Rotarians back the war against rhino poaching
There is no silver bullet to (solve) this crisis. Wildlife crime is something we all must unite against.
A war is rumbling on our doorsteps as highly organised and sophisticated poachers mount almost daily attacks on KZN’s rhino population.
The demand, especially in the Far East, for the rhino horn has seen Ezemvelo Wildlife task their game rangers into virtual foot soldiers as the authorities seek to protect the country’s heritage. Ryan O’Connor, Ezemvelo’s Financial and Administration’s manager, was addressing Rotarians in Dundee where the local club presented highpowered torches to be used by rangers to help beef-up their fight against the poachers. Funds for the imported torches were raised by Rotary through the sale of their Stop the Rhino Slaughter T-shirts and from selling charity entries at the recent Cape Cycle Tour Race in Cape Town in which several local Rotarians also competed.
Referring to the donation, which comes after the official memo of understanding was signed last year between the Dundee Rotary Club and Ezemvelo Wildlife, Ryan expressed his thanks for the donation of the torches.
We must all join this fight to protect our rhinos.
“While the current rhino population statistics in KZN sound healthy (there are 492 black rhinos on state and private reserves and 2 710 white rhinos on state and private reserves), the truth is that we are fighting an avalanche of poaching.”
Ryan commented that with the Kruger National Park greatly beefing up their security measures, the syndicates are concentrating on the smaller reserves in KZN, such as Hluhluwe and Umfolozi, which, with their higher concentration levels of rhinos, are considered to be ‘easy pickings’ by the poachers. “The poachers can strike within a 20-minute operation to slaughter a rhino. We are facing daily occurrences which are monitored by our rangers. We have in our ranks investigating officers, similar to detectives, who dedicated their time to tracking down these groups.’’ Ryan said full moon nights represent a ‘full on alert’ by Ezemvelo as poachers use the moonlight to move into the reserves.
“There is no silver bullet to (solve) this crisis. Wildlife crime is something we all must unite against. We are working closely with the SAPS and have brought in two helicopters which include even night flying to ensure our rhinos are protected as far as possible.”
The good news is that the hard work is paying off with over 165 arrests related to poaching over the past year. ‘’What we need is for the Courts to also work closely with us to ensure that those charged and convicted feel the brunt of the law.” As for the Dundee Rotarians, their President, Bonga Shangase, said the Club was proud to be associated with the efforts of Ezemvelo to protect the rhinos and commended them for their dedication to this cause.
