AMOS GWEMA ‘NOT ONE ELEPHANT HAS BEEN SHOT IN HWANGWE NATIONAL PARK THIS YEAR’

Cradling a pangolin bigger than a basketball, as it unfurls its scaly rudder of a tail, Amos Gwema is enjoying a special moment. Historically revered in Zimbabwe, the mammal is too superior to be considered a totem animal, and finding one is a sign of prosperity. But today any good fortunes are in the pangolin’s favour as it prepares to embark on a second lease of life.

A month ago, Gwema seized the shy, endangered creature from poachers, who were planning to profit from its highly prized scales or sell it for “blasting” – a senseless ritual, where the animal is jetted with water in the belief that its plates of armour will transform into dollar notes.

After a period of rehabilitation at the Tikki Hywood Foundation in Harare, a non-profit organisation working closely with Gwema and his team, the charismatic pangolin is heading back into the wilds of Hwange National Park along with three other females. “We’ve released 10 this year,” says the principal intelligence officer proudly, as the new releases forage on termite mounds. “So, the probability of seeing pangolins in the future is high.”

Although most of his surveillance work is done covertly behind the scenes, Gwema is preparing to take centre stage with this year’s Tusk Wildlife Ranger Award. Credited for his honesty, dedication and fearless apprehension of criminals, he has helped restore populations of several species in Zimbabwe’s largest national park; elephant killings alone have dropped from 300 to 25 in six years.

“To be frank and honest, we have kept poaching down. Not even one elephant has been shot in Hwange National Park this year,” he says.

Previously employed by the Criminal Investigation Department, Gwema uncovered the murky world of the illegal wildlife trade while working with Interpol. Compelled to correct wrongs, he applied for his position at the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority in 2008, landing the role “without any traditional means of nepotism”. Later, he realised that he was probably the only candidate running. “No one wanted to be in Hwange, because it’s too hot,” he adds. “This work is not for the faint-hearted. It’s been a sacrifice to reach where we are.”

In 12 years, he has intercepted poachers stashing ivory in a guesthouse, arrested a teacher exchanging tusks for cooking oil, and confiscated cyanide from gangs that were plotting mass poisonings. Since 2013, he has orchestrated 135 arrests, each criminal sentenced to a minimum term in jail of nine years.

He plans to use part of the £30,000 grant to establish a rehabilitation programme for poachers recently released from prison, in the hope of preventing them from committing crimes again.

“We are helping pangolins recover, but what about people?” he argues. “Rehabilitation should be to the human beings and to the animals if we want to succeed.”

Amos Gwema is the winner of this year’s Tusk Wildlife Ranger Award

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