Film on rhino horn war is a shocker

Stroop: Journey into the Rhino Horn War has been South Africa’s breakout documentary of 2018, winning 11 international awards, and it makes the enormity of the problem clear.

Stroop producer Bonne de Bod said: “The problem lies with the criminal justice system.”

Director Susan Scott added: “It’s a system that works for the criminal and not for the victim. Yes, it’s important to arrest the poacher on the ground, but the reward still outweighs the risk and we need to change that around.”

Stroop (meaning stripped, referring to horns being torn out) takes viewers on a roller-coaster of events and emotions, from rescuing orphaned calves, bush chases to arresting poachers caught in the act, to how rangers are affected by poaching.

Poaching increased from 135 animals to 1 215 in parks from 2012 to 2014 – up 800%.

This year, the department of environmental affairs claimed that between January and August, 508 rhino were poached, compared with 691 in the same period in 2017.