Rhino poaching kingpins in the crosshairs
Owner of steel company puts up R1m bounty to ‘strike fear’ into the hearts of masterminds
WELL-KNOWN East Rand family has put up R1 million reward to “strike fear in the hearts” of the masterminds of a recent rhino attack on their game reserve.
“We’re after the kingpins, not the poachers,” Franco D’Arrigo, of Springs, told the Saturday Star this week of the unprecedented reward for the rhino killings.
“We’re taking the fight to them. We want to nail them. We will never get to the end of rhino poaching in this country if we don’t get the kingpins.”
His family run one of the biggest steel companies in Gauteng, and are involved in
Amining, property and beauty ventures. Their reward is for the “successful arrest, prosecution and recovery of the stolen rhino horn” of those involved in an attack on the three dehorned rhinos on their father’s reserve, in the Soutpansberg area on October 28.
Armed poachers shot dead two rhinos, injuring another, but she and her calf survived.
In 2010, poachers slaughtered another bull on their property. No arrests have been made in either case.
The reward, believed D’Arrigo, would create chaos between rival gangs. “We know that will happen but we want to strike fear in their hearts. This time they went through the wrong farm.
“We want them to know if they come to our farm with guns again, they must think three times before trying to shoot our rhinos.”
D’Arrigo said his family was working with the Hawks and Limpopo nature conservation officials to apprehend those involved in the attack.
More than 1 000 rhinos have been slaughtered in the country so far this year – an average of 4.6 animals a day, according to rhino conservation groups.
His family’s substantial reward may be the first initiated by private rhino owners but in 2012, SANParks announced it would pay R100 000 in cash for the arrests of suspected poachers and a further R1 million for the successful conviction of a poaching syndicate mastermind.
D’Arrigo’s sister, Carmela Lattanzi, said all the rhinos roaming their reserve were dehorned last year to reduce the risk of poaching. “They still killed them for the little horn there was, probably less than 1kg. On a nearby farm, poachers killed one of the calves, just out of spite, recently.”
She believed the police and nature conservation officials lacked the resources to apprehend the culprits behind a spate of rhino attacks in the area. “They are really trying, however. So many farmers in our area have had rhino poached. There are only a handful still far ming with rhino. “We believe if we offer such a big reward… They will kill each other to try get that money. In the end, we can kill as many poachers as we want, put as many as we can in jail, but we won’t get anywhere… These guys are ex-military and highly trained, they won’t blink for a moment to kill someone who is in their way.”
Lattanzi added: “We want to protect the rest of our rhinos, and the aim is to get this syndicate in this part of Limpopo. We can’t just sit back. We’ve got to fight smarter to get the big guns behind these syndicates.”
If you have any information about the rhino poaching attack in the Soutpansberg area in late October, phone 074 208 4758.