http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/outrage-as-kzn-hunter-pays-to-kill-rhino-1.1206612

Uganda: Elephants On Rampage, Oil Firm Blamed *

  More than 1 000 homesteads have had their crops destroyed after

  hundreds of elephants and other wild animals from Uganda's largest

  national game reserve, Murchison Falls National Park, broke out of

  their habitat.

  http://allafrica.com/stories/201201101140.html

South Africa: Malaysia Seizes Smuggled Ivory From Country *

  Malaysia has seized elephant tusks worth 2.4 million ringgit

  ($760,000) from South Africa in the first haul of smuggled ivory

  destined for the Southeast Asian country, according to officials.

  http://allafrica.com/stories/201201100834.html

West Africa: Shark Fin Hunt Empties Seas *

  Retired fisherman Sada Fall is upbeat. His two sons are returning from

  sea with a boatload of "gold", as he calls shark fins, whose value has

 near-obliterated the ocean's top predator in these seas.

  http://allafrica.com/stories/201201101425.html

South Africa Rhino Poaching: 8 Animals Lost In One Day

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/11/south-africa-rhino-poaching_n_1198895.html

Three more rhino carcasses found and two suspected poachers arrested following the discovery of eight dead animals earlier this week

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=162489

http://www.thenewage.co.za/40199-1007-53-Rangers_kill_poachers_in_Kruger_park

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=162979

There are several practical and highly profitable ways to end the slaughter of Africa’s rhinos, writes Michael Eustace

A Different Way of Thinking About Rhino Poaching?

http://africanconservation.org/201201192476/network-news-section/a-different-way-of-thinking-about-rhino-poaching

Rhino poaching trial to proceed in June

http://www.timeslive.co.za/scitech/2012/01/20/rhino-poaching-trial-to-proceed-in-june

http://allafrica.com/stories/201201250386.html

Africa: Stop the Poaching!

  Greenpeace Statement on Rhino Poaching in South Africa

  http://allafrica.com/stories/201201250386.html

South Africa: DEA, NGOs Battle With Rhino Poaching *

  The Department of Water and Environmental Affairs has revealed

  that 232 suspects were arrested in connection with rhino poaching

  last year.

  http://allafrica.com/stories/201201270897.html

East Africa: Rhino Endangered As Horn Price Escalates *

  THE rhinoceros has become the world's most endangered species, amid

  booming business of the animal's horn, the Minister for Natural

  Resources and Tourism, Mr Ezekiel Maige, has said.

  http://allafrica.com/stories/201201271071.html

Thank you for this, ive put it as a news item on care2 as well.

Jill

Wild Lions Live in Constant Fear

The kings of the jungle are changing their behavior as they face ongoing stress, trying to avoid deadly human encounters.

By Jennifer Viegas
Fri Feb 10, 2012 12:00 PM ET

enlarge

Some lions in the wild now live within a “landscape of fear” as a result of threats posed by humans.

Lions have drastically changed the way they behave and perceive their environment because of new, numerous and deadly clashes with humans, according to a new study, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology,

NEWS: Wild Chimps Outwit Hunters

“The ‘landscape of fear’ represents relative levels of predation risk as peaks and valleys that reflect the level of fear of predation an animal experiences in different parts of its territory,” lead author Marion Valeix of the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, told Discovery News.

She and colleagues Graham Hemson, Andrew Loveridge, Gus Mills and David Macdonald explained that most prey animals live within a fearful mindset which keeps them on a constant, stressed out watch. Now even high-level predators may live this way too when they exist in or around human-dominated landscapes.

 WATCH VIDEO: Poaching Endangering Black Rhinos

The researchers studied the behavior, foraging and territory of lions living in one of the last natural migratory systems, the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park in Botswana, where abundant packs of Burchell’s zebra and blue wildebeest live in different parts of the park on a seasonal basis.

Lands used by people for grazing their livestock surround the protected wilderness area. This creates a human-lion conflict, since when the zebra and wildebeest move en masse out of lion areas, many lions will resort to hunting livestock, such as cattle, to avoid losing established territories and reproductive loss, among other reasons.

GPS tracking of the lions determined that the major driver of lion behavior was the risk of conflict with humans. While the herders in Botswana do not always have easy access to firearms, some do.

Hemson said “we extracted lead shot from one lion in the study and another lion was shot in the spine and paralyzed. As such, we have evidence that lions may survive encounters with better armed people, and these surely make a lasting impression” on the other lions.

He does not think lions are born with this fear, since cubs are very inquisitive and would regularly follow his “vehicle and circle it and even test the bumper with their teeth and paws.” But through their mother and other pride members, they learn to fear humans as they grow up.

While a handful of very large protected areas, such as in Kalahari national parks, may permit lions to live without encroaching on human, “these areas are getting fewer and fewer,” Hemson said.

In Botswana, the researchers hope herders will reduce the abundance of livestock left unattended at night, since these attract lions that are looking for a meal but are also trying to avoid humans. They also call for overall improved livestock husbandry, which might include more consistent use of protective enclosures.

The scientists, however, lament that during this present difficult socio-economic time, such measures are not likely to be implemented anytime soon. They hope an incentive structure might be put into place for herders, providing them with financial and other rewards to make the improvements and to promote tolerance of lions and other wildlife.

NEWS: Poisonous Rhinos Discourage Poachers

Johan du Toit, head of the Wildland Resources Department at Utah State University, wrote in a commentary, “The Makgadikgadi cattle herders and lions exemplify the human-wildlife conflict that has existed ever since livestock domestication began. Now, however, with advanced weapons and poisons, expanding human and livestock populations and reduced indigenous prey abundances, humans have virtually eradicated large predators -- and big cats in particular -- from the world’s rangelands.”

Du Toit, however, agrees that “there could be smarter ways of mitigating the conflict.”

He points out that prey animals benefit from fear, using it to avoid risks in parts of their territory. Now that we know wild lions can experience similar near-continuous fear, he believes “smart managers could make more use of it in mitigating human-wildlife conflict.

http://news.discovery.com/animals/lions-humans-behavior-120210.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1

Zimbabwe: Of Rhino Horn, Manhood, Fingernails and Toenails

By Isdore Guvamombe, 9 February 2012

opinion

In the village, the size of the snake is irrelevant to its capacity to kill but that fact is mostly ignored when one suddenly bumps into a snake. Again, in the village, the snake is so feared that it is never mentioned by its name at night; it is called a string, for, talk of the devil and he will appear.

There is a subject that has been chewing chunks from this villager's heart and conscience for too long, and it is men's obsession with aphrodisiacs.

Back in the village, in the land of milk, honey and dust or Guruve if you like, men spend most of their free time bragging about their manhood and their various abilities to use it.

This villager knows that this is quite a pre-occupation for the many men from the pot-bellied to the pencil-slim, from the tall to the short ones and indeed from the ugly to the most handsome, every one brags about his ability and no one accepts inability.

The pre-occupation with bedroom antics have of late, led to the near extinction of the rhino, whose horn is, unfortunately, believed to be some strong aphrodisiac.

But the village soothsayer, the ageless autochthon of wisdom and knowledge insists men are a silly lot, killing an entire five tone rhino to find a supposed solution to their sexual inefficiencies.

Some people, urbanites and villagers included, believe that the rhino horn has medicinal or even magical properties and this is the sole reason the rhino has been poached to near extinction.

According to the village soothsayer, scientific tests done locally and the developed world yonder, have proved this to be a mere myth. Rhino horn is in fact, composed of the same material as fingernails and toenails.

It has no medicinal properties. Taking rhino horn powder is no more effective than chewing your fingernails.

It is hoped that if this message is able to filter through to end users it will have the power to reduce the demand for rhino horn and hopefully men can look at other means of enhancing their manhood.

Unless concerted and collaborative efforts are made to salvage endangered animals from the current onslaught, the beautiful animals may become extinct.

Last year alone, Zimbabwe, the land of Munhumutapa lost 23 rhinos and the country is left with less than 1 000 of these beasts. None of these rhinos met with their death naturally. It was all poaching.

This villager believes its high time we create awareness on the plight of the rhino and help stem illegal trade in rhino and rhino products worldwide.

From the books of knowledge this villager has read that there are five species of rhino in the world, two of which, the Black (hook-lipped) and White (Square-Lipped) rhinos live in Africa. The other three, the Indian, Javan, and Sumatran rhinos live in Asia.

The Javan Rhino is the most critically endangered mammal on earth. The Black, White, and Sumatran rhinos all have two horns, while the Javan and Indian only have one.

The African continent population was estimated at 65 000 in 1960, but today much fewer animals are left. The black rhino (Diceros bicornis) was put on Appendix 1 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) in 1973 as a result of this alarming decline. It means it should be highly protected.

Through poaching, which intensified in the 1980s, the rhino population was reduced to less than 3 000 by 1992 on the African continent. Following unprecedented poaching in the Zambezi valley, Sebungwe and Hwange-Matetsi sub-regions, numbers in Zimbabwe declined to about 250 by 1993.

The magnitude of this onslaught was alarming, prompting the formulation of conservation strategies to harness the decline. These measures led to the recovery of the population to 400 by 2 000 and to the current estimate of 1 000. This makes Zimbabwe the fourth largest after South Africa, Namibia and Kenya in terms of aggregate rhino population.

However, despite the gains made in rhino conservation, poaching remains the single largest threat to rhino survival. The country lost 66 rhinos during the period 2010 to December 2011.

While the rate of our losses has slowed down significantly this year, our rhino population remains under severe threat. Neighbouring countries notably South Africa are facing similar threats to their populations.

Zimbabwe like many other rhino protectorates face an onslaught from sophisticated, ruthless and heavily armed international criminal gangs and syndicates running the illegal rhino horn trade.

As you are aware, rhinos constitute one of the highly regarded "Big Five" of African wildlife that acts as an axis of attraction and a draw card for tourism.

The other wild animals that are part of the big five are elephant, lion, leopard and the buffalo. To this end while Zimbabwe is home to approximately 1 000 rhinos, both black and white, these are currently listed as critically endangered on the IUCN red list of endangered mammals.

As indicated earlier, the number of rhinos poached in Zimbabwe continues to rise. Halting the current wave of poaching requires concerted efforts by all stakeholders, otherwise the risk is that the hard-won population increases achieved by conservation authorities in the past will be completely reversed.

Halting these poachers is not an easy task, given that these criminals use "high-technology" gear, including night-vision equipment, veterinary tranquillisers, silencers and helicopters as has been witnessed elsewhere in the region.

If not stopped soon, Zimbabwe and its neighbours' rhino populations will soon slide into critically low levels, hence, pushing them to the edge of extinction.

Aggravating the precarious situation of the rhino is the "heightened" demand for rhino horn, which has long been prized as an ingredient in traditional Asian medicine.

More recently it has also been claimed to possess cancer-curing properties. However, as mentioned before, the reality is that there is no scientific or any other evidence for that matter to support these claims, hence, why kill the rhino?

The rhino is just an athletic looking animal, whose horn is a weapon to protect itself.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201202100222.html

Southern Africa: South Africa and Mozambique Discuss Poaching

8 February 2012

The number of rhinos that are being poached has increased. (Photo Courtesy International Rhino Foundation)

Maputo — Mozambican and South African ministers have held discussions in Pretoria on how to fight against rhino poaching, the official South African agency "BuaNews" reported on Wednesday.

The delegations were headed by Mozambican Tourism Minister Fernando Sumbana and the South African Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa.

There has been a sharp increase in rhino poaching in South Africa over the past three years. 122 rhinos were poached in 2009, 333 in 2010 and 449 in 2011. A majority of the rhinos poached are killed in the Kruger National Park, which borders on Mozambique. In 2011, the Kruger Park lost 252 rhinos.

Some of the poachers are known to be Mozambicans. Thus in January a court in the South African town of Phalaborwa sentenced three Mozambicans, named as Anselmo Baloi, Ismael Baloi and Jawaki Nkuna to 25 years imprisonment for rhino poaching.

On 11 January two Mozambicans, suspected of poaching rhinos, were shot dead inside the Kruger Park in a clash with game rangers.

It is suspected that the two were part of a gang responsible for the slaughter of eight rhinos on 10 January. After finding the dehorned rhino carcasses, the rangers set out on the trail of the poachers.

At her meeting with Sumbana, Molewa stressed that poaching in the Kruger Park had escalated to such unacceptable levels that South Africa urgently required the full cooperation and support of Mozambique if the killing of rhino was to be significantly reduced.

Prior to the meeting she had announced various measures that are under consideration to deal with poachers. These include recruiting an additional 159 rangers to bring the total in the Kruger Park to 650, and a possible increased military presence within the park.

She has also called for improvements in intelligence gathering, and has suggested strengthening 150 kilometres of border fence. The apartheid regime built an electrified fence along the border with Mozambique, but since the end of apartheid much of the fence has been removed of knocked down by elephants. The current proposal is to electrify the fence, but not to lethal levels.

Sumbana stressed that Mozambique is committed to conservation, and is "currently pondering legislation that will elevate the offence of wildlife poaching to a criminal offence carrying heavier sentencing rather than the current offence of damage to property."

Sumbana said He added that a new, highly trained National Anti-poaching Unit has been formed and the first recruits will be graduating shortly. Sumbana said they will be deployed in priority poaching areas.

He also said that the Mozambican government has passed a decree creating a flexible state-owned conservation agency along the lines of South African National Parks (SANParks). "This will assist with management effectiveness and allow greater flexibility in sourcing funding than is currently the case," he said.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201202090076.html

South Africa: Foschini Enlists to Save the Rhino

  The Foschini Group (TFG) has enlisted in the war to save the rhino by

  assisting the Aquila Rehabilitation & Conservation Centre with

  their fundraising efforts.

  http://allafrica.com/stories/201202090331.html

Namibia: Poaching Syndicate Caught Red-Handed

By Tanja Bause, 9 February 2012

THE Hosea Kutako Crime Prevention Forum and the Police stationed at the Hosea Kutako Airport Police Station made a breakthrough in their anti-poaching campaign when they arrested four suspects who illegally shot six animals on Tuesday night.

The forum was formed last year to join forces with the Police to fight poaching in the area. The farmers became police reservists and together they have been patrolling the area.

On Tuesday night some reservists noticed a car driving along dirt roads shining a spotlight into the bush. The reservists contacted each other and picked up the Police and they chased a bakkie in the direction of Windhoek.

The bakkie got away, but a roadblock was set up and four suspects in the car with the spotlight were arrested.

A rifle, knives, the spotlight and blood-soaked clothes were found in the car.

After interrogation by the Police it came to light that the four men were the shooters and butchers while the bakkie that got away was carrying the carcasses of the poached animals.

The carcasses were dumped 500 metres from the Nina turn-off, about four kilometres from the Hosea Kutako International Airport.

The carcasses of two hartebeest, which are protected in Namibia, and two kudus were found next to the road. Some of the haunches were missing and all were disembowelled. One of the kudus was a female in calf.

About three kilometres farther, a dead kudu bull was found. He had been wounded and died next to the road.

"We have no idea how many animals they wounded that are now dying a painful death or how many more they shot that night," said one of the reservists.

Reservists and the Police have been following the poachers for the past three weeks but they always managed to evade capture. It is estimated that they have poached 20 animals in the past three weeks on the Dordabis, Midgard and Steinhausen roads. "They work in teams. The car with the shooters is a sedan and they drive through the roadblock and when they are stopped they call their colleagues in the bakkie with all the meat and the car goes though without any problems," said the reservist.

Tagged: Environment, Legal Affairs, Namibia, Southern Africa, Wildlife

http://allafrica.com/stories/201202090165.html

Pregnant rhino killed in 2nd attack

2012-02-14 14:16

Photo Gallery - Limpopo rhino poaching
click on thumbnail to view larger image

Related Links

·         Limpopo rhino poachingVIEW

Cape Town - A 4-year-old rhino bull has been left traumatised after its mother and sister were killed by poachers in Limpopo earlier this month.

The cow, which was due to give birth this week, survived a shooting attack two years ago, Ian Otto, the manager of Thiergarten farm near Tzaneen in Limpopo, told News24 on Tuesday.

A case has been opened at Letsitele police station, after the shooting on February 9.

Otto said: “We noticed that the animals had not been dead for more than an hour so we took off after them [the poachers]. With help from two helicopters and a group of local farmers, they [the poachers] still managed to slip away.

“When we got back to the crime scene, we found that they first shot the 2-year-old calf and when she went down, the mother stood over her, [the poachers shot] the mother as well,” Otto said.

Traumatised 

This same rhino cow’s mother was shot dead by poachers in 2010. The 4-year-old bull is the only surviving member of the entire family.

Otto said that the rhino bull, which has not been wounded, had been so traumatised by the loss of his mother and sister that his behaviour is completely abnormal.

“We’ve got a big ranch and he just walks from boundary to boundary. You hear him squealing and grunting.

“He approaches the other rhino and puts his face into them, turns around and walks away and just constantly calls [to them].

“You can see from his behaviour that he’s not himself, that it’s just not normal what he’s doing.”

The traumatised behaviour of the bull mirrored that of another calf whose mother had been shot in December. The calf had apparently lain down next to its mother’s carcass “for a couple of days before lions chased it away”.

Some good news

Otto said that calf eventually found another rhino with which it bonded. If they don’t, “they stress themselves to death”.

He said based on the information he had received about the last shootings, the poachers were professional hunters.

Otto said he was pleased with the reward system offered by Limpopo police for information on poachers, saying that this might encourage people to help stop poaching as opposed to helping poachers.

In 2011, 448 rhino were poached. Fifty-four rhino have already been poached in 2012 in South Africa - just 45 days into the year.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Pregnant-rhino-killed-in-2nd-attack-20120214

http://www.legalbrief.co.za/article.php?story=2012021409522978

Rwanda: Conservationists Slam Poaching in Virunga

By Bonny Mukombozi, 14 February 2012

Conservationists have condemned poaching within the Virunga Massif, and called for measures to track down poachers and increase patrols to avoid such threats to the endangered mountain gorillas

According to the conservationists, park rangers in the Greater Virunga Landscape discovered carcasses of a mountain gorilla killed by a poacher's snare and an elephant within the first few days of February.

In a statement, the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP), condemned the incidents and called on the gorilla conservation community to help strengthen law enforcement mechanisms in the parks and encourage local communities to condemn poaching.

"The tragic death of the Mountain Gorilla at the hands of humans is a blow to all of us who work to protect this critically endangered species. With such a small population, the life of every individual counts," mentioned Dr. Mike Cranfield, Executive Director of MGVP.

The Virunga Massif, which is shared by Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), is the only mountain gorilla habitat in the world, and current statistics indicate that there are 480 of them.

The illegal human activities, including poaching within the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, Virunga National Park in the DRC and Mgahinga National Park in Uganda, continue to threaten the endangered gorillas.

According to the statement, park authorities and gorilla conservationists will meet in DRC next week to discuss the recent poaching incident, and formulate recommendations.

"We will look at how to address the specific case related to these incidents and the poachers that are still at large, and also plan how we will collectively address the general issue of the many snares in this area," it read in part.

According to statistics, anti-poaching patrols remove more than 1,500 snares from the Virunga Massif annually.

Tagged: Central Africa, East Africa, Environment, Legal Affairs, Rwanda, Wildlife

http://allafrica.com/stories/201202140177.html

Uganda: Bee Fences - Keeping Elephants Out, Letting High Profits in

By Felix Basiime & Enid Ninsiima, 8 February 2012

Like many small-scale farmers, 56-year-old Agnes Ndyomubandi survives on her cotton, cassava, maize and banana gardens.

Unfortunately, her home in Masaka village, Rubirizi District, sits on the periphery of Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) - which meant that most of her crops were being destroyed by wild animals.

"For several years, I have lost all my gardens to elephants and baboons from the park. I could not support my family," she says.

The game park boasts of a high concentration of wildlife, and has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. But tourism and heritage aside, the man-wildlife conflict stemming from competition for resources has harmed the livelihoods of many surrounding communities.

During cotton harvest time in Kasese, people spent sleepless nights lighting fires around their gardens to scare away the animals. The method did not work, and some people have even been killedfrom wild lifeattacks.

In Kasese District in 2010, more than 460 farmers unsuccessfully sued Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) in the High court, seeking compensation of more than Shs1.5 b in damages caused by wildlife to the property and crops in the previous year.

The farmers under Ikongo Farmers Marketing and Processing Cooperative Society, alleged that UWA officials were negligent in their gazetting duties, which allowed animals such as elephants to stray from the national park five miles away to destroy their soya beans, maize, pineapples, cotton, groundnuts, mangoes and bananas.

In 2010, the people of Rubirizi District asked government to erect an electric fence around the park. UWA rejected the method on the grounds that it would kill animals.

Innocent Kahwa, the community liaison officer at Volcano Safaris Partnership Trust (VSPT), an NGO that works with community and conservation projects in the area, said they had exhausted their efforts.

"We tried trenches and failed because elephants could cover them with soil. We used gun shooting to scare away the animals it also failed," Kahwa said. "Now, we have resorted to bee fencing - and so far, so good."

The elephant conflict mitigation project is a 60-metre fence made up of beehives, treated wood, paint, wires and iron sheets. As initiators and primary funders of the project, VSPT says the project is being piloted in the areas bordering QENP first, as a demonstration to the rest of the farmers in surrounding districts who are also prone to wildlife invasion.

"We have introduced this method to see whether it can work for us and be sustainable," Kahwa said.

The project was built on elephant and bee research from Save the Elephants - a London-based NGO that explores natural solutions to human-elephant conflicts.

It was founded in 1993 by Dr Iain Douglas-Hamilton who made a pioneering study of elephant behaviour in the late 1960s in Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania, and has worked on elephant research and against poaching across the continent since. The group's 2011 report says that in its ongoing monitoring of elephant farm invasions, only one in 32 had successfully penetrated a bee fence.

Money for honey

Some farmers in Uganda have found success with an alternative method around Kibale National Park - they have managed to keep away most elephants by burning red pepper mixed with elephant droppings. The project, initiated by Tooro Botanical gardens supported by CARE International Uganda, is in Busiriba and Kahungye Sub-counties in Kamwenge District, Kasenda and Ruteete Sub-counties in Kabarole District, and at Karwa Sub-county in Kyenjojo District. Bee fences have added benefits beyond staving off wildlife. Malaika Honey, a group of beekeeping experts who both employ and train the local community, says bees can actually increase crop yields by up to 30 per cent - potentially worth millions more in profits to existing agriculture ventures.

Malaika Honey has trained Kasese farmers in all aspects of apiculture - the keeping of bees - as well as facilitating the costs of the pilot fence. Best practices, the use of modern technology, how to harvest honey, and how to produce propolis-a naturally produced antibiotic have shown Ndyomubandi the benefits first-hand.

"Since I joined Masaka beekeeping group, I have acquired money from honey, educated my children, got medicines from honey as well as improved on my family welfare because elephants no longer invade my gardens," she said.

Lawrence Marembo, chairperson of the Masaka beekeeping group, which started with just 14 members with 35 beehives in 2004, says word of those benefits is spreading.

"It has protected us from elephant invasion as well as generating income for our families," he says.

While similar projects have been successfully launched in Kenya, Zambia and Australia, finding support for the little-known profession can be tough.

Malaika Honey founder and managing director Simon Turner says he hopes to continue working alongside VSPT to expand the existing fence to cover the entire 1.5km game park border.

Incorporating the production and sale of honey products and benefits into Uganda's larger agricultural system however, for now remains a challenge, as even well established farming practices have struggled to receive government support while access to markets is a consistent roadblock.

"The main challenge we face is market for our products, we sell a kilogramme at Shs 3,000 only," says Marembo.

"At times we consume half of the harvest due to limited market."

With an estimated 1.2m bee keepers across the country, Turner says improving on apiculture practices through more training, commercialisation of bee stocks and integration with existing agriculture ventures would stimulate markets, see honey in Uganda reaching its full potential.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201202080903.html

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/activists-poachers-kill-200-elephants-cameroon-15682084#.Tz4xg1Hh98E

If you feel strongly about this once you have seen the article please fill in the public concerns form for the RIO+20 Conference on Sustainable development and ask for immediate action by the UN on the poaching issues in Africa.

Please spread the form to all your contacts

http://www.futurewewant.org/submit-your-ideas

The Rio+20 starts soon, so this is urgent!!

Also here is the anti poaching petition to the RIO+20, so please also sign it and pass it on as much as you can.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/200/support-the-wwf-in-protecting-and-preserving-wildlife/

Thank you very much

Jill

http://howlingforjustice.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/the-montana-hunt-is-over-extension-voted-down/

South Africa: Kruger Urges Rangers to Return to Work *

  The Kruger National Park has urged 204 striking rangers to

  return to work.

  http://allafrica.com/stories/201202150127.html

        ZIMBABWE CONSERVATION TASK FORCE         

Only after the last tree has been cut down.

Only after the last river has been poisoned.

Only after the last fish has been caught.

Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.

Cree Indian Prophecy

19th February 2012

ELEPHANTS SHOT AT CHIREDZI RIVER CONSERVANCY

On the night of the 16th February, National Parks staff from Chipinda Pools went to Chiredzi River Conservancy and shot 3 elephants - 2 lactating cows and one young bull. The conservancy has lost 7 elephants in the past 35 days. The 3 elephants were shot within the Chiredzi River Conservancy boundary on the Wasara section.

It is evident that the settlers who have invaded the conservancy are working hand in hand with National Parks because the settlers herd the elephants into an area for shooting by National Parks. The tusks were taken by National Parks and the meat was given to the settlers.

This shooting took place despite a no shooting directive from Harare. All the adult cows in the conservancy either have calves or are heavily pregnant and the slaughter of the cows is resulting in many small elephants being left orphaned.

It appears that National Parks headquarters in Harare are not aware of what their conterparts are doing in the Lowveld and it is of great concern that the guardians of our wildlife are participating in this criminal activity.

We have written letters regarding the illegal invasion of the conservancy to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Francis Nhema, The Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai and the Director of National Parks, Vitalis Chadenga. The issue will soon be tabled and parliament and we are hoping for a favourable outcome.  

THE REMAINS OF THE DEAD ELEPHANTS

CHINESE NATIONALS ADMIT TO ANIMAL CRUELTY

Four Chinese nationals have pleaded guilty to contravening the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act Chapter 19-09.

The four nationals, Zhang Hong Yuan, Chen Caijan, Lin Guibin and Shi Jiahau resided at Chiwara Homestead located near Gambakwe Village in Bikita. They had procured Bell Hinged Tortoises from the local community for personal consumption.

The Bells Hinged Tortoise is listed under CITES Appendix II and its numbers in the wild have dwindled significantly over recent years. 

At the end of  last year, 13 live toroises and the skeletal remains of another 40 were recovered from the residence of the Chinese in a raid carried out by National Parks and the Save Valley Conservancy Anti-Poaching Unit.

The toroises had been stored in two empty 200 litre steel drums with no provision for food or water. Stagnant water and fecal matter were evident as was overcrowding. Members of the community stated that the tortoises were dropped into boiling water whilst still alive in order to separate the shell from the meat.  

Charges of cruelty were laid against the Chinese nationals who were arrested and fined. Further investigations revealed that the accused nationals had been employed without relevant immigration documentation and they have now been detained in a state security prison pending deportation.

Judging by reports received, it is apparent that some Chinese nationals living in Zimbabwe have very little respect for our wildlife and environment and are causing untold damage to our national heritage.

Johnny Rodrigues
Chairman for Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force
Landline:        263 4 336710
Mobile:           263 712 603 213
Email:             galorand@...
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Rhino activists threaten SA boycott

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Rhino-activists-threaten-SA-boycott-20120222