Stench of death hangs over rhino killing fields
Since January poachers have killed 106 rhinos in a major park — and the finger of suspicion points at Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife
● The smell of putrefaction hangs in the air as conservation manager Amos Tembe pushes through the tall grass of the Masinda section of the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP) in northern KwaZulu-Natal, Africa’s oldest proclaimed game reserve.
Vultures scatter as Tembe, one hand on the butt of the gun he carries on his hip, emerges onto the bank of a dry river bed, where the carcass of an adult male white rhino lies.
At least 106 rhinos have already been slaughtered in the HiP since January, four more than the total for the whole of last year — an ominous start that could mean 2022 will be as bloody as 2017, when poachers killed a record 222 rhinos. This year’s toll so far comprises 99 white rhinos and seven black rhinos.
The latest spate of rhino killings has deepened concern among conservationists who are pushing for action against the management of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife management.
They say KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala has refused to make public a report on rhino poaching at HiP.
The report was commissioned by the provincial executive in 2016 and handed to Zikalala’s office two years ago.
According to sources involved in the compilation of the report, it goes into the alleged links between poaching and the management of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife.
This was confirmed by the MEC for economic development, tourism & environmental affairs, Ravi Pillay, who Zikalala has delegated to process and implement the report’s recommendations.
“There is indeed suspicion of collusion between criminal syndicates and those tasked with conservation,” Pillay told the Sunday Times.
The DA in the province has filed an application under the Promotion of Access to Information Act for the report to be made public, but Pillay argued against doing so.
“It is my considered opinion that it will not be in the public interest to release the report into the public domain at this stage. The authors specifically classify important parts of the report because of its sensitive nature in relation to its impact on further investigations,” he said.
Meanwhile Tembe and his colleagues on the ground are poorly equipped and outnumbered by poachers.
“The poachers are planning ahead, their plan continues to evolve every year, they have new techniques and approaches,” said Tembe. “We have to constantly adapt and revise our plans. We always say we are short-staffed — but it is the sad truth.”
He said the poachers got their information about the whereabouts of rhinos from members of the impoverished communities around the HiP.
“A poacher can see a rhino from outside the park, go close to the fence and shoot the animal from outside the reserve.
“The poachers target communities which surround the park from every side. They hire some people as scouts to provide them with information about the movements of rangers and the whereabouts of rhinos.”
Tembe said he wished the HiP rangers could have the use of an infrared camera of the kind made by the US company Teledyne FLIR, which can be attached to a drone or a helicopter to spot poachers at night. The cameras cost tens of thousands of rands.
HiP acting park manager Sihle Nxumalo said the police crime intelligence unit had shared information in the past that helped to curb the poaching problem, but due to changes in police management such support had since stopped.
The SA Police Service did not respond to requests for comment but Pillay said rhino poaching is receiving attention at the highest levels of the service.
He said the appointment of a new board for Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife is imminent and this will be a “critical milestone in the institutional recovery” of the organisation.
Elise Serfontein, founding director of the nonprofit Stop Rhino Poaching, said the government has failed rhinos and those on the ground tasked with protecting them.
“Calls for integrity management in state-run reserves have been ping-ponged across the boardroom table for years now, as have so many other interventions that fail to be implemented or fall on deaf ears,” she said.
“Indifference enables corruption to thrive, and while there are solutions to corruption, how on earth does one address the biggest threat to rhinos — political indifference?”
The president of the International Ranger Federation, Chris Galliers, said rhino poaching in the HiP has been exacerbated by the lack of support from police and the judiciary.
“A perfect storm has been created which not only endangers rhinos but also the lives of rangers, who find themselves pitted against organised criminal syndicates that seem to operate with impunity,” said Galliers.