US team broaden their range
Animal protectors are working together across continents
“WHETHER you are from New York or eSwatini, it was evident we are all fighting the same cause.”
That was the comment from Jesse Paluch, a member of the forensic team from the New York State Department of Environment Conservation, who were in northern KZN for a week with 21 wildlife rangers from South Africa, Mozambique and eSwatini (formerly Swaziland).
The team of US rangers were in the country for a week to share forensic skills with their counterparts in Africa. The training included fingerprinting and gathering DNA, and ended in two mock poaching scenes which rangers had to process.
Speaking to the Independent on Saturday from New York on Wednesday, Paluch said: “It was a phenomenal week spent with the most genuine people I’ve worked with in my 19 years as a ranger. We taught a bunch of techniques, such as how to lift DNA samples and how to paint a story for the prosecutor. In the evening we all sat around the fire together.”
While the rangers in Africa are on the frontline in the war against poaching, which is decimating rhino, elephant and lion populations across the continent, the US and especially New York is regarded as a hub for the poached ivory trade. Paluch said their teams investigated the black market dealing with organised crime.
And while he has been to South Africa before, for some members of the forensics team, it was their first trip to see the animals they work tirelessly to protect.
“Seeing elephant for the first time, we all just loved it. We sat in a hide for over two hours just watching a herd of some 60 elephant to our hearts’ content, that was quite a sight.
“When we saw the first giraffe, the team just went crazy. We also got to help collar an elephant and stayed in tents and bush lodges. We only wished it was going to last a little longer,” he said.
While the visiting team paid for their own trip to SA, the forensic equipment they brought with them for the training course was paid for through poaching fines which go to wildlife charities in the US.
The US Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) commissioner, Basil Seggos, said the trip by the US team had “nurtured partnerships between the DEC and non-governmental organisations protecting wildlife across the globe, providing New York Environmental Conservation police officers with valuable on-theground insight into African poaching trends.
“Our officers employ advanced techniques in crime scene reconstruction and forensic evidence collection to uncover wildlife crimes in New York daily. New York continues its vigilant enforcement efforts to stop the killings of animals and this is just one more action that will help stop the ivory sales.”
Clinton Wright, director of Wild Tomorrow Fund SA, which hosted the US team, said: “The wildlife protection course was everything we hoped it would be. To see law enforcement officers and rangers from diverse countries, languages, cultures and backgrounds working together, sharing knowledge and learning new skills was incredible. It can only benefit conservation and improve levels of protection for wildlife.
“We are looking into holding the next course in 2019 and aim to build on this and make it an annual event.”