The Sunday Mail
Last Updated: Sunday, 20 March 2005



Parks acquires anti-poaching helicopter

THE Parks and Wildlife Management Authority recently purchased a US$325 000 helicopter to double its efforts in anti- poaching activities aimed at conserving wildlife, a major tourist attraction in Zimbabwe.

Public relations manager Mr Edward Mbewe said that the helicopter would assist in early detection of poaching activities in all parks.

"The helicopter will be used for game surveys, rapid deployment of staff, game counts and research purposes in some areas that are not accessible on foot," he said.

Mr Mbewe said preparations were under way to start training pilots for the helicopter.

In January, the authority recruited 453 rangers to curb poaching, and this raised the number of rangers from 951 to 1 404.

So far most of the rangers had undergone a two-week training in rangers’ field operations at Nyakasikana Training Camp in Hurungwe, Mashonaland West.

The course was aimed at enhancing the protection, conservation and management of wildlife.

The authority was targeting to reduce poaching activities by 50 percent by the end of this year.

Most affected areas were the Zambezi Valley and Gonarezhou Transfrontier Park bordering South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. — New Ziana.

Hey, that is great for Zim. But a couple of questions -
1) Where are they going to get the fuel to fly the damn thing?
2) Does rapid deployment mean that they will get going now, or just now (which I understand to be a measure of time that could be right now or in a week, month, year, decade. Just whatever is convenient)?

If they can't screw it or eat it they'll break it.