Zimbabwe moves rhinos from poachers' zone - report
Source: Reuters
Date: 5 October, 2005
Author: Anon
Harare, Zimbabwe's wildlife authority has moved more than 200 endangered black rhinos from a farm near its western border with Botswana to prevent poaching, a local daily reported on Wednesday.
Zimbabwe is home to some of Africa's largest game reserves, but local conservationists say many species are at risk from rampant poaching by people struggling with hunger and rising poverty. Cross-border trophy hunters are also taking a toll.
The official Herald newspaper said Zimbabwe's Parks and Wildlife Management Authority had translocated over 200 black rhinos from a game farm in southwestern Matabeleland province to some protected conservancies in the area.
It said the animals would eventually be moved to the larger Gonarezhou National Park in the country's southeast.
The decision to move the rhinos from the border areas came after the arrest of a poacher in Botswana who was selling a rhino horn from an animal killed in Zimbabwe and the discovery of two injured rhinos entangled in snare wires, it said.
Zimbabwe has an estimated 800 black rhinos left after poachers killed more than 1,500 in the 1980s.
Rampant poaching drove black rhino numbers across Africa down to about 2,400 in the mid-1990s from an estimated 65,000 just two decades before. Poachers typically hack off the horns and leave the carcasses.
The animals have been on the rebound since and now number close to 3,600 but are still regarded as endangered.
National parks officials were not immediately available comment on the report.
But the permanent secretary for the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Margaret Sangarwe, said the government had issued a directive for the endangered animals to be moved fast.
"There is urgent need to place them in areas where they can easily be monitored and are secured," she said.
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Over 200 Black Rhinos Translocated
Source: The Herald (Harare)
Date: October 5, 2005
Author: Tsitsi Matope
Poachers have killed several black rhinos at Gourlays Farm in Matabeleland North, forcing Government to move in and urgently translocate more than 200 animals of the endangered species.
In the past few days, the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority has translocated 35 black rhinos and is working out modalities to move the remainder. This follows the arrest of a poacher in neighbouring Botswana who was selling a rhino horn believed to have been removed from an animal killed in the Gourlays Farmarea.
Parks wardens also found two black rhinos with wire snares and now believe that some locals could be working in cahoots with foreigners. All in all, Zimbabwe has about 800 black rhinos in protected conservancies.
In an interview yesterday, Secretary for Environment and Tourism Mrs Margaret Sangarwe said a directive had since been issued to the authority to move in fast and rescue the black rhinos before they are poached out.
"We want them removed from closer to our borders as soon as possible to curb poaching of one of the most endangered species in the country. There is urgent need to place them in areas where they can easily be monitored and are secured," Mrs Sangarwe said.
She said the rhinos' movements in Gourlays Farm area could not easily be monitored or detected as they have no horn or collar transmitters because they were then confined to a conservancy, which was deemed a safe area before some new farmers settled in the vicinity. It is understood some of the black rhinos were now straying into nearby farms and sometimes carcasses were discovered outside the conservancy.
"Wildlife management is a national issue and when we notice that our animals are under threat, they can be moved to any other places identified as safe. The resettled communities who might have different views on this matter need to be made aware of what our wildlife protection laws say and also take cognisant of the fact that no money to benefit them is generated from the rhinos since they cannot be hunted," she said.
Mrs Sangarwe said they expected minimal problems in the translocation and settling as rhinos, by nature of being grazers, can easily adapt to a new environment.
Parks and Wildlife Management Authority public relations manager Retired Major Edward Mbewe said teams were on the ground to monitor the situation and to identify other safe areas where the rhinos would be temporarily translocated.
"We have so far moved from the danger zone, 35 rhinos to the Bubi River Conservancy, where we are convinced the animals will be safe before we move them to Gonarezhou National Park, where we would like them to stay permanently," Rtd Maj Mbewe said.
He said currently, it was impossible for them to move the animals to Gonarezhou as there was need to upgrade the park before they replenish it with more animals. Parks needs more than $2 trillion for the upgrading of the whole Gonarezhou with more than $2 billion urgently needed to upgrade the gravel roads.
Rtd Maj Mbewe said so far, the team had reported that it had identified another habitat for some of the rhinos to stay temporarily at Ingwe Farm.
He said it was important for local communities to bear in mind that their settling in various conservancy areas did not automatically make them owners of animals they find in those mega parks.
"All animals still belong to the Government and the settlers' responsibility is to strengthen the Parks Authority's efforts to protect those animals from poaching. The animals can be translocated to animal-depleted areas or any other conducive areas if need arises."
The country has a population of 550 black rhinos and 230 white rhinos.
[Ed: The numbers don't add up]
Controversy Over Translocation of Rhinos
Source: The Herald (Harare)
Date: October 2, 2005
Author: Bulawayo Bureau
CONTROVERSY surrounds the recent translocation of 35 rhinoceros from State-owned Gourlays Ranch in Bubi district, Matabeleland North province, to Bubi River Conservancy in Masvingo province, as it emerged this week that the animals have been ferried to a private ranch instead of a national park.
Sunday News can also reveal that the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority's warden for the western region, Mrs Doris Tom, wrote a letter dated September 23 to the Governor of Matabeleland North, Cde Thokozile Mathuthu, clearly stating that the rhinoceros (both white and black species) were to be captured from Gourlays Ranch and taken to Gonarezhou National Park. The letter, a copy of which is in the possession of the Sunday News, was written on the date on which the capture of the rhinos was set to begin.
However, movement permits from the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority stated that the animals must be taken to Bubi River Conservancy which is in the south-east Lowveld in Masvingo province and is owned by HHK Safari Operators, a private company.
Gourlays Ranch, formerly owned by white commercial farmers, is State land. Sources say it is highly irregular for game to be moved from State land to a private ranch without the necessary papers that clearly explain such an arrangement.
During the fast-track land redistribution programme, the Government acquired Gourlays Ranch. The Parks and Wildlife Management Authority claims that it translocated the animals because there was rampant poaching in the area.
"Please be advised that the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, together with the World Wildlife Fund for Nature have agreed to capture the rhinos, which include both black and white to Gonarezhou which has been given an Intensive Protection Zone (IPZ) status.
"Gonarezhou also falls within the Transfrontier Conservation Area. The capture is scheduled to start on 23 September and the capture team is already on the ground with a helicopter hired from South Africa. The delay in advising your office is greatly regretted," reads the letter from Mrs Tom.
World Wildlife Fund for Nature is a non-governmental organisation that hired the aircraft used to translocate the animals at an undisclosed cost.
Documents in possession of the Sunday News reveal that the animals were transported by aircraft provided by Aeronautical Information Services which has links with the Ministry of Defence.
However, a permit to move the rhinos, issued on September 8 and signed by one Mr A Mandaza "for and on behalf" of the director-general of Parks and Wildlife Management Authority Dr Morris Mutsambiwa, stated that the animals were being taken to Bubi River Conservancy.