Durban - A total of 35 suspected rhino poachers have been arrested in KwaZulu-Natal this year. This is just 14 fewer than the combined total for 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife chief executive, Dr Bandile Mkhize, said, this was an indication that rhino poaching was being taken seriously by law enforcement authorities.
On Sunday, Ezemvelo field rangers on foot patrol in the corridor, between Mtubatuba and KwaHlabisa, heard shots and ran to investigate.
The patrol saw a Bantam bakkie with three people trying to escape.
After a 3km chase, during which shots were exchanged between the suspects and the rangers, the bakkie was abandoned and the men fled, Ezemvelo said.
All exits were blocked to the area, and an air and foot search conducted.
A badly injured man was found 200m from the corridor road after community members, who heard the man’s pleas for help, alerted the rangers, Ezemvelo said.
The seriously injured suspect had been shot in the stomach, and had said he was the driver of the bakkie.
He was taken to hospital and when he is discharged, he will be charged with attempted murder, Ezemvelo said.
Mkhize said the latest arrest would not have happened if it was not for the involvement of the community.
“We are happy with the arrests and the sentences meted out, but would prefer to get these people before they kill the rhinos,” he said.
Mkhize was a guest at a discussion on rhino poaching hosted by the US Consulate in Durban yesterday. The event was part of a tour by WWF African species conservation expert, Matthew Lewis, spurred by US President Barack Obama’s executive order pledging $10 billion (R99bn) to help tackle the illicit sale of animals and animal parts. Lewis said rhino poaching was the fifth largest crime in the world.
Because South Africa was home to 75 percent of the world’s rhinos, it was bearing the brunt of the poaching. In KZN 53 rhinos had been killed for their horns since January.
“We need to raise the seriousness of wildlife crime and react accordingly,” Lewis said.
Lewis also advocated community involvement, citing communal conservation as a way of curbing poaching.
“The rhinos are worth a lot to poachers dead. How do you make them worth a lot to communities alive? By finding creative ways for communities to benefit from having these animals alive,” he said.
Relating stories from his travels, adventurer Kingsley Holgate told of “a whole new culture of poaching which has developed in Mozambique”. He said poachers were killing rhino purely because of greed.
Mkhize said: “This is a real war but there is absolutely no way we are going to lose it.” - Daily News