HARARE Animal conservationists may have finally found the elusive solution to the age-old problem of rhino poaching and the results are as deadly as the poachers ruthless methods. (Pictured: The Rhino -- Poached for its horn)
The fight against rhino and elephant poachers has hitherto been a
losing battle, with the ruthless criminal syndicates always appearing
to be ahead of the usually under-funded and seemingly hapless game
rangers in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
But the tables may be turning as game rangers and conservancy owners
hit back targeting the very source of the problem the end user of the illegally acquired rhino horn, in a move that is both ethically and legally questionable.
Just a few weeks after South African rhino owners started poisoning
the horns in a move to deter poaching, the results are beginning to
show.
An alleged rhino horn customer in Thailand died last month after he
purchased purposely contaminated rhino horn on the open market in
Bangkok.
Officials in Thailand are frantically trying to identify the source as
the powdered horn is sold in miniscule amounts and they have no idea
how much has already been distributed throughout Bangkok.
Bangkok hospitals have been put on standby for an unprecedented influx
of new cases.
Officials are unable get information as the rhino horn dealers in
Bangkok are being uncooperative.
They neither want to be fingered as being the provider of the poisoned
horn nor do they want to reveal their illegal international sources.
The horn is believed to have come from a private game reserve in South
Africa where have decided to inject an effective poison that is
harmless to the animals but harmful or even fatal to those that
ingest the contaminated horn.
South African rhino owners are becoming increasingly desperate as the
country is being targeted by hi-tech rhino poaching syndicates,
believed to be working with industry insiders to feed the demand for
traditional medicine made from rhino horn in Vietnam and China.
Four Zimbabweans were last week arrested while trying to kill rhinos
at a conservancy in South Africas Limpopo province.
South African Police Service (SAPS)s Colonel Alpeheus Mokale said the
four men were nabbed following a tip-off from members of the public
who spotted them trying to kill rhinos at Lephalale Game Reserve in
the province close to the Zimbabwean border.
We received information that people were hunting rhinos at a certain
farm in Lephalale. We also seized a 0.30 rifle, Mokale said.
The poachers are believed to be part of a rhino poaching syndicate and
the police are hopeful the arrest would shed additional light on the
poaching spree that has gripped South Africa.
Rhino poaching has reached epidemic proportions in South Africa, with
at least 182 rhinos lost so far this year.
South Africa’s rhino population is being besieged by well-organized
and well-armed rhino poaching syndicates that are believed to be
colluding with industry insiders.
The poaching has increased in recent months despite attempts by the
South African military to intensify patrols within the park.
South African National Parks says the poachers have become more
sophisticated and are often armed with the latest guns and ammunition,
night-vision equipment and use small helicopters that can be loaded
on the back of a small pickup truck. BY VUSIMUZI BHEBHE.
Post published in: News