Dear all sportsman hunters,realistic ecologists and friends of nature,
I am starting today to tel a very sad real Story
about how the hunters and the hunting industry will be hurt very badly, if not destroyed at all.

It will be quite an amount of Information, which I want to pass along, in order to get help, to do the utmost to prevent big damages to the Good ones, and try to punish, penelize,discipline and sentence the bad and the ugly.

The subject is: Peter Thormählen of Thormählen & Cochran Safaris, incorporated in South Africa, Namibia, U.S.A. and may be Zimbabwe.

For Starters I am posting this:

web link:
http://www.africahunting.com/t...no-cow-hunter.17389/

Subject:

Napha distances itself from rhino cow hunter

Discussion in 'News & Announcements' started by AfricaHunting.com, Oct 26, 2014.
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AfricaHunting.com

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THE Namibia Professional Hunting Association this week distanced itself from a professional hunter who was involved in a hunt during which a rhino cow was shot in the Mangetti National Park a year ago.

Professional hunter Peter Thormählen is no longer a member of the Namibia Professional Hunting Association (Napha), after he resigned from the organisation in 2011 in the wake of a disciplinary investigation, the chief executive officer of Napha, Dietlinde Mueller, said in a statement on Monday.

Since his resignation from Napha, the organisation's disciplinary committee has received numerous complaints against Thormählen, but the disciplinary committee cannot take any action against him, Mueller indicated.

She added that Napha “deplores the fact that time and again the image of trophy hunting is marred by reckless, irresponsible or immoral actions of a small minority of professional hunters”.

Napha was reacting to a High Court case in which Thormälen's company, Thormälen & Cochran Safaris Namibia, sued the minister of environment and tourism as a result of the shooting of the rhino cow by an American client of the company. The case was settled out of court last week.

Thormälen & Cochran Safaris Namibia was asking the court to order the minister to take all necessary steps to give effect to a contract in terms of which a client of the company was given permission to hunt a black trophy rhino. In the alternative, the company wanted the minister to pay it N$3,2 million so that it could refund its American client, sandwich take-away chain owner Jimmy John Liautaud, and cover the expenses of the hunt Thormälen had arranged for Liautaud.

Thormälen & Cochran Safaris Namibia bought the right to hunt one black rhino bull from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism for close to N$1,3 million in July last year.

However, the hunt that was subsequently arranged went horribly wrong when Liautaud, who had paid N$3 million to hunt the endangered animal, instead shot a black rhino cow in Mangetti National Park on 28 September last year. The cow was the only female black rhino in the park.

In documents filed with the High Court it was claimed that Liautaud shot the cow in a situation of sudden emergency when the animal charged at the hunting group, which was following the tracks of what was thought to be a rhino bull. The hunting group included two game wardens from the ministry, Thormälen, and a big game professional hunter. It was also claimed that the group had been informed that the rhino cow in the park kept to an area far to the east of the area where they were following tracks.

In a plea in response to the company's claim, the minister's lawyer stated that the terms of the contract between the ministry and the company were “substantially fulfilled” since the hunter who had paid to shoot a rhino bull in fact shot a rhino cow. The trophy of the shot animal is available for export as previously requested by the company, it was also stated on behalf of the minister.



Source: the namibian


Jerome Philippe, Founder of AfricaHunting.com
Visited by over 265,000 hunters monthly.
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enysse

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Wow, what a mess!



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Dragan N.

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So the cow rhino which allegedly normally keeps to an area far to the east of where it was shot ends up getting shot in a charge and now the PH is suing the Namibian government and has resigned from Napha. I don't quite understand why? As unfortunate as it is for the park to lose its only female rhino and it will have a neg. impact on the population how is this anyone's fault? This looks like an unfortunate set of circumstances and I doubt anyone wanted this. Unfortunately this is one of the aspects of hunting and one that will inevitably happen with dangerous game- if an animal you do not want to shoot is committed to a charge and thus puts people in the party at risk, it has to be shot.



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richteb

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This seems one of those cases where just because you can afford it doesn't mean you should do it.



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spike.t

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so they bought the right to hunt the rhino for 1.3 million and sold the hunt for 3.2 million i presume, as that is what they sued for.....difference if my calculator is working is 1.9 million...................one namibian dollar to one rand , so 190,000 usd approx. even after pumping up the trophy fee over the 1.3 buying price a shit load of expenses they ran up!!!! he left NAPHA in 2011 after disciplinary investigation, but this was last year.........................i remember in the mid/early 1990`s around lusulu in zim being told there were 2 or 3 black rhino and if you bumped one which we did, you basically gapped it or found a tree!! and under no circumstances could you shoot, as the shit you would get into was not pleasant...........


Mike Taylor
Takeri Reserve Zambia
doubleaddict@gmail.com
www.takerireservezambia.com


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Royal27

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Dragan N. said: ↑


So the cow rhino which allegedly normally keeps to an area far to the east of where it was shot ends up getting shot in a charge and now the PH is suing the Namibian government and has resigned from Napha. I don't quite understand why?


It doesn't seem that resignation from Napha and this incident are related? Resignation occurred in 2011 and was related to some other issue, according to this article.

What I don't understand is how it is the government's fault that a female rhino was shot? Is this guy trying to make case that it is the government's fault because they didn't know where the rhino was on that day?

Enysse is right - what a mess.



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enysse

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I think it does make us hunters look as irresponsible, they were told what to shoot and not shoot. Granted, there was a possible human life in danger.
This same company lost a PH to a elephant hunt that went terrible wrong too around time frame



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richteb

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I suspect the client panicked and started shooting.



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Dragan N.

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Royal27 said: ↑


It doesn't seem that resignation from Napha and this incident are related? Resignation occurred in 2011 and was related to some other issue, according to this article.

What I don't understand is how it is the government's fault that a female rhino was shot? Is this guy trying to make case that it is the government's fault because they didn't know where the rhino was on that day?

Enysse is right - what a mess.


You are right my apologies, I missed that the date of resignation was in 2011. Would be good I suppose is the article explained why he resigned when they bring that up...



enysse said: ↑


I think it does make us hunters look as irresponsible, they were told what to shoot and not shoot. Granted, there was a possible human life in danger.
This same company lost a PH to a elephant hunt that went terrible wrong too around time frame



richteb said: ↑


I suspect the client panicked and started shooting.


Yes it is odd that the client shot a charging animal before the PH did, you would expect that the PH whose a pro would have reacted first if it was a danger.

But one question I have enysse is do you know when the elephant killed this particular companies PH was it before or after this rhino hunt? As if it was before the client could have been justified as perhaps this company's PHs give the animal to much time and well that can end in tragedy like it has. I don't really think it was irresponsible in that if there is a danger to human life, especially when dealing with an animal that is so big and dangerous it is better to be safe than sorry just my opinion. Especially sometimes with charges it can be a second's decision, its surprising how fast these large animals can move...

I doubt anyone would do this on purpose as a black male rhino is a more valuable trophy than a female one. If the opposite had occurred ie they had a permit for an old past her prime black rhino cow and instead shot a large trophy bull and say it "charged" and the client could keep the trophy then foul play would be more likely.



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CAustin

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Interesting situation.



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richteb

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Another possibility is that the PH didn't shoot because he new the chances of a non Nambian national going to jail for shooting the wrong animal were less then for the PH. Also what were the statements from the game scouts. Not sure what the situation is in Namibia but I know in Zimbabwe some of the game scouts will take every opportunity to report PH's that break the rules.



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enysse

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I guess I was wrong on the time frame of when the PH was killed. Time flies by but it was year and half ago, I actually thought it was over years ago. He was really nice PH. I bumped the post to the top about the incident.



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BRICKBURN

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Alright, Life was threatened you defended yourself.
Hunted an animal without a permit. Lacey Act violation??
Replace the female Rhino. Problem solved.
Government maybe should bring a lawsuit.


A Legend in my own mind! :E Dancing:
"If hunting is so disastrous for the long-term survival of the species, why do the countries where it’s legal to hunt elephants have so many more of them than those where the practice is banned?" Wells Tower.


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Rainer Ling

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1.) The rhinos in Namibia neither belong to Mr. Thormaehlen, nor to MET or NAPHA- they belong to all Namibian citizens, they are a national resource and asset! This implies that every Namibian citizen has the right to be transparently informed about the sustainable use of these endangered species.
2.) Why the secrecy- why a clause in the out of court settlement, that denies anybody from the public, the access to the said settlement details ? Who wants to conceal what ?
3.) In a recent SMS in a Namibian daily the urgent appeal was done to the press to investigate the whole controversy- let transparency prevail !



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Bert the Turtle

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I agree the rhinos belong to the people and that transparency should generally rule the day. However, I can understand why the government that manages the rhinos on behalf of the people might very well want to keep things under wraps.

Here are my thoughts. What the government cannot do is bring the rhino back to life. All the government can do is make the best of the situation, and do what it can to ensure the health of the rhino population moving forward. The only practical thing that can be done is for the government to arrange some sort of economic support for rhinos and move on.

If it were an absolutely clear case of shoot or be killed, the client did what he had to do and then the question comes up why did the PH not shoot? Bad press for the Namibian hunting industry if the way this gets reported is that Namibian PH's are afraid to shoot even in defense of the client because the penalties are so high. A large amount of the hunting income comes from plains game areas and a large part of that comes from Americans. Americans have an inherent distrust of government and the economic loss exceeds the value of the rhino if it gets interpreted in such a way that people decide it is too dangerous to go to Namibia because the Namibian government cares more about rhinos than peoples lives. The truth of the matter can get easily lost in the dramatic headlines that play right into American prejudices about Africa. For the vast majority of tourists going to Namibia, defense against dangerous game is completely irrelevant, so why risk creating doubt about a problem that doesn't exist in the first place.

Now what if the circumstances were that the client should not have shot the rhino? I'd be the first to be yelling to lock him up. After all, that is what would happen if a Namibian citizen had shot the rhino for no good reason, and it is entirely reasonable to do so. But, again pragmatic economic considerations come into play. If he gets locked up, the headlines here would read "American defends his life from rampaging rhino only to be imprisoned in Africa." While it may well be the just thing to do, it costs the government money to imprison him, has the potential to cause real economic harm to the hunting industry (and by extension the rhinos) and does nothing to help fix the damage he caused.

So, if the government negotiates a generous economic settlement, they avoid bad press and do something good for the rhinos. But, that can get misreported as well, and the next thing you know, the government is dealing with an onslaught of wealthy Asians who figure rhinos are available for the right price in Namibia. Or they are dealing with a rightfully pissed off group of Namibians who are pissed that an American has been allowed to illegally kill one of their female rhinos and go home with the trophy just because he has money.

In an ideal world, things would be different, but in this world there are always pragmatic considerations. Perhaps this is just one of those situations where there are no good answers, just some that are less bad than others and it is in the interest of everyone involved if a deal is made and it isn't spoke of again.



Bert the Turtle, Oct 28, 2014 Report

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James.Grage

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Now that we have a situation that should have never happen in the first place. SCI and DSC should be investigating the situation. The case should be brought by Namibia officials to SCI and DSC for disciplinary proceedings.

A couple things do not ring true here. If the Black Rhino was charging, did the PH shoot? If the answer is no, then i read this to be straight out poaching. On Dangerous game hunts the hunter is behind the PH and tracker or trackers most of the time until they set up to shoot, I have been even when we were tracking a wounded cape buffalo. Exceptions were when we had a group huddle to discuss what was on going.

NAPHA - Should be talking to SCI and DSC to have "Thormälen & Cochran Safaris Namibia" booted from the organizations and black listed.

I do believe that Thormälen & Cochran Safaris Namibia used a tracker or two to locate and track the Black Rhino, the tracker and PH should know the difference between a cow and bull rhino. If the trackers and PH are that poor in their job duties to put a client in danger that is failure of duty in by eyes. Both of these is a good reason for hunters to not book with them.

The client should have never been in danger if the trackers and PH were doing their job correctly.

All i know is that i have had Thormälen & Cochran Safaris Namibia company on my never book with list. And this further support what i have read in the past.



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cwkirchh

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The cow was shot, because it had the longer horn.
I know Peter Thormählen personelly, he does not have a valid big game PH license in Namibia,
but he always has a lawyer with him, so , if anything happens, the lawyer will cut him out of Trouble, including some ...........
officials from Namibia Government?????
Anyway, a good Story:

If he gets away with this Story, it smells like corruption....

by the way, did anybody controll the last purchases of concessions by Peter Thormählen?
What was the quota in the auction,
and what is the quota now?

Does someone has a 11-year - old to do the mathematics before and after????

I was in Namibia this year, with T&C Safaris.
I was in Mangetti National Park ( 6 X 6 km square/ 3,7 X 3,7 miles square).
I spoke to some hunting People there, and the Story goes, that the Rhino cow was shot, because it had the longer horn than any of the males there.
The Story, that the cow charged is a joke: you do not track the cow's tracks , when you already know, where it lives.
Also: Try to get the judges to find out about the real case:
Who shot, which angle, where was the PH?
T&C's only big game PH with a NAMIBIA-PH BIG GAME license is Abiliu Hihuilepo (1953 ),

It is just big fraud that the horns of a cow shot like this, are free for Export.

Namibia must be the only Country, which allows to Export trophies from illegaly shot animals---- or do you all know other countries, which allow this?
I would allways be "attact" + "charged" by animals with enormous trophies , which are not allowed to be shot!!!

Where are we here ? In Gods own land? Or in Hell, where other People controll, what is law???



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James.Grage

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cwkirchh

Welcome to AH.

Good Post, i must say...



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enysse

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This post just got very interesting again, if the above information is true........ops_O

T&C have a lot of explaining to do and should be banned from DSC and SCI.



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James.Grage

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enysse said: ↑


This post just got very interesting again, if the above information is true........ops_O

T&C have a lot of explaining to do and should be banned from DSC and SCI.


Along with some other story's that i have read from hunter(s) that hunted with them in the past 3 years in Namibia, i would have to strongly agree with you...



James.Grage, Today at 6:06 PM Report

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spike.t said: ↑


.......i remember in the mid/early 1990`s around lusulu in zim being told there were 2 or 3 black rhino and if you bumped one which we did, you basically gapped it or found a tree!! and under no circumstances could you shoot, as the shit you would get into was not pleasant...........


Hunting in a reserve with several Black Rhino sneaking around we were told something simple by the PH.
You get behind me, and if I have to shoot it there will be powder burns on its head. Otherwise, under no circumstance will any of them be shot.


A Legend in my own mind! :E Dancing:
"If hunting is so disastrous for the long-term survival of the species, why do the countries where it’s legal to hunt elephants have so many more of them than those where the practice is banned?" Wells Tower.


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Chris Winters

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James.Grage said: ↑


Along with some other story's that i have read from hunter(s) that hunted with them in the past 3 years in Namibia, i would have to strongly agree with you...


Then tell me the stories , so I get more Input for my litigation and for NAPHA.


cw-iron


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Chris Winters

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BRICKBURN said: ↑


Hunting in a reserve with several Black Rhino sneaking around we were told something simple by the PH.
You get behind me, and if I have to shoot it there will be powder burns on its head. Otherwise, under no circumstance will any of them be shot.


As I said, it was not a Charge, it was because the longer horn!!!


cw-iron


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Chris Winters

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Also: Try to get the judges to find out about the real case:

I am sure the sandwich-guy had a Video made.......
May be, some People do not want to find the truth......?

Who shot, which angle, where was the PH?
T&C's only big game PH with a NAMIBIA-PH BIG GAME license is Abiliu Hihuilepo (1953 ),
he must have been there, because Peter Thormählen does not have a BIG GAME PH - LICENCE in Namibia,
besides, it seems, he cannot even tell apart a Rhino Bull track from a Rhino Lady track???

Besides, he was not able to show me my Black Rhino Bull ( "VICTOR") in Mauricedale Game Farm (of John and Richard HUME), Malalane,Mpumalanga,South Africa, in March this year in six days of tracking, including a herd of Scouts!
Afterwards, it got clear to me, that he just wanted to Lure me back to SA for a second time, to be able to sell me some more animals.
I let you know more about this side Story later. ( Did you ever get an offer for a big croc on a farm for 30.000$, when the farmer charges already a very high Price of 14.000$ ???)

It is just a big fraud in Namibia that the horns of a Rhino cow being shot like this without Permit completely against the laws, are free for Export to any Country in the world. .
Fish and wildlife of the USA are sleeping?????
Why ban IVORY from elephants and allow Import of pregnant female Rhino cow horns????????
No pun intended.....
Namibia must be the only Country, which allows to Export trophies from illegaly shot animals, which are Close to be extinct, if everybody goes arround and shoots pregant Rhino-Cows just because it has a longer horn.---- or do you all know other countries, which allow this?
If this is right and exsisting law,I allways would be "attact" + "charged" by animals with enormous trophies , which are not allowed to be shot!!!

If I get all the Facts about Thormählen , where he acted against the law or against international hunting ethics, I will do my best to save all hunters on this earth to get into Problems with this guy!


cw-iron


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BRICKBURN

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Chris Winters said: ↑


As I said, it was not a Charge, it was because the longer horn!!!



Just a general comment mate. That is actually supportive. Any reserve that is protecting Rhino the PH knows to avoid the Rhino at all cost.
It is not hard to do.


So my first address is to Fish and wildlife, IRS,DSC,and SCI:

Stopp all this bullshit!

There is much to this story. This is the beginning.

Lacy Act? Who knows.

Bloody hell. It would be interesting to follow this story. How could a PH get it so so wrong?

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
Bloody hell. It would be interesting to follow this story. How could a PH get it so so wrong?

Just like some "hunters" who should never go hunting, some "professional hunters" are better working as farm hands!

Incredible, What really surprises me is that on such a high profile/lifetime hunt it was not documented/recorded on film! This would add a wonderful twist to the tail. Surprised to see no none has brought this up. Then again if you're breaking the law then probably not too wise..
Damn shame for conservation and future Black Rhino that have the potential to generate much needed income and the blow to the image of responsible hunting..

As I've said before in other threads, a safari contract (esp on a hunt of this magnitude) is essential and if proper contracts between client and outfitter and outfitter and PB were in place then there should be no room whatsoever for any dispute and if the contracts were not in place then all parties concerned deserve all the hassle this matter is causing.

When I was hunting in the Save a few years ago the PH told me that if we happened to get charged by a lion or elephant, "stand your ground. But if it's a rhino, look for the nearest tree because I am not going to a Zimbabwe jail."
It would be very interesting to know what really happened here.

more info about T&C:



Questions over Namibian rhino hunt

With 251 rhinos poached so far this year in SA, the expectation is that rhino hunting, especially that of the black rhino, will be shut down.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

29 Jun 2012 08:36 John Grobler

Chris Roper ponders the National Press Club's decision on making the rhino Newsmaker of the Year 2012 and what it says about the media.


Namibian conservation circles are outraged over the rhino-hunting activities of South African big-game hunter Peter Thormählen after he was allowed to hunt a black rhino with a Russian client last month on a permit that had expired last year.

Under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) terms agreed to in 2009, Namibia and South Africa were allowed five black rhino trophy hunts every year until 2011 on condition that it be done on a sustainable basis.

With 251 rhinos poached so far this year in South Africa, the expectation is that rhino hunting, especially that of the critically endangered black rhino, will be shut down at the next Cites conference later this year.

This has raised fears that Namibia’s black rhino population, especially its endemic desert black rhinos, may be at risk as operators compete for what could possibly the last trophies of their kind available to the lucrative sports hunting industry.

The rights to hunt three black rhinos were auctioned off for amounts of up to R1.9-million at the last auction, two of which were acquired by Thormählen & Cochran Safaris. The firm also holds rights to hunt a white rhino, its lawyer confirmed.

Insolvent
The safari outfit is owned by Peter Thormählen, a former Kimberley farmer now living in Nelspruit. It was, however, registered in 2006 in the name of one of his employees, a young Namibian professional hunter named Phillip Fourie.

Thormählen, originally from the Free State but based in Mpumalanga when not on safari in Namibia, Botswana or Cameroon, was declared insolvent in 1999 by the Bloemfontein High Court.

Using Fourie as a proxy allowed him to circumvent restrictions on non-Namibian companies obtaining hunting concessions and work around a legal preclusion against operating a company in his own name before a period of 10 years had elapsed.

Namibian ministry of environment and tourism officials have expressed alarm that an exception was made for Thormählen & Cochran Safaris to have its permit extended, arguing that if it was not used in the hunting season for which it was granted, it should be auctioned off again.

But Thormählen’s legal representative said that after a previous hunt for a black rhino in the Waterberg Plateau Park had led to a disappointed client threatening a lawsuit, a settlement was reached with the ministry that included the shooting of the second black rhino bull in the Mangetti Reserve in early May.

Globetrotting
What has unnerved the local rhino lobby even more is that the safari outfit has a secret partner in the person of globetrotting Namibian deputy trade and industry minister Tjekero Tweya, who has owned 40% of it since July 2008 through a company called Wedhapo Investments, previously known as Starting Right Investments Ninety Nine.

Neither Thormählen nor Tweya responded to questions forwarded to their offices. Thormählen is believed to be hunting in northern Botswana, whereas Tweya was in Canada on business.

An investigation into Thormählen & Cochran Safaris has further brought to light that Wedhapo also owns a 40% share in a hunting farm in northwestern Namibia, close to communal areas frequented by rhinos breaking out of the Etosha Pans in search of water and pasture.

Although Tweya’s name does not appear anywhere on the Wedhapo paperwork that could be traced, former farm workers from Kudusberg No 45 said that he was a regular visitor to the hunting retreat.

The workers also said the other two directors of Wedhapo, Hieronimus Witbooi and Stephanus Witbooi, both believed to be former teachers, had never been seen at the farm.

Tweya’s name is also listed as the company’s contact person in the archival files of previous auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers, including his direct line to his previous office as deputy finance minister.

Fair game
Inquiries established that the auditors resigned in 2009 because Tweya repeatedly failed to settle its bill. Wedhapo appears to be dormant, even though it owns assets conservatively estimated at between R8-million and R10-million.

With Thormählen & Cochran Safaris now consolidating its holdings – it is buying out the other owners of Kudusberg – observers fear for the future conservation of the many rare species, including desert-adapted black rhino, elephant and lions in this still wild corner of Namibia.

The outfit was last year accused of hunting a collared black-maned lion known as Leonardo, one of only about 900 noted for their distinctive behavioural characteristics setting them apart from other lions in Etosha.

The collar, later recovered under murky circumstances, suggested that the lion was killed at about 4am. Local hunting regulations prohibit the shooting of lion after dark or before sunrise.

No response could be obtained from Thormählen & Cochran Safaris in this respect, but its website’s trophy room section displays a picture of a magnificent lion shot by United States hunter Joe Russel that is believed to be Leonardo.

All these species, including the lion, appear to be fair game for the outfit. Its website offers hunts in the area for “desert lion, desert leopard, desert elephant [and] black rhino”.


All material © Mail & Guardian Online. Material may not be published or reproduced in any form without prior written permission.
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https://www.google.com/search?...e&authuser=0&tbm=vid
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...defends-himself.html
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http://safaritalk.net/topic/11...n-namibia-once-more/
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.--- more to come....!!!

next item:
Now it may go into murder!!!!


Here is a new bit of info.



http://annamiticus.com/2014/12...ath-rhino-protector/





And who is in the Connections again:

RIGHT:

Both Ganasebs were moonlighting as hunting guides in their spare time for Peter Thormählen, a South African professional hunter blacklisted in South Africa for his involvement in pseudo-hunts of rhinos. The Namibian Professional Hunters Association had also expelled him, they said in an unusually strongly worded statement.



Mit besten Grüssen,

Best regards,

Christian Winter


Namibia: Bizarre Death of a Rhino Protector



Date: 16 Dec 2014

By: Guest Blogger

Tag: Boxer, Daniel Alfeus //Hawaxab, Namibia, Peter Thormählen, rhinos, Save the Rhino Trust

Comment: 0



by John Grobler, courtesy of Conservation Action Trust



Photo by Dr. Thomas Wagner via Wikimedia Commons
Is the mysterious death of a respected Save the Rhino Trust employee connected to rhino poaching in Namibia? Photo by Dr. Thomas Wagner via Wikimedia Commons

In Namibia, the sudden death of a Save the Rhino Trust (SRT) employee is raising questions.

The air over Sesfontein this time of year is usually a peculiar metallic hue, tinged by the talcum-fine dust whipped by the harsh desert wind blowing from the Skeleton Coast, 250 kilometres away to the west.

But today, the white heat seemed bleaker than ever, and another metallic taste stirred in the air: that of blood, redolent of greed and betrayal, of witchcraft and a strange death by anthrax. Boxer was dead.

As the oldest and most experienced tracker of the three-man Save the Rhino Trust’s (SRT) Damara-speaking team, Daniel Alfeus //Hawaxab – aka Boxer – was by all accounts an exemplary employee. At age 37, he had spent his entire adult life looking out for the world’s last free-roaming black rhinos of the Kunene region.

His knowledge of the rugged mountains and deep valleys, watered by secret fountains where the last free black rhinos live, played a major role in the recovery of their numbers after the 1980s slaughter during the South African occupation that left fewer than 20 animals alive. Their numbers now are officially kept secret to deter poachers – but the secrecy also serves to obscure the true state of affairs.

For 20 years, after the last reported case at Mbkondja in 1993, there had been no rhino poaching, as the SRT’s tactics of constantly patrolling the rhino ranges kept the poachers at bay. But on Christmas Day 2012, the first of 14 carcasses found so far started turning up in the field, at the Kommagorras fountain near Mbkondja.

Mbkondja – a Herero word meaning “struggle” – is a scattered communal farming settlement, roughly halfway between Palmwag and Khowarib, and is where the SRT keeps camels used for foot patrols into the mountains.

Boxer was on the scene quickly and identified a former soldier-turned-cattle herder named Tjihuure Tjiuamba as the most likely suspect.

He and two community game guards interrogated him – Boxer was a man known to talk with his hands when necessary, hence his nickname – and Tjiuamba soon pointed out where he had hidden the horns.

He also deposed a sworn affidavit a few weeks later to the police’s Protected Resources Unit, in which he implicated his employer, Efraim Mwanyangapo, as offering him R30,000 for rhino horn and supplying him with two .303 bullets for a rifle he then stole from a man named Jakotwa, he stated.

Jakotwa, a Himba farmer who also kept cattle at Mbkondja, independently confirmed this version. But he has moved away now – there were bad things at Mbkondja he did not want to discuss.

Tjiumba later withdrew his statement in court, claiming it was made under duress. Boxer’s actions, however, provided the legal ground for what has been the only successful prosecution so far, 24 black rhinos later.

So it was strange that no one in the SRT made any effort to get Boxer to the hospital in Opuwo as he lay dying in Sesfontein’s clinic, and that most of his colleagues, including all SRT’s management, did not attend his funeral in Sesfontein.

Boxer died alone, in agony. And that had everyone spooked.

Death certificate

The case closely matched the 1993 case, said Rudi Loutit, former chief game warden of Kunene whose wife, Blythe, founded the SRT: three locals arrested, but the state witness was threatened with death. In court, he claimed to have been assaulted (even though Loutit hid him away at Möwe Bay for four months at own expense), and the case collapsed immediately. The culprits walked free and returned to Mbkondja.

Fast forward 21 years: four days after their last patrol ended on Tuesday, September 30 2014, Boxer started complaining of stiff joints and painful glands when he returned to his small, mud-walled house in Sesfontein.

“He had a thing like a boil on the inside of his arm, a strange colour. He said he could not even lift a spade,” his aunt, Linda //Hawaxab, recalled later.

On that Saturday, the strange-looking blister started spreading rapidly on his upper inside left arm, spreading to the rest of his arm in discoloured lumps down to his wrist. The nurse at the local clinic treated him for a possible snake or spider bite, but by Sunday a huge blue-black sac had formed on his left chest.

Ice-packs and painkillers were administered, but by Monday night he started vomiting and having trouble breathing as the strange black infection spread across his abdomen, various friends and family related.

“I went to see him in the hospital on Monday. He was struggling to breathe, he could not really talk anymore. You could see that he was finished,” an SRT colleague, Ludwig “Mannetjies” Ganuseb, told me six days later.

Others said in his last moments of clarity, Boxer told them his mysterious illness was caused by those involved in the rhino poaching.

Early Tuesday morning, after four days of fighting for his life, the veteran tracker of 20-odd years and in the prime of his life finally lost the battle against the poison coursing through his body. His corpse had to be sent to the state hospital in Opuwo, 150km north, for a death certificate to be issued.

For some reason, the SRT, his employer of the past two decades, could not make any of their four vehicles available. The family instead had to take up a collection for petrol and borrow local councillor Hendrik Goamab’s battered 30-year-old pick-up to transport the body to Opuwo’s mortuary late that Tuesday. Boxer had no wife or children of his own, so his nephew accompanied the body for the four-hour drive.

By the time the overworked, new state doctor could attend to his case, Boxer had been dead for two days. No one examined the body, because in 35-degree heat with the body already in such bad state, there simply was no point in doing so, hospital staff said.

The death certificate, issued on 7 October 2014, simply noted the cause of death as “unknown.”

When Boxer’s symptoms were described to the matron of the Opuwo hospital, Lukas Ashivudhi, he immediately recalled seeing similar symptoms among villagers in a remote Kunene village who got infected with anthrax. Big black-green lumps under the skin spread through the limbs and then the rest of the body.

Pressed for more information, Ashuvudhi became nervous. Only the permanent secretary could disclose such information, he said, and put the phone down.

The deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Dr Norbert Foster, confirmed the remote village was Orupem-be, 208km north-west of Sesfontein, where villagers contracted anthrax after eating meat of an infected animal that died during the 1992 drought.

Boxer’s symptoms as described, he concurred, matched those of the Orupembe villagers.

Anthrax, so named after the Greek word for coal because of the lumpy, black discolouration that it causes in the limbs of the victim, is common in this area and is sometimes called “hide carriers’ disease,” said veterinarian Dr Conrad “Nad” Brain. As the former chief state veterinarian of the Etosha Game Park, which abuts Kunene to the east, he had handled “hundreds and hundreds” of anthrax cases among animals, as well as the odd human case, he said.

Anthrax

In humans, anthrax can manifest as a pulmonary infection from breathing in spores, a gastrointestinal eruption from eating infected meat and, most commonly, a cutaneous infection in the area of the body where it entered the body.

According to the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, anthrax infection in humans presents as an ulcer-like boil, called an eschar, at the site of infection within two to five days of infection. If untreated, it leads to death within days by toxemia, caused by the massive release of two lethal exotoxins and a bacterial toxin via the host body’s lymphatic system. The fatality rate in untreated cases is 92%; even in observed cases, where medical treatment is administered, the mortality rate is 45%.

Brain said anthrax was easy to diagnose, provided you had a microscope and knew what to look for. “However, it very often gets misdiagnosed. I often can spot it long before medical doctors do, because they look for what the patient thinks the cause of the problem could be.” Once identified, it was easily treatable with a specific but commonly available antibiotic, he said.

Dark talk

Back in Sesfontein, there was trouble among the //Hawaxab and Ga-nuseb clans. Another //Hawaxab had died in the same week (of unrelated causes), and she was to be buried at the same time as Boxer. At the church service, accusations and counter-accusations started flying, and the police had to be called in to restore order.

No one would really say what the problem was: one said it was because someone from the Ganuseb clan bad-mouthed the dead woman, others said it had to with inheritance issues involving Boxer’s earthly goods. Fingers were being pointed, and tempers flared.

What struck the local community was that none of the senior SRT management, like CEO Simpson Uri-Khob or director of special operations Bernd Brell, attended the funeral in the dusty and decrepit Sesfontein graveyard.

People also noticed the absence of the Ganaseb brothers Hans and Mannetjies. Mannetjies was seen drinking all the next day at the local bar owned by Mwanyangapo, situated at the small business complex he co-owned with his Chinese partner, Paul Hoa.

Among the extended family – in this tiny, isolated community of some 3,000 people, everyone is related in one way or another – there was darker talk: Mannetjies and his brother Hans, who both live in Mbkondja where they keep their small stock, were questioned for 12 hours by the police’s protected resource unit last month in connection with the sudden outbreak of poaching in their back yard over the past two-and-a-half years.

The carcasses kept turning up in the wake of SRT patrols that somehow managed not to see them. Most were found by cattle herders – so why were the SRT patrols missing them?







A senior law enforcement official confirmed this:

there was talk of one of the Ganasebs having bought a new car,

which he clearly could not afford on his monthly R1,500 salary.

Both Ganasebs were moonlighting as hunting guides in their spare time for Peter Thormählen,

a South African professional hunter blacklisted in South Africa for his involvement in pseudo-hunts of rhinos.



The Namibian Professional Hunters Association had also expelled him, they said in an unusually strongly worded statement.







Mannetjies had made it clear that he intended becoming rich, and had gone to the Angolan witchdoctor Muanyamengi to get muti which he openly used, local sources claimed.

Belief in witchcraft was very strong. “You white people don’t believe us blacks about witchcraft because we are poor,” burst out Elifas Tjavindja, a community game ranger of somewhat spotty reputation.

Everyone knew that in the early 1990s, when the SRT and police caught some poachers here, all seven of those involved in the bust died over the next year, he said (it turned out to be not true). “There is very powerful medicine here, a very powerful Angolan witchdoctor. You must watch out!”

Muanyamengi, encountered at the Warmquelle shebeen (also owned by Mwanyangapo) on a Sunday night about a week before Boxer went on his last patrol, described himself as a doctoure tradicional (traditional doctor). He said he does lots of work for important, rich people and was in the Angolan commando forces during the war.

At the Ganaseb-//Hawaxab homestead, a motley collection of zinc lean-tos, mud huts and one small concrete house on the eastern outskirts of the settlement, there was no talk initially of witchcraft. When we arrived there the day after the funeral to pay respects and inquire about the cause of Boxer’s shockingly sudden death, Mannetjies jumped up and steered this reporter away from the rest of the people. “Let’s talk over there alone, not here among everyone. It will just upset everyone,” he insisted.

Boxer, he confided, was bitten on Saturday by something in his bedroll, here in his house in Sesfontein – maybe a snake or a spider, he repeated several times. Definitely something bit him, which caused that ulcerous sore to start developing.

But on the inside of his upper left arm? Someone who had spent half his adult life out in the veld, among mambas, puff adders, cobras and any variety of scorpions, and never been bitten before? How could he have missed seeing whatever it was that was in his bedroll that bit him?

Mannetjies’ eyes, blood-shot and blurred from an obvious hang-over, flickered and shifted as he flashed his trademark brilliant white smile. “Something bit him,” he said a little louder.

His eyes clouded over at a suggestion we would question the Sesfontein Clinic’s chief nurse about what kind of bug could be so deadly it would kill a strong, fit man in three days.

“You must come and tell us what they say at the hospital,” he urged, leaning closer. “Don’t forget to come and tell us. I will wait here for you.” It was an appointment I would not keep, and I have a feeling he wouldn’t either.

The chief nurse was cranky, upset at being woken just before noon on a Sunday, and wouldn’t supply a name. My guide had warned she was a former combat nurse with Plan (People’s Liberation Army of Namibia, ruling party Swapo’s former guerrilla army) and could be quite difficult.

She vaguely confirmed Boxer’s symptoms with grunts and cryptic answers: many poisonous things in the bush. Snakes and spiders.

Bush telegraph

Did Boxer say anything about being bewitched by the people he had helped put in jail? Had she seen anything like this before?

Angrily, she burst out: “Oh, you people. Just leave us alone. You only care about the rhino, not about people.” Excuse me? “I just want the maaaahny.”


“If I get a rhino, I will just sell it. I need a million. Then all my problems will be solved,” she said.

Even at the risk of jail? I was shooed away with an imperious wave.

A day later, at the SRT’s trackers’ camp at Palmwag, some trackers were preparing for patrol. “We’re going to get those poachers,” one vowed cheerfully.

But the mention of Boxer’s name brought a cold wariness – and no one could recall any other tracker dying in the same way Boxer did. And why would only one person out of that team get ill? Silence ensued, no one would meet my eyes. “I think a snake,” said Lesley Gariseb, kicking at the dust.

And no, the CEO and director of special operations were not there, as with four previous visits. Nor did any of them return calls or numerous text messages.

While the bush telegraph kept pinging in Mbkondja about the cause of and suspects in Boxer’s death, the SRT management appeared to have disappeared and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism stonewalled. Only the Permanent Secretary could answer questions, and no, he was not available.

A week later, the really bad news: a radio-collared black rhino was killed inside the Etosha Park, close to the fence with Kunene where the road leads up to Opuwo from the south. On November 19 three more black rhino carcasses were discovered in Etosha.

And where was Muanyamengi, the powerful Angolan witchdoctor? Word had it he had moved on to Orupembe, where an elephant was reported to have died of anthrax recently. After that, he was seen in Opuwo, drinking heavily.

Through a former director of the SRT, contact was quietly established with one SRT member still considered trustworthy. Why was it that dead rhinos were only being found in the area that Boxer’s team patrolled? I asked. Was his death connected to the poaching?

“Yes. But that secret got buried with Boxer,” came the answer after a long silence.



________________________________________________________________________________________



-----Ursprüngliche Mitteilung-----
Von: cwkirchh <cwkirchh@aol.com>
An: info <info@eia-global.org>
Cc: cwkirchh <cwkirchh@aol.com>
Verschickt: So, 14 Dez 2014 4:50 pm
Betreff: Safari Operators acting illegaly; Subject: Black Rhinos



Dear all,



I am planning an attack on a Safari Operator, who I hunted with this year in Zimbabwe , Namibia and South Africa.



I found Information, that this Operator might operate illegaly, not obeying the laws, even cut his way through with corrupting the necessary People, in order to get his own way for makink large amounts of money.

He might also be involved in money - laundering, doing his Business mostly in cash, with no declaration of the root of the funds...(Ukrain,Russia....).



I already have engaged a South African Law Firm, to act on my behalf in this matter.



I Need some help of course.

I want to set a reward of 100.000USD, even in parts, if witnesses are found who will provide enough evidence, facts , which will lead to a severe condemnation and a severe sentence of the Operator.





I will come up with all informatioin, guided by my lawyers in due time.



Is your Organisation ready to help me with this Project?

If yes, tell me please, how you can help.


Mit besten Grüssen,

Best regards,

Christian Winter

I personally find all of this very confusing.

We hunted with Peter about 10 years ago. We had a great time. Shot a lot of animals. There were a couple of things that I began to question. These were mistakes that ended up costing me a fair amount of money. About $10,000 as I recall.

I have no idea if Peter is involved with any of this. However, he is often mentioned in connection with a fair number of problem events. I find that bothersome, very bothersome.

I would steer clear of some of these allegations absent more proof. Attempting to tie him to murder based upon that one article is careless at best. I would be real careful.

Have to question the motive here

quote:

Have to question the motive here

Same here.
Not a fan of T&C, but always am suspicious of any first post that attacks someone.

I know a few people that hunted with TC and from what I heard from them it would not surprise me if the allegations about the female rhino and the lion were true, but murder seems a little far fetched to me.

The silence is deafening.

His first post is due to me giving him details of AR when i mer him in zim. He did. Lt k ow the web page when his lasyers allow him he will disclose the hole story and it is scary. I got told the hole story and it was terrifing animals measured getting bigger after death

His first post is due to me giving him details of AR when i mer him in zim. He did. Lt k ow the web page when his lasyers allow him he will disclose the hole story and it is scary. I got told the hole story and it was terrifing animals measured getting bigger after death

This guy came out with guns blazing now has gone to dead silence. Seems odd to me.

I imagine his lawyers had a fit over this thread. I can understand that. It was started then dropped which can only lead to questions .

Personally I would like to hear the details .

I will tell you my own T&C story. I took my kids with them probably 10 years ago. We shot a pile of plains game and some problem hippos. I was not planning on shooting a sable. They were expensive. I think $7,500. We saw a big one one day. We discussed it that night. I said if we saw it again AND if it was at least 42 inches, I would shoot it. We saw a sable in the thick bush. Peter said it was the big one we had seen before. I hammered it. As soon as I walked up, I knew it was not the same sable. It was about 36.

In addition, there was a large croc in a dam pond. I was going to shoot it. It disappeared. We found tracks where it had left the pond. Peter advised that there was a smaller croc still there. He already had paid for the CITES permit. He would make me a deal. I could have it at cost. I think this was $2,500. I asked how big the croc was. He advised it was a bit over 10 feet. We crawled up on the dam. I could clearly see the croc. I questioned it being 10 feet plus. I have seen 10's of thousands of alligators being from Florida. He assured me it was over 10 feet. I hammered it. When we got it, I could pick up the entire croc by my self. If I remember correctly, it was 7 feet long!

I was out $10,000 on his "mistakes." Were these intentional? I have no idea but I am suspicious.

Sometime thereafter, I got a solicitation for a Botswana elephant from another PH I know priced at $X. Shortly thereafter, I got the same solicitation from Peter. When I say the same solicitation, it was word for word identical except for the price which was $16,000 higher.

What would you think?

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
Bloody hell. It would be interesting to follow this story. How could a PH get it so so wrong?

Just like some "hunters" who should never go hunting, some "professional hunters" are better working as farm hands!

Well said Saeed...well said!