The poaching problem here in South Africa (and the rest of Africa ) makes me incredibly despondent. A recent incident late last year serves to illustrate : A Rhino christened “ABSA” was attacked by poachers in a local reserve, not far from where we live. His horn was removed with a chain saw – right down to the flesh so that no “valuable” horn was lost to the poachers. He took 5 days to die in agony, and the vets and park officials could do little to alleviate his suffering. In the same attack, another 2 rhinos had their horns slashed at with pangas (machetes) – one wasn’t enough – they wanted all of the horn in one evening’s work. Another of these 2 rhinos died as a result.
And this is going on all over the country. Already we are well on the way toward the annual estimate for 2012 that around 600 rhinos will be poached in SA. 245 Dead by 12th June, 251 dead by 20 June. That’s 6 poached in 8 days. Way to go, South Africa …
Poachers incapacitate rhino with darts, enabling them to work at leisure on the horn. The drugs are reportedly Schedule-7 restricted, which means even a normal vet is unable to procure them. Poachers have infrared night glasses, state of the art comms equipment and helicopters and small planes that they use for spotting and fly-overs during the day, so they can pinpoint the herds for later attack.
This is big business at work, and I have no doubt whatsoever that government officials, state vets and other high level personalities are implicated. I gather from a local friend whose family member is seeking to join Nature Conservation, that bribing game guards is a simple matter. In comparison with salaries, the incentives for poaching are enormous, with rhino horn being worth more per oz. than gold. How may countries do you know which allow their gold bullion to walk around in the bush perched on somebody’s nose? Of course it’s going to get taken unless it’s guarded zealously.
Go and have a look at the following urls , or google “rhino poaching south africa ”:
(gives some idea of the numbers – I don’t agree with the sentiment on legalising the trade)
(IMHO – another useless South African cabinet minister)
(note the new “norms and standards for hunting white rhino for trophy purposes”…)
(rightly, opposing controlled trade in rhino horn)
A current State vet involved? A former head of Kruger Park
How about this? Ex cop-come-murderer, cohort of “senior park official and police” and poaching kingpin..
This page covers diverse poaching issues, including a recent newsworthy story where Indian game guards are now given the go-ahead to use deadly force on poachers.
Here you will note articles like “Petty hunters, corrupt wildlife officials and Asian traffickers have all been snared in South Africa ’s crackdown on rhino poaching”. And on the same page, “Global Network targets SA Rhino (Several animal rights activists have crammed into the Pretoria North Regional Court where two veterinarians and a professional hunter appeared)”.
Look right down this news24 page to get a feel for the magnitude of poaching of a huge number and variety of animals, both African and world-wide. The mind boggles.
You can buy anything – even your freedom – if your ill-gotten gains are lucrative enough, especially in a country where crime appears to be handsomely rewarded.
While our government is sitting on its backside “working on empirical statistical evidence” the poaching continues. By the way – there is no sudden uptick in demand for rhino horn – it’s always been there, but up until the last few years, we’ve had the will to keep poaching under control.
The Cree Indian proverb comes to mind “Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money.”
Only then.
thanks for the thoughtful and insightful comment. We do indeed need to pressure our government (and the other African govts too) to commit in actions as well as just the words, to protect our wildlife heritage. I'm deeply suspicious of complicity at the highest levels, and these individuals need to be weeded out before we all get much older, if there's to be any long term solution to the problem.
The financial incentives of course are all on the side of the poachers, and for honest folk to protect their biodiversity takes a sustained effort of will, and cash as you have pointed out.
Maybe big business needs to also become involved to a greater degree, and get their shareholders to share the vision so the business focus is not just on making money for dividends hand over fist? The banks to a small degree do provide a little support already, with "green affinity" bank savings programs, but I feel that considerably more can be done by all businesses and individuals so that we can continue to provide safe haven to our animals and secure them for future generations.
I'm reminded by a line from Emerson, Lake and Palmer's Karn Evil 9 suite, of an exhibit in a futuristic fairground :
"There behind the glass, is a real blade of grass
Be careful as you pass, move along move along"....
I don't want to be a part of that future!