Poachers use new tricks
EVIDENCE: CRIMINALS POSE AS TOURISTS TO GET INTO KRUGER PARK
Mozambique-SA cooperation agreement is helping both sides keep track of illegal hunters.
Concerted efforts to curb poaching in Mozambique and South Africa face a new obstacle – poachers posing as tourists, or gaining entry into the Kruger National Park (KNP) via nearby villages.
Another rhino was poached in the park on 19 January and the killers are still on the loose, crime scene investigators said on Monday. Two bullet slugs were found at the scene and a case has been opened.
South African National Parks (SANParks) communications and marketing general manager Ike Phaahla said radar and early detection warning systems were used to prevent poaching, but not only of rhinos. Many other species were under threat, most notably elephants and pangolins.
Phaahla said a cross-border initiative with Mozambique had been in effect since 2012. This yielded results in 2017 when rhino poaching was recognised as a criminal offence.
Liaison between Mozambique and the KNP is crucial, as the boundary frustrates efforts to stop poaching on both sides. Phaahla said that because SANParks rangers were not allowed on the Mozambican side of the border, authorities there alerted them if suspected poachers had entered the park. If tracks are picked up, KNP makes Mozambique aware of this. Mozambique also informs the park if spoor is picked up on their side of the border.
Antipoaching efforts can only succeed if the agreement between Mozambique and South Africa remained strong, Phaahla said. More authorities were being engaged to ensure the antipoaching drive was not affected by political challenges. Phaahla was optimistic that political and operational cooperation was being achieved.
Poachers from Mozambique often enter the park from villages on the western boundary.
Phaahla said most poaching incidents were traced back to Mozambique.
Frustration was running high, with poachers easily able to hide in plain sight posing as tourists. But villagers living in the vicinity of the park and acting as monitors
Poaching numbers may have dropped as there are less rhinos left in SA.
could potentially expose even well-hidden poachers. Phaahla said the monitors patrolled fences and boundaries and informed park staff if they saw tracks.
The efficacy of antipoaching efforts appear to have slightly reduced rhino poaching, according to statistics released on Monday by the department of environment, forestry and fisheries.
Minister Barbara Creecy said efforts to curb poaching were in line with the Integrated Strategic Management of Rhinoceros and the draft of the National Integrated Strategy to Combat Wildlife Trafficking. The draft has not yet been implemented.
The World Wide Fund for Nature said it was worrying that the strategy to combat wildlife trafficking had not yet been adopted by parliament. This, added to the possibility that poaching numbers might have dropped as there were less rhinos left, meant the statistics might not be as positive as thought. In 2018, 769 rhinos were killed and last year the number was 594. –
World Wide Fund for Nature