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Here is what my veterinarian friend from Harare had to say about Kathi's news post on rhino poaching:

"Just some background.

MY neighbour Raul du Toit got a very presitigious IUCN award for his rhino work about two weeks ago. AS he has been forewarned aboutthis presentation he arranged to have a lot of goverment officials, CIO and top brass police officials attend the award ceremony.

But rather than just thank the doners about offering him this award he went on to point out to the delegates that this award clearly indicates thatthe worlds eye are looking at Zimbabwe. They are seeing what is happening to our rhino and it is the duty of all in power to pull up theri socks and bring these gangs to book. It is a yard stick to measure the levels of commitment and curruption in a country. I had it from good authority that the speach will have shaken some oficials into taking more action. This is the same guy who is now in Florida to raise more money for the rhino of Zim. He puts in a lot of effort translocating rhino from areas of land reform to "Safer" areas however no area is currently out of danger. You can work on 2 rhino per week being poached."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
J. Lane Easter, DVM

A born Texan has instilled in his system a mind-set of no retreat or no surrender. I wish everyone the world over had the dominating spirit that motivates Texans.– Billy Clayton, Speaker of the Texas House

No state commands such fierce pride and loyalty. Lesser mortals are pitied for their misfortune in not being born in Texas.— Queen Elizabeth II on her visit to Texas in May, 1991.
 
Posts: 38466 | Location: Gainesville, TX | Registered: 24 December 2006Reply With Quote
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Raul at the WWF Harare office, and Dr Chris Foggin (the Government wildlife Vet) have done more to help the Rhino\s in the last decade than all the 'Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to animals' IFAW and HSUS combined. If anybody is feeling flush/wants to help rhino conservation a donation to either for the drugs/helicopter hire etc will a) go a long way b)be used 100% for conservation and not the usual 90% for admin and 10% for real work.

The situation is dire, and I am not sure we'll win, but those two men are the unsung hero's of Zimbabwe conservation (in general, not just rhino's!)
 
Posts: 3026 | Location: Zimbabwe | Registered: 23 July 2003Reply With Quote
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While hunting in Zim, I shot a giraffe in the rhino conservancy. They told me the full proceeds of the trophy fee went for the benefit of the conservancy. I sure hope so!

- Lars/Finland


A.k.a. Bwana One-Shot
 
Posts: 556 | Location: Finland | Registered: 07 August 2007Reply With Quote
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quote:
The situation is dire, and I am not sure we'll win, but those two men are the unsung hero's of Zimbabwe conservation (in general, not just rhino's!)


That is the absolute truth Ganyana! My veterinarian friend from Harare says exactly the same.

Nigel Theisen told me all kinds of stories about dodging back rhino in Chewore as short a time ago as the '80's. Now they are almost gone from the lowveld where they are supposed to be protected in conservancies.

It is almost unbelievable to me that in this day and age that WE are letting this happen.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
J. Lane Easter, DVM

A born Texan has instilled in his system a mind-set of no retreat or no surrender. I wish everyone the world over had the dominating spirit that motivates Texans.– Billy Clayton, Speaker of the Texas House

No state commands such fierce pride and loyalty. Lesser mortals are pitied for their misfortune in not being born in Texas.— Queen Elizabeth II on her visit to Texas in May, 1991.
 
Posts: 38466 | Location: Gainesville, TX | Registered: 24 December 2006Reply With Quote
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The last time I was chased up a tree by a rhino in the zambezi valley was 1993. Now with the last herd of tryps immune black rhino in the world down to 4 (maybe 8) in the matusadona there is basically no hope of ever re-establishing wild black rhino populations to most of their former range.

We didn't know it until we started translocating rhino to 'secure' areas that Rhino born outside of Tsetsefly infested areas die like sheep in a snow storm when exposed to them. Far too many of the Rhino from Chirisa, Chizarira and Sengwa were sent to Matusadona (where they all did inside 3 months) before Chris Foggin was asked to investigate and soon found the problem. After that rhino's from Tsetse free areas were sent to Save or Sinamatella. There were 250 rhino in matusadona when the IPZ was finally declared secure in 1995 and the population grew steadily till about 2002 - now down to less than 10.
 
Posts: 3026 | Location: Zimbabwe | Registered: 23 July 2003Reply With Quote
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Hi Everyone, I mainly lurk as I don't get to Africa very often. I'm a dyed in the wool conservationist (with a WR 470).

Last hunt (2005?) after getting my ele bull I spent 5 days on Buzz Charlton's place at Kwekwe where black rhino are resident4. I didn't see one but saw scrapes, fcresh prints etc which really excited me.

Last year I spenjt serious dollars to visit Borneo to see orangutangs in the wild.

What I'd like to find out is what hunts can I do which will benefit real conservation efforts (not supporting bunny huggers and animal libbers).

I,m over the stage of putting trophies on the wall but do like a bit of excitement (ie DG) and like to think sokme mone2y and meat is going to the local homo sapiens as well as to the conservation of more interesting species.

What can you suggest for future hunts?

mike

BTW great site (thanks Saeed) and mainly sane, knowledgeable contributors.

BTW2 sorry about the typos - my net book has a really small ke2ybo9ard.
 
Posts: 238 | Registered: 08 December 2004Reply With Quote
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Ganyana,
We need to get some DNA from the African Sleeping Sickness immune Black Rhino to Texas A&M. Specifically to Dr. Jim Derr. This DNA can be preserved and used to clone some imunne Rhino maybe some day. Also, the gene for trypanosomiasis immunity might also be identified. It might be possible to use gene therapy to make other rhino immune some day.

Dr. Derr and myself have tried to get funding through SCI & DSC (who gave us a little) to do some of these projects. So far it has been as successful as stopping the poaching.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
J. Lane Easter, DVM

A born Texan has instilled in his system a mind-set of no retreat or no surrender. I wish everyone the world over had the dominating spirit that motivates Texans.– Billy Clayton, Speaker of the Texas House

No state commands such fierce pride and loyalty. Lesser mortals are pitied for their misfortune in not being born in Texas.— Queen Elizabeth II on her visit to Texas in May, 1991.
 
Posts: 38466 | Location: Gainesville, TX | Registered: 24 December 2006Reply With Quote
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I saw black rhino in 3 consecutive days in the SAVE last month.

Disappointingly, a game scout was arrested while I was there for attempting to poison the rhino.


They have an uphill battle.
 
Posts: 12134 | Location: Orlando, FL | Registered: 26 January 2006Reply With Quote
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I saw several white and black rhino while hunting in the Bubye Valley Conservancy in August. The game scouts shot and killed three poachers on the property while I was there.
 
Posts: 892 | Location: Central North Carolina | Registered: 04 October 2007Reply With Quote
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From a friend:

"It is a long time since I worked on Rhino. I will ask Chris Foggin what has been collected and what is actually known. – I suspect that it may well be a case that there is a fantastic amount known- but that it is all in the Government Archives and Libraries in Zimbabwe- where, because of the situation it is not accessible to anyone.

Chris is not just involed with the Rhino- I went down with a form of African Lyme disease that was only previously known from a sample taken in 1932…and All the work of the diversification of the Rabies virus into untreatable (and the vaccine doesn’t work either) forms…it is all there but for who much longer?"

Such a shame that the Zim officials would even block the use of collected data and research!!!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
J. Lane Easter, DVM

A born Texan has instilled in his system a mind-set of no retreat or no surrender. I wish everyone the world over had the dominating spirit that motivates Texans.– Billy Clayton, Speaker of the Texas House

No state commands such fierce pride and loyalty. Lesser mortals are pitied for their misfortune in not being born in Texas.— Queen Elizabeth II on her visit to Texas in May, 1991.
 
Posts: 38466 | Location: Gainesville, TX | Registered: 24 December 2006Reply With Quote
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I want rhinos preserved because they are about to disappear - I have two things to say - my PH (back in 1993) and I spent most of a day trying to catch up with where vultures had been circling -and the PH suspected that a rhino had been downed. I never had any doubt but that my PH planned to shoot anybody who had shot a rhino. That's the first thing. The second thing is - my father hunted in Tanganyika, the old German East Africa, in 1910. He told me that there was a general impression among white hunters (yeah,he said "white hunters", awful "racist" term nowadays)that a rhino was so nearsighted that the principal reason for a "charge" (that made guys shoot) was that the rhino was simply coming over to see who the hell you were! (THere seems to be little sympathy for preserving the rhino - and, yet everyone who has kids knows that hippos are just great! (On my first night in Africa in a Joberg hotel room before flying to Zim, I read about a quite young man in his early 20s,as I remember, being totally castrated by a hippo he had the unfortunate luck to run into along the Zambezi)
 
Posts: 680 | Location: NY | Registered: 10 July 2009Reply With Quote
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I am looking into the use of UAVs with HD video and/or IR for anti-poaching patrols. Apparently they have been used in India. Problems will be funding as well as arms embargo. The technology exists and it's quite cheap


Russ Gould - Whitworth Arms LLC
BigfiveHQ.com, Large Calibers and African Safaris
Doublegunhq.com, Fine English, American and German Double Rifles and Shotguns
VH2Q.com, Varmint Rifles and Gear
 
Posts: 2934 | Location: Texas | Registered: 07 June 2003Reply With Quote
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there is another Rhino workshop that is starting this morning in at Vodacoms HQ in Midrand, Gauteng and word has it there is going to be some very interesting stats and info released. like one african vet who has bought 600 bottles of the mooty used to kill the rhino during poaching jobs.....

time to name and shame
 
Posts: 605 | Location: South Africa | Registered: 07 February 2008Reply With Quote
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Russ - US government donated us (zim parks) Two cessna 337's fitted with the latested thernal and conventional night vission kit...they were appropriated by the airforce and both subsiquently crashed.

We also used to have 'visiting SF troops' comeing to 'Help'. Basicaly US Delta, Brit and NZ SAS teams would come out and 'assist' us with anti poaching. It ment they could learn to operate in a new environment (the zambezi valley), kill people for real at minimal risk, - and do a really good job of assisting us. Only one 'guest' was killed- A brit SAS man - who having faught through Falklands and first Gulf war was killed by an elephant one night Frowner

Also, these visitors bought us alot of useful kit. Big NVG's off the knocked out russian tanks from the gulf war...the goggles I still use...and every other bit of kit we had ever dreamed about- they went home basically naked after a tour with us Big Grin -

Of course, the government didn't like us winning and finally in late '93 or early '94 Bob forced an end to the 'training'.

Now the Army have withdrawn all the AK's issued to the game scouts in Matusadona...obviously the Army do not want any interferance in their plans....it is the problem with failed states...
 
Posts: 3026 | Location: Zimbabwe | Registered: 23 July 2003Reply With Quote
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.458Aubs;

PM me anything you might be willing to share or e-mail me at ledvm@msn.com.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
J. Lane Easter, DVM

A born Texan has instilled in his system a mind-set of no retreat or no surrender. I wish everyone the world over had the dominating spirit that motivates Texans.– Billy Clayton, Speaker of the Texas House

No state commands such fierce pride and loyalty. Lesser mortals are pitied for their misfortune in not being born in Texas.— Queen Elizabeth II on her visit to Texas in May, 1991.
 
Posts: 38466 | Location: Gainesville, TX | Registered: 24 December 2006Reply With Quote
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