Vultures also victims of poaching
Rangers in the Vlakteplaas section have made a grim discovery of the carcasses of 119 vultures next to a poached buffalo.
Nine poaching suspects were arrested in the Kruger National Park (KNP) last week.
SANParks said the arrests were made in three different sections of the park which has borne the brunt of rhino poaching.
This served as a good morale booster ahead of the celebrations of International World Ranger Day yesterday.
Three of the arrests were made in the Crocodile Bridge Section with suspects found in possession of a heavy calibre hunting rifle, ammunition and poaching equipment. Letaba Rangers made contact with three other suspects who were in possession of similar arms, and Tshokwane rangers arrested yet three other suspected poachers also in possession of the same on July 23.
The arrests were effected with support from the K9 and airwing teams.
During the operation near Tshokwane, one of the K9 dogs got lost, but was fortunately found unharmed the following day.
Glenn Phillips, the KNP managing executive expressed his appreciation of the hard work that was done by the rangers corps, airwing and K9 units, saying, “We are proud of your achievements in the recent past; we salute your commitment and bravery in this campaign. We are happy that the dog was found unharmed, even though it was dehydrated and drained.”
In more sad news, however, rangers in the Vlakteplaas section have made a grim discovery of the carcasses of 119 vultures next to a poached buffalo. Initial indications are that meat was taken from the buffalo by the poachers, who then laced the remainder with poison which killed 117 white-backed vultures, one hooded vulture and a white-headed vulture.
The poisoning is being investigated by the park with cooperation from Mozambican officials. Two of the vulture carcasses are being probed to establish the type of poison used to kill the birds.
