation during the actual procedure, as well as afterwards in the unfortunate event that the animal is still poached, is a worthy incentive to protect their hefty investment."

"The insurance cover for poaching is only available if the horn treatment and chipping is complete, and the DNA samples registered on the national database of rhino."

"This is crucial in aiding the legal community in securing prosecutions in cases where poached horns are recovered by being able to trace exactly which animal the horn belonged to."

"The microchips also serve as a means of identification. By law, any rhino that is immobilised for whatever reason now has to be micro-chipped," explains Peter Darroll, ONE.

Lorinda Hern of the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve adds: "The fact that the rhinos in any reserve are treated is widely publicised by means of signposts around the reserve's perimeter and, should a treated rhino be killed, the indelible dye is clearly visible inside the horn - a clear indication that the horn had been contaminated."

"We also strongly suggest involving staff and informing them of the horn treatment process as their involvement ensures that word about the treatment spreads rapidly via the bush telegraph'".

"We realise that this is just one of a number of temporary solutions towards coming to a holistic, long term plan, but in the interim, our rhinos and big 5 heritage simply don't have the benefit of time," concludes Lorinda.

[iNdlovu]

This is a good move, very costly, but a positive step.
I have insider information that not only is the dye toxic to humans, but it is more than that. It is deadly, anyone touching a treated horn will suffer the most gruesome death

[Flutterby]

Sounds good to me!

[iNdlovu]

Out of the goodness of my heart I think we should get the word out to the people in far east.
Apparently the dye causes cancer, male disfunction, Aids and then eats away at all major organs of the body, a slow agonising death ensues.

[Flutterby]

Rhinose Day is an annual public fundraiser held over the last three months of the year to raise funds and awareness for rhinos in particular, and the wider fight against poaching and false medicinal myths in general. Although we focus on rhino conservation, the plight of these giants is a symbol of the broader range of threats facing all wildlife and wilderness areas.
This campaign allows everyone to contribute by purchasing a stylized plastic Rhinose™ that can be safely mounted with cable ties on the grille of your car, 4x4, or even your company’s delivery truck.
The Rhinose™ costs just R30 and we guarantee that 75% of your money will directly reach the stated objectives. That’s R22.50 going straight to the cause, so let’s give it horns for rhinos by proudly wearing yours today! The Rhinose
Rhinose Day is a joint initiative of three non-profit organisations: the Rhino Action Group Effort (RAGE), the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) and the Rhinose Foundation. Recipients

At 18 cm in length it is perfectly legal to attach the Rhinose to the front of a vehicle.

Rhinoses will be available for purchase at over 200 CNA stores countrywide at R30 each (in-store date to be advised, so watch this space).

[Mel]

Big blow for KZN poachers
September 10 2012 at 01:32pm
By Lee Rondganger

KwaZulu-Natal - The fight against rhino poaching has been given a boost after the 10 chiefs (amakhosi) living around the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in northern KwaZulu-Natal – where dozens of rhinos have been killed in recent years – committed themselves and their communities to ending the slaughter.

The commitment of the chiefs, which goes hand-in-hand with a billboard and SMS campaign as well as an awareness programme, is being hailed as “unprecedented” as it gets the 120 000 people living around the park actively involved in fighting poaching.

It comes after Dr Bandile Mkhize, CEO of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, recently held a meeting with the 10 chiefs at the park’s Centenary Centre where they agreed to support a fresh campaign to end poaching.

“I am overwhelmed by this incredible show of unity from our traditional leaders. Really, to see such enthusiasm humbles me, especially their huge concern at this ongoing poaching of our rhinos,” Mkhize said.

“To those who care to listen, we are all going to do everything within our power to crack down on these people who think they can invade our protected areas and destroy our natural heritage.”

The initiatives announced by Mkhize include a deal with cellphone operator MTN where people can send an SMS with the word SAVE to 44135 to donate R1.50 towards a special anti-rhino poaching fund. Mkhize also revealed a sponsorship by Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) that would see 100 people from the communities becoming part of Ezemvelo’s ambassadors programme.

Each chief was asked to select 10 people from each community, all of whom would be sent on a month-long conservation and rhino protection awareness course this month. This course would be run by the Wildlife College. After the completion of the training, the leaders would return to their communities and become ambassadors for conservation and the protection of rhino, Mkhize said.

The course was expected to start today. Also, the chiefs have each volunteered to have billboards erected in their areas advertising the anti-rhino poaching campaign, which will culminate in a “10 000 Voices For Our Rhino” march in Matubatuba on October 19.

Mkhize said the future of conservation lay in people’s well-being.

“People come first and that is why I invest so much time in our communities explaining the significance of our natural world and the benefits they enjoy from it. But as much as I do this, I equally, and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, have to address their basic needs and sense of well-being,” he said.

Initiative

“It is this balancing act that ensures our protected areas are coveted for the magnificence they hold, for our communities and for all the people who visit them.”

Daniel Hlabisa, of the Mpembeni Community Traditional Authority, and spokesman for the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park amakhosi, said the communities were fully behind the initiative.

“Let it be said we are completely unified in our wish to stamp out this dreadful poaching,” he said.

“We appreciate our wildlife heritage and embrace it as part of our culture. The rhino is a core component of our Big 5 and we are aware that protected areas like HiP [Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park] are crucial for our regional economy. We all support tourism as this forms such a big part of our working lives.”

The initiative comes as rhino poaching continues, with statistics showing that 13 rhinos were killed in the park this year.

Nationally, at least 373 rhinos have been killed since the beginning of this year – 229 of them in the Kruger National Park.

Dr Joseph Okori, head of the WWF Rhino Programme, welcomed the Ezemvelo initiative.

“Communities are the front line in the defence of wildlife. It is up to them to ensure the survival of the species from one generation to the next,” he said. “We have seen great successes in protecting wildlife when communities are involved. We need to ensure that communities become owners of wildlife and we encourage stronger community participation in the fight against poaching.”

Jabulani Ngubane, the KZN Wildlife rhino co-ordinator, said the plan was not only to educate the communities about rhino poaching, but to get them to become partners in wildlife preservation.

“There is no war that can be fought and won without community support,” he said. “We will be training 100 men and women from these communities who will then go back to educate thousands more. We want the communities around these parks to benefit 100 percent from this initiative. We are fully committed to fighting rhino poaching and we cannot do it without the communities who live around these parks,” Ngubane said. - Daily News

http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/ ... -1.1379466

[Sprocky]

Well done to KZN Wildlife!!!!