Rhino poaching rampant

Chronicle Reporter
September 29, 2008


A TOTAL of 37 rhinos have been killed by poachers in the country since the beginning of the year and highly sophisticated syndicates are believed to be responsible, an official said yesterday.
Speaking in a telephone interview from Harare, the Director-General of Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, Dr Morris Mutsambiwa, said 22 rhinos were killed in the country’s national parks and 15 killed in other areas.
“Rhino poaching is now very rampant throughout the country. The figures of the rhinos, which are being killed by the poachers, are rising steadily,†said Dr Mutsambiwa.
“The figures, which I have just given are those for last week. It will not be surprising when we get back to the office tomorrow to learn that more rhinos were killed.â€
Dr Mutsambiwa said as a result of the rampant poaching of the protected animals, the organisation was beefing up its manpower to try and contain the killings.
“We are worried as an organisation at the rate which these animals are being killed. In addition to further training of our staff, we are working with sister State agencies to improve the protection of the rhinos,†he said.
“We are also working with non-governmental organisations that protect the animals to improve on the situation. We are also trying to increase our patrols in an effort to give the targeted animals protection 24 hours a day.â€
Dr Mutsambiwa said they were dealing with highly sophisticated syndicates with adequate resources hence the need to improve on their operations.
“They are making a lot of money from these activities and that is why their operations are sophisticated. Just last month, they killed a rhino at Chipangali, right in the park.
“Our investigations have since revealed that the syndicates operating in the country take the rhino horns to South Africa where they find their destinations outside Africa,†he said.
The Director-General said for poaching to be nipped in the bud, there was a need to introduce stiffer legislation.
“Poaching of wildlife should be taken as serious as stock theft. In the case of stock theft, the offenders risk going to jail for a number of years, while in the case of poaching one can even escape with a fine,†said Dr Mutsambiwa.
“So there is a need to introduce punitive sentences in order to control poaching. The poachers make a lot of money, hence they take the risk of committing the offence.â€
Meanwhile, Dr Mutsambiwa said the organisation was battling to control fire in its national parks scattered across the country.
“As I speak now, there is a fire raging on at Matetsi in Victoria Falls where our teams are busy trying to put it out. Recently we have had a lot of fire outbreaks in our parks such as Nyanga and Matopo among others.
“These fires are causing a lot of damage to the parks and distressing animals. Although it has been fortunate for us that the bigger game has not been killed so far, the smaller game has suffered a lot,†he said.
Dr Mutsambiwa said they have fire management committees in each park, which worked with other stakeholders, to put out the fire whenever it breaks out.