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(TIMES, LONDON) - Wildlife experts are alarmed at a dramatic upsurge in rhino poaching in South Africa’s game reserves that may threaten the survival of the creature in one of its last redoubts.

Just 10 rhinos were poached in the whole of 2007, but last year the number reached 100. On Christmas Day alone, 13 rhinos were killed by poachers.

“We’ve always had subsistence poaching,” said George Hughes, a former head of the KwaZulu-Natal Parks Board. “But serious poaching for large game by professionals selling rhino horn or ivory to Far Eastern syndicates is far more alarming.”

In order to steal the lucrative horn, the poachers hack at the rhino’s skull with pangas, the African machete, causing horrendous injuries.

“It’s a terrible thing to come across the poachers’ handiwork,” said Frank Reardon, a wildlife enthusiast. “To see one lying dead with the carrion feasting off it is an awful sight.”

Former army professionals with modern weapons are thought to be involved. Recently, a Vietnamese diplomat was caught on camera taking delivery of contraband rhino horn outside the Vietnamese embassy in Pretoria.

Elephant and rhino poaching are endemic in the game reserves of Tanzania, Kenya and Zambia. In Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe’s “land reform” has seen a wildlife holocaust since 2000. The only supposedly secure reserves left are in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.

Only 3,500 black rhinos are left in the world and 3,000 of them are in South Africa.

“The rhino is actually a gentle and friendly animal,” said Hughes. “They are vegetarians, not predators, and only man preys on them.”

For Hughes, the fatal step was the international ban on rhino horn sales in 1977. “It was like prohibition. Prices shot up and so did poaching.”

In Botswana, where they once flourished, there are only about five white rhinos left. Poaching has now reached South Africa’s Hluhluwe-Umfolozi game reserve – in Gaisford’s words, “the holy ground of the rhino”. Although it still has 1,600 white rhinos, black rhino numbers are down to 300.

The golden era of the giant state reserves, like the 5m-acre Kruger National Park, may be over. Not only is much of their land under claim by local peasants, but the scale makes the parks difficult to guard.

David Cummings, a Zimbabwean wildlife expert, said private reserves held the best hope of survival for many species but they face government opposition. “Many African regimes don’t like the idea of losing monopoly control of their wildlife,” he said.

“Corrupt game rangers are also a problem. In Zimbabwe, we’ve seen rangers caught poaching rhino allowed to go scot-free, despite a mandatory 25-year sentence.”

Labels: poaching, rhinos

CAPE TOWN- A total of 94 animals, including 20 white rhino, were killed by poachers in the Kruger National Park last year, Environmental Affairs Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said on Friday.

Also on the list of animals poached in South Africa's flagship reserve were 35 impala, 15 buffalo and three lions, according to a written reply by the minister to a parliamentary question.

The list covers the twelve month period from April 2006 to the end of March this year.

Other animals poached included four zebra, three waterbuck, one elephant and a crocodile, Van Schalkwyk said.

Labels: poaching, rhinos

CAPE TOWN- South Africa's environment minister announced long-awaited restrictions on hunting yesterday, declaring he was sickened by wealthy tourists shooting tame lions from the back of a truck and felling rhinos with bow and arrows.

In addition, lions bred in captivity would have to be released into the open for at least two years before they could be hunted. Van Schalkwyk said a previously proposed six-month delay would not give lions enough time to develop self-defense instincts.

"Hunting should be about fair chase- testing the wits of a hunter against that of the animal," he told a press conference. "Over the years that got eroded and now we are trying to re-establish that principle."

South Africa is famous as home to the Big Five animals— lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant and buffalo. Its flagship Kruger National Park attracts hundreds of thousands of camera toting visitors every year. Some 9,000 privately owned game farms and other government-run reserves also offer visitors a taste of the wild.

But it has become also become a choice destination for wealthy gun-toting tourists willing to pay more than $20,000 to take home a "trophy" lion or rhino's head.

The new law, which enters into force June 1, bans the hunting of animals that have been tranquilized. It outlaws bows and arrows for big predators and thick skinned animals like rhinos - one of the practices singled out by Van Schalkwyk as particularly appalling. And it bans the use of vehicles to chase the animal until it is too tired and terrified to flee for its life.

"To see people who are half drunk on the back of a bakkie (truck) hunting lions which are in fact tame animals is quite abhorrent," Van Schalkwyk— himself an avid hunter— said.

But conservationists said the law would be difficult to enforce and did not go far enough because it stopped short of an outright ban on intensive breeding of lions, leopards and other predators.

"The big thing for South Africa would be to stand up and say 'we are conservation leaders and this industry is immoral and unethical and we are not going to allow it,'" said Louise Joubert of the San Wildlife Trust, which campaigned for tougher regulations.

She said it made little difference whether a lion was freed for six months or two years before being hunted because once it had got used to being reared and fed by people, it was hard to break that trust.

Joubert said there should be an outright ban on intensive breeding projects, which often remove cubs from the mother at birth so the lioness mates more quickly, and often destroy female cubs as male lions fetch a higher trophy price.

The South African Predator Breeders' Association, which was set up last year to lobby against the regulations, has warned that breeders may be forced to euthanise the estimated 3-5,000 lions they have reared if they are unable to offer them to foreign hunters and can no longer afford to feed them.

"We have asked for an outright ban," said Joubert. "If it means that four to five thousand lions have to be euthanised, it would be a tragic day but it is the only way for this country to get a grip, so be it."

Earlier this year, the breeders' association threatened legal action against the government to claim for compensation. Association officials did not return phone calls asking for comment Tuesday.

However, the Professional Hunters' Association of South Africa, whose members accompany foreign clients, said it welcomed the new regulations as a chance to clean up the image of the South African hunting industry by clamping down on lion breeders who account for only about 3 percent of game farms.

"A small sector has given the whole industry a bad name," said Stewart Dorrington, president of the hunting body.

Up to 7,000 foreign tourists visit South Africa each year on hunting safaris, each spending roughly $18,000, Dorrington said. About 55 percent of hunters are from North America and the rest from Europe and other countries.

Van Schalkwyk said the regulations marked the start of a "clean up of the hunting industry" and would in due course be extended to other animals like antelope species.

Hunting is an integral part of South African life because of its cultural traditions and importance to the economy.

"We gave our firm intention more than two years ago to deal with the issue," he said. "Many of the lion breeders thought they were empty threats and did not take it seriously. This is a practice that cannot be defended in any way."

Labels: canned hunting, hunting, lions, rhinos

BUSHBUCKRIDGE- A stray rhino was rescued on Tuesday from villagers who wanted to kill it for its meat.

Rangers from the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency rescued the rhino in Cunningmore village in Limpopo.

One resident, Velly Mnisi, 33, said he was on his way to work about 07h00 when the rhino came charging towards him and broke through the fence of a mealie field and destroyed crops.

Mnisi said he ran for his life and shouted at other villagers, telling them to flee. But residents, including school children, later banded together and chased the rhino.

Mnisi said: "They were shouting: Kill it! Kill it! It destroyed our crops. We want its meat!"

He said the villagers began throwing stones at the rhino and waving hoes, axes, pangas, sticks and jungles knives.

Animal not harmed

Mnisi said another local resident, Richard Khosa, 46, contacted police, who alerted game rangers.

Mpumalanga tourism and parks agency (MTPA) spokesperson Jimmy Masombuka confirmed on Thursday that rangers had removed a white rhino from the area after anaesthetising it.

"I don't have all the details with me, but the animal was not harmed. It was taken to one of our parks."

Masombuka said officials had not established where the rhino had escaped.

"There was speculation that it was from the Kruger National Park because of its proximity to the area, but we are not sure," he said.

Kruger Park spokesperson William Mabaso said: "I am told that we were not directly involved, but one of our investigators contacted the MTPA which removed the animal."

Labels: acornhoek, bushbuckridge, escaped animals, poaching, rhinos

SKUKUZA - Twenty white rhino in the Kruger National Park (KNP) are up for sale.

South African National Parks (SANParks) has put the animals up for sale to address concerns of an over population of white rhino in the Kruger, particularly in the southern part of the park.

"The sale is held annually to reduce the number of white rhinos," said Kruger spokesperson William Mabasa on Monday.

Prospective buyers have until February 10 to make an offer and will be expected to pay cash or with a bank guaranteed cheque seven days before the animals are captured. The rhinos are scheduled for capture during February and March.

Mabasa said buyers must also have import permits for the rhinos from their respective provinces, and must be responsible for their own transport and transport costs.

The white rhino population in the Kruger stands at about 6 000, while there are only 350 of the endangered black rhinos.

Mabasa said the white rhino population was growing between eight and nine percent per year.

In 2005 the cost of male white rhinos ranged between R60,000 and R100,000 depending on their size, while females sold for about R110,000 each. Rhinos from the park are also sold through a public tender process or on auction.

Some are destined to be hunted once they are sold. A week ago, a rhino bull was offered for a bow or ordinary hunt. In the advert, the rhino was described as having originated from the Kruger National Park and was said to be tame as it had been held in a 150 hectare camp for two years.

The park does not prohibit buyers from hunting the rhinos, but requests that buyers not hunt the rhinos within the first 12 months after being sold from the Kruger National Park.

Labels: rhinos, SANParks

MUSINA- Five endangered white rhino have been poisoned along with scores of other large game in Limpopo's worst single poaching tragedy.

The five rhino were poisoned at a natural waterhole on Nwanedi Nature Reserve near Musina, in what police are describing as an "extremely well-planned slaughter" of 26 large game and scores of smaller animals such as baboon and birds.

The horns had been chopped off all five rhino by the time game rangers discovered the killing field on Monday morning.

The dead animals included 10 nyala, three blue wildebeest, two zebra, one kudu, three impala, and seven waterhogs, valued at roughly R2M.

"The animals were found lying dead next to the waterhole, and must have died shortly after drinking.

"There were even numerous dead birds, which looked as though they had dropped out of the sky while trying to fly away," said police superintendent Ronel Otto on Tuesday.

"We analysed the water, and have found traces of a poison called Temic. It definitely looks like premeditated poaching."

Rangers and police trackers managed to follow the poachers' trail to nearby Solovhodwe village, but the tracks were lost in the village centre.

Otto said: "We are following a number of other leads, and are also actively encouraging villagers to help us trace these killers.

"This kind of poaching endangers tourism, which is the biggest employer in the region.

"There is also the danger that poisoned water contaminates supplies used by humans in the area. This could turn out to be a really serious threat."

Otto said the incident was the largest single poaching case on record with Limpopo police, but was not able to give figures on the extent or regularity of illegal hunting or poaching in the province.

Nwanedi Nature Reserve is 9 300ha in area and boasted 15 white rhino and an unspecified number of leopard, but no other 'big five' game.

Reserve staff, who declined to be named, said Nwanedi was plagued by petty poaching of kudu, eland, and impala to supply illegal butcheries.

No rhino had been poached before, and the slaughter on Monday marked a new and "terrifying" change in tactics.

Limpopo environment department general manager Fixon Hlongwane expressed shock at the incident on Tuesday, urging police to arrest everyone implicated in the slaughter and pledging an in-depth government probe into security at Nwanedi Nature Reserve.

Labels: limpopo, poaching, rhinos

HOEDSPRUIT (Kruger Times)- It was announced that last month, the Kruger National Park sold 12 white rhino by public auction. The sale generated a gross income of R1.63 million, which South African National Parks will place in a special fund that is used to buy land for national parks and for dedicated conservation projects.

The highest price was obtained for an adult female with a heifer calf, going for R200,000. A mother with a male calf was sold for R160,000. The average price of sub-adult females was just over R107,000, while the single adult female sold for R122,000.

The average price of the three adult males sold was just under R150,000 per animal. The record price of a rhino sold by the park stands at about R330,000, but rhino prices have been steadily decreasing as the numbers of rhino in private hands has increased.

by Lynette Strauss, Kruger Times

Labels: game relocation, rhinos

HOEDSPRUIT (Kruger Times)- Five poachers, responsible for the killing of three rhinos in the Kruger National Park and adjacent Mozambique, have been arrested. This comes after a successful joint operation by SANParks Corporate Investigation Services (CIS) and the South African and Mozambican police.

In November last year, the poachers shot the first rhino in the Sabie Game Park on the Mozambican side of Kruger’s south eastern border.

Another rhino carcass was found at the end of September this year just south of the Sabie River in the Crocodile Bridge section of the KNP.

While CIS was investigating the incident, a second rhino was killed in the same area and a third two weeks later.

Shortly thereafter CIS identified the group and had gathered sufficient information to carry out an operation and make arrests.

With this information in place, a cross border operation with the Mozambican and South African Police was undertaken.

The joint operation, at the beginning of November, led to Kaboko, a village at Koromana Dam in Mozambique where two suspects were arrested. An AK47 and a Mosine Nagant rifle, as well as bloodied clothes and other evidence were confiscated.

The suspects confessed to killing the rhinos in KNP and the rhino that was shot in Mozambique in 2003, as well as other armed poaching incidents in the area.

A second operation, based on further information obtained by CIS, took the joint investigative team to Ngungwa village, about 50km north of Koromane Dam. Three more arrests were made and another AK47 and Mosine Nagant rifle were found.

“With these arrests we thought the problem had been solved,” said Don English of CIS Special Operations.

However, on 22 November and barely two weeks after these arrests were made, two more rhino carcasses were found shot by a second group of poachers in the same area in the Crocodile Bridge section of the Park.

“A joint cross-border follow-up operation into Mozambique in conjunction with the Mozambican Police provided valuable intelligence and arrests are imminent.

Furthermore, the success of these operations would not be possible without the support of and excellent working relationship with the Mozambican and South African Police,” said Don.

by Lynette Strauss, Kruger Times

Labels: crocodile bridge, poaching, rhinos