Black rhino machine-gunned down in Zim

November 08 2007 at 09:57PM

Harare - Poachers have shot dead three black rhinoceros - a species listed as the most highly endangered large mammal on earth - on a private conservancy, its owner said Thursday.

John Travers said poachers armed with AK47 automatic rifles Wednesday night evaded the armed guard surrounding the rhino on Imire game park about 100km east of Harare and shot dead two females and a male, but left a four-week-old calf unharmed.

Zimbabwe in the 1980s had the largest population in Africa of black rhino, about 7 500, but a wave of poaching all over Africa - driven by demand for the horn in the Far East as a cure for fevers and a sexual stimulant and in Yemen where it was used for dagger handles - decimated the population, including Zimbabwe's.

The horn is composed of tightly compacted hair fibres, and has no other pharmacological properties, according to biologists.

About 1 500 of the surviving population were captured in the Zambezi Valley on Zimbabwe's northern border and taken to apparent safety in national game parks and conservancies in the interior of the country.

About 500 are still left, according to wildlife experts, but they have come under increasing pressure this year.

The animals on Imire were under constant watch by armed guards, "but this was a slick operation," Travers said. One of the cows was two weeks away from giving birth to a calf. "Poaching is pretty rampant now. Incidents like this are going to have a serious effect."

He said the three animals had had their horns sawn off by wildlife veterinarians about two months ago, a tactic used with some success to deter poachers.

The decision to dehorn them was taken when poachers attacked another conservancy outside Harare and shot dead three white rhino.

"My assumption is that these guys were after the horns but it was dark and they couldn't see that they didn't have horns," he said.

The three were among the hundreds of black rhino rescued from the Zambezi Valley during "Operation Stronghold," a semi-military operation to fight off the poachers, and came to Imire in 1985, where they became the stock for a scientific breeding programme to build up their numbers again.

Travers said there were three others - the progeny of the slaughtered rhino - still on the conservancy.

Police had supplied six armed officers to live with the rhino for the next two weeks and strengthen the defences against a possible return by the poachers' gang, he said.

"It's getting out of hand," said Johnny Rodriguez, chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, a private wildlife organization.

In a large conservancy in the Mavuradonha area about 200km north of Harare, the rhino population had fallen from 54 to eight in the last year, while conservancies in the central Midlands province had lost 31 in the same period and were down to 21 now. - Sapa-DPA

What a real shame.

quote:

Originally posted by Kathi:
"My assumption is that these guys were after the horns but it was dark and they couldn't see that they didn't have horns," he said.

That is just flat out rank stupidity and criminal waste.

Sounds like the armed guards were not present and accounted for so to speak. Three adult rhinos with armed guards just happened to be killed. The guards need to be thoroughly questioned.

sure sound suspicious. if the armed guards' primary job was to protect the rhino, they should have been within sight of them and able to respond within seconds. they were either asleep at the wheel or were in on the deal

Zimbabwe: Suspected Soldiers Slaughter Endangered Black Rhinos



SW Radio Africa (London)

13 November 2007
Posted to the web 13 November 2007

Tererai Karimakwenda


In a tragic incident that occurred last Wednesday night, a gang of poachers armed with AK 47 rifles and dressed in camouflage, shot and killed 3 black rhinos, one of the world's most endangered species. The slaughtered group included a pregnant female, two weeks away from giving birth. A four-week-old calf was spared.

The black rhinos were part of an important project that hopes to provide a gene pool for this highly threatened species. It is believed the slaughter was meant to intimidate the farm owners into vacating their property, to make way for a top military official who wants the farm.


Black rhinos are normally killed for their horns, but this group had been dehorned to discourage poaching. Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, linked the shootings to the ongoing illegal eviction of commercial white farmers. Speaking in his personal capacity he said: "As far as I am concerned it is some greedy officer in the army or air force that actually wants that property and that's one way of trying to get the people off."

As we have reported most of the recent evictions of white farmers have been carried out by armed soldiers and youth on behalf of military officials who want the farms. Rodrigues said the rhino incident fits this pattern.

The shootings took place at Imire Game Farm in Wedza, outside the town of Marondera. This conservancy belongs to John and Judy Travers, whose family has headed special breeding programmes to increase the population of other animals, including lions, hyenas, elephants and impala.

The animals are protected by security guards around the clock. Rodrigues said the gang approached the homestead and forced the staff to reveal where the security guards were located. They then disarmed the guards and assaulted them before going to the secured area where they shot the rhinos in their pens.

The government's chaotic land reform programme has not only destroyed agriculture and created food shortages, but much damage has been done to the environment as well, with military and government officials now aiming for the few remaining Conservancies. The rare species protected in these areas are being brought even closer to extinction.

Only 4 orphaned rhinos remain at Imire now, including the young calf. The owners are offering a reward to anyone who can lead them to the gang that carried out this shameful massacre, but they need to raise the funds for the reward first and have published an appeal -

This is sick and sickening. All hunters are angry and upset by these peoples' actions. What a waste.

I was speaking to a fellow with plenty of Zim conections on the weekend, and the take on this was that it was Zim army doing the dirty work.

It is thought the fact that the property was breading endangered rhino was obstructing the land claim and ultimate removal of the farmer from that land.

The rhino were shot (not carrying horn) in order to rid the property of the rhino and pave the way for a smooth take over of the said farm.

Stu

But but but don't the peaceful native Africans live in harmony with nature and all the animals?