Two white rhinos were killed for their horns by poachers at a farm outside Ficksburg in the Free State, the farm owner said on Thursday.
The carcasses of the two rhinos were discovered with their horns cut off outside the Kenyana Game Lodge home on Wednesday, said Anita Hughes.
They were about eight to 10-years-old.
"No one saw anything but we found the exit through which they (the rhino) went out and eventually found them killed. Police are handling the matter," said Hughes.
She said these were the last two remaining rhinos in the game park. Two others were sold years ago.
"We sold the two older ones and kept the young ones but now they are gone" said Hughes, adding that she was" really upset" about the incident.
Police could not be immediately reached for comment.
Dec 3 2009 Sapa
Friday, December 4, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Robben Island culling 'on track'
Courtesy of News24.com
Original article HERE
Cape Town - Sharpshooters have culled about 1 600 of Robben Island's burgeoning rabbit population, and 174 fallow deer, an official said on Monday.
The island museum's heritage manager James Makola said the culling, which started just under three weeks ago, was "on track".
The vegetation of the 475-hectare island has been ravaged by 25 000-plus rabbits and around 500 deer, both of them alien species.
Makola said the shooting was being done by a team of experienced professionals, working after the last tourist of the day had left, and in the early mornings.
The rabbit carcasses were currently being buried on the island, while the dead deer were being shipped off by an organisation that was making use of the meat.
Cat sanctuary
Though the team had begun shooting the island's cats, thought to number about 20, it had stopped in order to give the Cat Trapping and Sterilisation Network a chance to catch them and take them to a sanctuary in Hout Bay. This would be reviewed after a month.
Island authorities were also looking at the possibility of trapping and relocating the island's guinea fowl, which were originally also on the culling list.
Island environmental officials said in September the rabbits and the deer had stripped virtually all its the edible vegetation, and that the rabbits had actually started eating stinging nettle.
They said the cats were on the hit list because they ate the chicks of penguins, the swift tern and Hartlaub's gull, of the threatened oystercatcher, and of the highly endangered bank cormorant.
Pressure group Animal Rights Africa (ARA) said on Monday it was outraged at the "illegitimate" killing of animals, which it said formed an integral part of the island's heritage.
It was confident that there were more humane solutions to the environmental degradation.
'Legal action'
The culling was in breach of the Animals Protection Act, ARA said.
"We are appealing to the public to assist us as we would like to take legal action to prevent the management of the Robben Island Museum from executing the ill-advised contract they have entered into to kill the animals.
"It seems that the Robben Island management is determined to desecrate this internationally acclaimed heritage site and once again turn it into a place of oppression, injustice, exploitation, suffering and death."
Makola said however that the island authorities were working closely with the SPCA and Cape Nature, and had based its decisions on their advice.
What was being done was the best option given the conditions on and challenges facing the island, he said.
Rabbits were brought to the island by early sailors, to breed as a source of meat. The fallow deer, which come originally from Europe, were introduced in the mid-20th century.
- SAPA
Original article HERE
Cape Town - Sharpshooters have culled about 1 600 of Robben Island's burgeoning rabbit population, and 174 fallow deer, an official said on Monday.
The island museum's heritage manager James Makola said the culling, which started just under three weeks ago, was "on track".
The vegetation of the 475-hectare island has been ravaged by 25 000-plus rabbits and around 500 deer, both of them alien species.
Makola said the shooting was being done by a team of experienced professionals, working after the last tourist of the day had left, and in the early mornings.
The rabbit carcasses were currently being buried on the island, while the dead deer were being shipped off by an organisation that was making use of the meat.
Cat sanctuary
Though the team had begun shooting the island's cats, thought to number about 20, it had stopped in order to give the Cat Trapping and Sterilisation Network a chance to catch them and take them to a sanctuary in Hout Bay. This would be reviewed after a month.
Island authorities were also looking at the possibility of trapping and relocating the island's guinea fowl, which were originally also on the culling list.
Island environmental officials said in September the rabbits and the deer had stripped virtually all its the edible vegetation, and that the rabbits had actually started eating stinging nettle.
They said the cats were on the hit list because they ate the chicks of penguins, the swift tern and Hartlaub's gull, of the threatened oystercatcher, and of the highly endangered bank cormorant.
Pressure group Animal Rights Africa (ARA) said on Monday it was outraged at the "illegitimate" killing of animals, which it said formed an integral part of the island's heritage.
It was confident that there were more humane solutions to the environmental degradation.
'Legal action'
The culling was in breach of the Animals Protection Act, ARA said.
"We are appealing to the public to assist us as we would like to take legal action to prevent the management of the Robben Island Museum from executing the ill-advised contract they have entered into to kill the animals.
"It seems that the Robben Island management is determined to desecrate this internationally acclaimed heritage site and once again turn it into a place of oppression, injustice, exploitation, suffering and death."
Makola said however that the island authorities were working closely with the SPCA and Cape Nature, and had based its decisions on their advice.
What was being done was the best option given the conditions on and challenges facing the island, he said.
Rabbits were brought to the island by early sailors, to breed as a source of meat. The fallow deer, which come originally from Europe, were introduced in the mid-20th century.
- SAPA
Police investigating ivory smuggling network network
ThisDay, Dar Es Salaam
POLICE in Dar es Salaam are investigating a suspected ivory smuggling syndicate following the arrest of four people this week in possession of over 30 elephant tusks.
According to sources within the wildlife industry, the ivory weighing more than 100 kilogrammes is believed to have come from at least 18 elephants killed recently by poachers within the vast Selous Game Reserve stretching over 54,600 square kilometres to the south of the country.
Other sources within the police force have described the latest seizure of poached elephant tusks in Dar es Salaam as further proof that the city is now a major transit point for ivory smuggling.
This latest development comes just days after THISDAY published a detailed expose on how the world-famous Selous has been turned into a veritable killing field where hundreds of jumbos are regularly slaughtered for their ivory.
The tusks, numbering 33 in total, are currently in the custody of Chang’ombe Police Station in Temeke District pending completion of investigations, said the police sources who preferred to remain anonymous.
The Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police Commander, Suleiman Kova, on Wednesday named the arrested suspects found with the impounded tusks as Donast Mungi (73), Hassan Rashid (30), Salum Said (32), and Akram Masaki.
Kova said the four were apprehended in Mbagala Kizuiani on the outskirts of the city, following a tip from a member of the public in nearby Mbagala Nzasa.
He said they will be thoroughly questioned to reveal the exact origin, destination and would-be buyers of the seized ivory.
This looks like a chain network of poachers and ivory smugglers at work. Investigations are ongoing to track down any other members of the network. With enough cooperation from members of the public, we hope that by properly uncovering this network, we will have countered the problem of ivory smuggling in the country once and for all, Kova told THISDAY.
According to the THISDAY expose, there has been a fresh spike in elephant poaching in recent years, with some disgruntled game scouts believed to be either turning a blind eye to illegal hunting activities or themselves taking part in killing the same animals they were hired to protect.
”An average of 50 elephants are being killed in the Selous each month...and that is a conservative estimate,” an official working in the Selous told this newspaper, adding that the hardcore poachers appear to be collaborating closely with ”an army of demoralized game scouts.”
Ironically, as the country buckles under this latest wave of elephant poaching, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism now wants the worldwide ban on ivory trade lifted.
Tanzania and Zambia have jointly petitioned the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to further open up the trade by allowing them to sell off their ivory stocks.
The CITES ban on ivory trade was imposed some 20 years ago. Animal rights campaigners say the ban has been instrumental in allowing the elephant population in Tanzania to recover from the massive poaching of the 1980s.
According to wildlife industry experts, poaching is a sensitive issue that often involves powerful and dangerous syndicates.
It is understood that the wildlife division in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism used to pay game scouts a working allowance of between 250,000/- and 300,000/- a month, but due to budgetary constraints that allowance was suspended a couple of years ago.
Sources have described finding heaps of jumbo carcases minus tusks left lying on the mud roads within the Selous since the beginning of this year alone. One source told THISDAY he himself counted up to 60 carcasses.
This is organized poaching masterminded by disgruntled game scouts, which is more dangerous than the previous poaching of the 1980s, said the source, warning that if no action is taken urgently to halt the trend, we will have no elephants in two years to come.
Miguruwe (Kilwa District), Matambwe (Morogoro South), Liwale (Lindi Region), Msola (Morogoro Region), Ilonga (Mahenge), Kingupira (Utete), and Mtemere (Rufiji) were described as the most popular poaching areas within the Selous.
Industry observers have meanwhile described the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism as being literally crippled and the anti-poaching unit as being in the ICU (intensive care unit) due to their joint failure to control poaching.
Possible solutions suggested by the observers include the transfer of game scouts from their current work stations within the Selous Game Reserve, and recruitment of new scouts. Also the revival of Operation Uhai, which involved soldiers of the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces in fighting poaching in the 1980s.
The worst period of elephant poaching experienced in the country was probably 1977-87, when the elephant population dwindled from 184,000 to 55,000.
A joint crusade mounted by TPDF, the wildlife department, police and customs authorities resulted in the confiscation of more than 10,000 guns and at least 700 people prosecuted in connection with poaching activities in 1988 alone.
Contacted for comment this time around, the director of wildlife in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Erasmus Tarimo, said the latest reports of elephant poaching in the Selous were exaggerated.
A recent aerial count found 41 carcases of elephants. But 41 dead elephants is minimal compared to the total Selous elephant population of around 40,000, he said, adding that some elephants had died of natural causes.
Said Tarimo: Our intention is to have zero poaching, but to maintain zero poaching is impossible. It is not easy to control poaching 100 per cent.
He also acknowledged reports of demoralized game wardens participating in the poaching activities, saying: It is very difficult to pin down those wardens involved in the malpractice.
Tarimo called on members of the public with information about game scouts involved in poaching to come forward and give such information to relevant authorities so that preventive action can be taken
POLICE in Dar es Salaam are investigating a suspected ivory smuggling syndicate following the arrest of four people this week in possession of over 30 elephant tusks.
According to sources within the wildlife industry, the ivory weighing more than 100 kilogrammes is believed to have come from at least 18 elephants killed recently by poachers within the vast Selous Game Reserve stretching over 54,600 square kilometres to the south of the country.
Other sources within the police force have described the latest seizure of poached elephant tusks in Dar es Salaam as further proof that the city is now a major transit point for ivory smuggling.
This latest development comes just days after THISDAY published a detailed expose on how the world-famous Selous has been turned into a veritable killing field where hundreds of jumbos are regularly slaughtered for their ivory.
The tusks, numbering 33 in total, are currently in the custody of Chang’ombe Police Station in Temeke District pending completion of investigations, said the police sources who preferred to remain anonymous.
The Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police Commander, Suleiman Kova, on Wednesday named the arrested suspects found with the impounded tusks as Donast Mungi (73), Hassan Rashid (30), Salum Said (32), and Akram Masaki.
Kova said the four were apprehended in Mbagala Kizuiani on the outskirts of the city, following a tip from a member of the public in nearby Mbagala Nzasa.
He said they will be thoroughly questioned to reveal the exact origin, destination and would-be buyers of the seized ivory.
This looks like a chain network of poachers and ivory smugglers at work. Investigations are ongoing to track down any other members of the network. With enough cooperation from members of the public, we hope that by properly uncovering this network, we will have countered the problem of ivory smuggling in the country once and for all, Kova told THISDAY.
According to the THISDAY expose, there has been a fresh spike in elephant poaching in recent years, with some disgruntled game scouts believed to be either turning a blind eye to illegal hunting activities or themselves taking part in killing the same animals they were hired to protect.
”An average of 50 elephants are being killed in the Selous each month...and that is a conservative estimate,” an official working in the Selous told this newspaper, adding that the hardcore poachers appear to be collaborating closely with ”an army of demoralized game scouts.”
Ironically, as the country buckles under this latest wave of elephant poaching, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism now wants the worldwide ban on ivory trade lifted.
Tanzania and Zambia have jointly petitioned the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to further open up the trade by allowing them to sell off their ivory stocks.
The CITES ban on ivory trade was imposed some 20 years ago. Animal rights campaigners say the ban has been instrumental in allowing the elephant population in Tanzania to recover from the massive poaching of the 1980s.
According to wildlife industry experts, poaching is a sensitive issue that often involves powerful and dangerous syndicates.
It is understood that the wildlife division in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism used to pay game scouts a working allowance of between 250,000/- and 300,000/- a month, but due to budgetary constraints that allowance was suspended a couple of years ago.
Sources have described finding heaps of jumbo carcases minus tusks left lying on the mud roads within the Selous since the beginning of this year alone. One source told THISDAY he himself counted up to 60 carcasses.
This is organized poaching masterminded by disgruntled game scouts, which is more dangerous than the previous poaching of the 1980s, said the source, warning that if no action is taken urgently to halt the trend, we will have no elephants in two years to come.
Miguruwe (Kilwa District), Matambwe (Morogoro South), Liwale (Lindi Region), Msola (Morogoro Region), Ilonga (Mahenge), Kingupira (Utete), and Mtemere (Rufiji) were described as the most popular poaching areas within the Selous.
Industry observers have meanwhile described the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism as being literally crippled and the anti-poaching unit as being in the ICU (intensive care unit) due to their joint failure to control poaching.
Possible solutions suggested by the observers include the transfer of game scouts from their current work stations within the Selous Game Reserve, and recruitment of new scouts. Also the revival of Operation Uhai, which involved soldiers of the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces in fighting poaching in the 1980s.
The worst period of elephant poaching experienced in the country was probably 1977-87, when the elephant population dwindled from 184,000 to 55,000.
A joint crusade mounted by TPDF, the wildlife department, police and customs authorities resulted in the confiscation of more than 10,000 guns and at least 700 people prosecuted in connection with poaching activities in 1988 alone.
Contacted for comment this time around, the director of wildlife in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Erasmus Tarimo, said the latest reports of elephant poaching in the Selous were exaggerated.
A recent aerial count found 41 carcases of elephants. But 41 dead elephants is minimal compared to the total Selous elephant population of around 40,000, he said, adding that some elephants had died of natural causes.
Said Tarimo: Our intention is to have zero poaching, but to maintain zero poaching is impossible. It is not easy to control poaching 100 per cent.
He also acknowledged reports of demoralized game wardens participating in the poaching activities, saying: It is very difficult to pin down those wardens involved in the malpractice.
Tarimo called on members of the public with information about game scouts involved in poaching to come forward and give such information to relevant authorities so that preventive action can be taken
US tycoon fights for white rhino trophy
Tony Carnie, November 06 2009
Courtesy of http://www.iol.co.za
One of the richest men in America is embroiled in a heated legal battle with South African wildlife officials to recover the trophy head of a white rhino bull.
The twist to the story is that the rhino at the centre of the row appears to be alive and healthy in Mkhuze game reserve in KwaZulu-Natal after surviving a hunting attempt more than three months ago by Texas property tycoon H Ross Perot jr, son of H Ross Perot, 79, former US presidential candidate who stood against George Bush (sr) and Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential elections.
The animal was apparently shot and wounded by Perot jr in late July, but the bull ran off and wildlife officials have been unable to find any sign of a carcass or a wounded animal - indicating that it suffered a flesh wound or was not seriously injured.↓
A professional hunter acting for Perot then engaged lawyers to allow a "follow-up" operation and it was agreed that Perot could have the animal's head if it was tracked down during a hunting operation scheduled to start this weekend.
But in a dramatic about-turn last night, conservation authorities pulled the plug on the second hunt and declared that Perot was no longer entitled to his trophy horns in any circumstances.
The initial decision to allow Perot's agents to have a "second bite at the cherry" drew strong opposition after it emerged that the animal would be shot by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife if there was a visible bullet wound from Perot's large-calibre hunting rifle.
Despite initial opposition, Ezemvelo later agreed that the trophy head and skin would become the property of Perot and could be shipped back to Texas. But last-minute discussions were held last night between Ezemvelo chief executive Bandile Mkhize and Andrew Zaloumis, chief executive of the IsiMangaliso Wetland Park world heritage site.
Shortly before The Mercury was about to publish the story, Mkhize and Zaloumis announced that there would be no second hunt and if Ezemvelo were to track down the animal and find that it was suffering they would put it out of its misery - but Perot no longer had any claim to its head.
Garry Kelly, the South African professional hunter who was sub-contracted to accompany Perot on the first hunt, had insisted that the primary purpose of the follow-up operation at Mkhuze was to ensure the wounded animal was tracked down and destroyed to spare it further pain and suffering.
Other sources felt the decision to allow a follow-up was "morally absurd" and merely a pretext to obtain the animal's head. They said the animal had suffered a flesh wound and was unlikely to bear any remaining visible wounds.
Kelly said the fate of the trophy head was irrelevant to him and he was simply completing his professional duty to follow the hunt to its conclusion. However, his attorney has stated that the current health status of the animal became immaterial to the trophy contract the moment it was struck by a bullet.
"The American client of my client (Kelly) has paid a vast sum of money, so there is an issue of getting the trophy... the legal issue is that there is a contract which says they are entitled and obliged to do what they are doing. The (American) client says he can't come back (to South Africa) and feels: 'I've paid for it and I want it (the trophy).'"
The Mercury has established from correspondence that Perot jr, 47, was accompanied on the recent African safari by one of his sons, Hill Perot, 27.
While Perot jr apparently bungled his shot in the controlled hunting zone of the Mkhuze reserve, Hill Perot is understood to have succeeded in bagging his own rhino trophy.
Judging from pictures posted on his "Facebook" and "MySpace" online networking sites, Hill Perrot already has an extensive trophy collection.
Neither Kelly nor his Pietermaritzburg attorney, Pat Dewes, would confirm the identity of their American client, but a spokesman for Perot confirmed his involvement through an e-mail message which referred all queries to Kelly.
Dewes said the American client (Perot) was "not a novice" and was required by the Ezemvelo hunting contract to undergo a marksmanship proficiency test before he was allowed to proceed with the hunt.
A flurry of legal letters was exchanged between Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and Kelly, reportedly with the support of Perot jr.
He insisted on an opportunity to do a follow-up hunt for the injured animal. But Ezemvelo CEO Bandile Mkhize declined this request on the basis that hunting rules and codes of conduct did not permit this. If an animal was wounded and could not be recovered it was considered forfeit. Mkhize also expressed concern about the difficulty of tracking and identifying the bull.
Last month, however, Ezemvelo acceded to Kelly's requests and allowed him permission for "one final search".
In a subsequent letter, Mkhize made it clear that the rhino could be shot only if the animal was identified according to agreed criteria and "if there is any doubt the animal will not be shot".
It made no mention, however, of the current health status of the animal being a factor in the decision to hunt it a second time.
Kelly's attorney has taken the view that if the animal was identified and shot by Ezemvelo officials his clients were automatically entitled to possession of the trophy head and skin.
Perot jr is listed on the Forbes list of America's richest people, although he is not quite as rich as his more famous father. Perot jr's wealth fell from $2,2bn to $1,25bn in the most recent Forbes list.
It is not known how much Perot jr paid for the hunt, but sources suggest a single rhino trophy hunting package would cost in the region of R500 000.
While the issue of rhino hunting remains contentious, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife offers at least two hunts in the Mkhuze reserve every year on a tender basis, and an average of 30 white rhinos are also auctioned annually to private buyers, including hunters.
Several conservation authorities have acknowledged the role of hunting and private ownership in boosting the species' recovery. But now the failed hunting attempt by Perot jr has raised fresh concerns around the issue of rhino hunting.
Courtesy of http://www.iol.co.za
One of the richest men in America is embroiled in a heated legal battle with South African wildlife officials to recover the trophy head of a white rhino bull.
The twist to the story is that the rhino at the centre of the row appears to be alive and healthy in Mkhuze game reserve in KwaZulu-Natal after surviving a hunting attempt more than three months ago by Texas property tycoon H Ross Perot jr, son of H Ross Perot, 79, former US presidential candidate who stood against George Bush (sr) and Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential elections.
The animal was apparently shot and wounded by Perot jr in late July, but the bull ran off and wildlife officials have been unable to find any sign of a carcass or a wounded animal - indicating that it suffered a flesh wound or was not seriously injured.↓
A professional hunter acting for Perot then engaged lawyers to allow a "follow-up" operation and it was agreed that Perot could have the animal's head if it was tracked down during a hunting operation scheduled to start this weekend.
But in a dramatic about-turn last night, conservation authorities pulled the plug on the second hunt and declared that Perot was no longer entitled to his trophy horns in any circumstances.
The initial decision to allow Perot's agents to have a "second bite at the cherry" drew strong opposition after it emerged that the animal would be shot by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife if there was a visible bullet wound from Perot's large-calibre hunting rifle.
Despite initial opposition, Ezemvelo later agreed that the trophy head and skin would become the property of Perot and could be shipped back to Texas. But last-minute discussions were held last night between Ezemvelo chief executive Bandile Mkhize and Andrew Zaloumis, chief executive of the IsiMangaliso Wetland Park world heritage site.
Shortly before The Mercury was about to publish the story, Mkhize and Zaloumis announced that there would be no second hunt and if Ezemvelo were to track down the animal and find that it was suffering they would put it out of its misery - but Perot no longer had any claim to its head.
Garry Kelly, the South African professional hunter who was sub-contracted to accompany Perot on the first hunt, had insisted that the primary purpose of the follow-up operation at Mkhuze was to ensure the wounded animal was tracked down and destroyed to spare it further pain and suffering.
Other sources felt the decision to allow a follow-up was "morally absurd" and merely a pretext to obtain the animal's head. They said the animal had suffered a flesh wound and was unlikely to bear any remaining visible wounds.
Kelly said the fate of the trophy head was irrelevant to him and he was simply completing his professional duty to follow the hunt to its conclusion. However, his attorney has stated that the current health status of the animal became immaterial to the trophy contract the moment it was struck by a bullet.
"The American client of my client (Kelly) has paid a vast sum of money, so there is an issue of getting the trophy... the legal issue is that there is a contract which says they are entitled and obliged to do what they are doing. The (American) client says he can't come back (to South Africa) and feels: 'I've paid for it and I want it (the trophy).'"
The Mercury has established from correspondence that Perot jr, 47, was accompanied on the recent African safari by one of his sons, Hill Perot, 27.
While Perot jr apparently bungled his shot in the controlled hunting zone of the Mkhuze reserve, Hill Perot is understood to have succeeded in bagging his own rhino trophy.
Judging from pictures posted on his "Facebook" and "MySpace" online networking sites, Hill Perrot already has an extensive trophy collection.
Neither Kelly nor his Pietermaritzburg attorney, Pat Dewes, would confirm the identity of their American client, but a spokesman for Perot confirmed his involvement through an e-mail message which referred all queries to Kelly.
Dewes said the American client (Perot) was "not a novice" and was required by the Ezemvelo hunting contract to undergo a marksmanship proficiency test before he was allowed to proceed with the hunt.
A flurry of legal letters was exchanged between Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and Kelly, reportedly with the support of Perot jr.
He insisted on an opportunity to do a follow-up hunt for the injured animal. But Ezemvelo CEO Bandile Mkhize declined this request on the basis that hunting rules and codes of conduct did not permit this. If an animal was wounded and could not be recovered it was considered forfeit. Mkhize also expressed concern about the difficulty of tracking and identifying the bull.
Last month, however, Ezemvelo acceded to Kelly's requests and allowed him permission for "one final search".
In a subsequent letter, Mkhize made it clear that the rhino could be shot only if the animal was identified according to agreed criteria and "if there is any doubt the animal will not be shot".
It made no mention, however, of the current health status of the animal being a factor in the decision to hunt it a second time.
Kelly's attorney has taken the view that if the animal was identified and shot by Ezemvelo officials his clients were automatically entitled to possession of the trophy head and skin.
Perot jr is listed on the Forbes list of America's richest people, although he is not quite as rich as his more famous father. Perot jr's wealth fell from $2,2bn to $1,25bn in the most recent Forbes list.
It is not known how much Perot jr paid for the hunt, but sources suggest a single rhino trophy hunting package would cost in the region of R500 000.
While the issue of rhino hunting remains contentious, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife offers at least two hunts in the Mkhuze reserve every year on a tender basis, and an average of 30 white rhinos are also auctioned annually to private buyers, including hunters.
Several conservation authorities have acknowledged the role of hunting and private ownership in boosting the species' recovery. But now the failed hunting attempt by Perot jr has raised fresh concerns around the issue of rhino hunting.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Pan African condemnation of upcoming KZN Bull killing ritual
PRESS RELEASE
Courtesy of : www.animal-voice.org
With only three months to go before another bull is torn apart to die a terrified and agonising death, animal welfare representatives from 10 African countries have called on the South African Parliament to denounce this annual ritual as unbecoming of the modern face of Africa.
At the end of the first-ever pan-African conference on animal welfare, held in Nairobi, Kenya, on 21- 24 September 2009, delegates unanimously called for the recognition of animals as 'sentient', deserving of care, respect and protection.
Delegates also signed a petition calling on the South African Parliament to halt, with immediate effect, the bare handed killing of the bull at the First Fruit Festival in Kwa Zulu-Natal usually held on the first Saturday in December each year. The petition stated:
"We believe that cruelty to animals is not the face of Africa that will see us contributing to global discourse as competent and dignified participants."
Countries that took part in the conference included Somali, Uganda, Egypt, DR Congo, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone and South Africa. (See attachment for signatories).
For more about the conference, please go to: www.anaw.org or contact:
Josphat Ngonyo, Director: Africa Network for Animal Welfare.
P.O. Box 3731 - 00506
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254 20 606 510
Telefax: +254 20 609 691
Mobile: +254 (0) 722 243 091
+254 (0) 733 617 286
Email: jos@anaw.org
This Press Release is issued by: Compassion in World Farming (South Africa). Compassion's delegate to the conference was Tozie Zokufa.
The signatures referred to in the Press Release are at
http://www.animal-voice.org/images/stories/pdf/petition_re_bull_kill.pdf
Our letter to President Zuma can be seen at
http://www.animal-voice.org/News-2009/Letter-to-President-Jacob-Zuma
For more information:
Louise van der Merwe
SA Representative: Compassion in World Farming
Editor: Animal Voice
Managing Trustee: The Humane Education Trust
CEO: Humane Education Publishers
Tel./Fax +27 21 852 8160
www.het.org.za
www.animal-voice.org
Courtesy of : www.animal-voice.org
With only three months to go before another bull is torn apart to die a terrified and agonising death, animal welfare representatives from 10 African countries have called on the South African Parliament to denounce this annual ritual as unbecoming of the modern face of Africa.
At the end of the first-ever pan-African conference on animal welfare, held in Nairobi, Kenya, on 21- 24 September 2009, delegates unanimously called for the recognition of animals as 'sentient', deserving of care, respect and protection.
Delegates also signed a petition calling on the South African Parliament to halt, with immediate effect, the bare handed killing of the bull at the First Fruit Festival in Kwa Zulu-Natal usually held on the first Saturday in December each year. The petition stated:
"We believe that cruelty to animals is not the face of Africa that will see us contributing to global discourse as competent and dignified participants."
Countries that took part in the conference included Somali, Uganda, Egypt, DR Congo, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone and South Africa. (See attachment for signatories).
For more about the conference, please go to: www.anaw.org or contact:
Josphat Ngonyo, Director: Africa Network for Animal Welfare.
P.O. Box 3731 - 00506
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254 20 606 510
Telefax: +254 20 609 691
Mobile: +254 (0) 722 243 091
+254 (0) 733 617 286
Email: jos@anaw.org
This Press Release is issued by: Compassion in World Farming (South Africa). Compassion's delegate to the conference was Tozie Zokufa.
The signatures referred to in the Press Release are at
http://www.animal-voice.org/images/stories/pdf/petition_re_bull_kill.pdf
Our letter to President Zuma can be seen at
http://www.animal-voice.org/News-2009/Letter-to-President-Jacob-Zuma
For more information:
Louise van der Merwe
SA Representative: Compassion in World Farming
Editor: Animal Voice
Managing Trustee: The Humane Education Trust
CEO: Humane Education Publishers
Tel./Fax +27 21 852 8160
www.het.org.za
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Rhino run down in park
2009-10-01 08:06
The Witness
Ingrid Oellerman
Pietermaritzburg - A white rhino was knocked down and killed by a bakkie and subsequently dehorned in a baffling hit-and-run accident in the Weenen Game Reserve on Tuesday night.
Wildlife investigators are looking into the unusual circumstances surrounding the death of the animal, and the subsequent removal of one of its horns, which was discovered hidden in the bush some 100 metres from where the collision occurred.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife spokesperson Maureen Zimu confirmed the incident, but referred The Witness to top EKZNW official Bheki Khoza, who said he is awaiting a written report before commenting.
Lost its horn
The Witness learned that the white rhino female - believed to have been pregnant - was struck by a white Toyota Hilux bakkie on the main road leading through Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife’s Weenen Game Reserve shortly before 19:00 on Tuesday.
When police arrived at the scene about three hours later, in response to a report, they discovered the rhino carcass and the bakkie still at the scene.
There was no sign of the driver or any other occupants of the bakkie.
Stranger still was the fact that the dead rhino appeared to have lost its horn.
The horn had not been hacked off in the usual manner employed by poachers, but probably came loose as a result of the collision, after which it appears it was pulled off.
A member of the Pietermaritzburg Organised Crime Unit, Inspector Riaan van Rooyen - who is assigned to a task team investigating wildlife crime, including the recent rhino poaching epidemic in the province - said guards had been stationed at the site until daylight.
Driver traced
At first light, an extensive search of the area was made and the missing horn was found concealed in a thorn tree in the bush.
The driver of the bakkie has since been traced by the police, but his name is being withheld pending further police investigations into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
A full forensic examination of the bakkie and the recovered rhino horn will be carried out.
Van Rooyen said the driver of the Hilux returned to the accident scene on Wednesday. He did not sustain any serious injuries as a result of the collision. The Hilux was badly damaged, however,
A veterinary surgeon carried out an autopsy on the rhino carcass on Wednesday to determine whether or not the animal had been shot, but reportedly found no evidence of gunshot injuries on the rhino.
Alarming increase in poaching
According to evidence led earlier this month during a bail application by four alleged rhino poachers at Kwambonambi, rhino horn currently sells for between R35 000 and R45 000 per kilogram on the black market.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife investigator Rod Potter gave evidence of an alarming increase countrywide in rhino poaching in 2008 and 2009, which is likely to impact on tourism.
In KZN, private game reserves are showing reluctance to stock rhino because of the threat of poaching by syndicates.
Rhino horn is usually destined for the international market as there is a limited demand for it in SA traditional medicine.
It is especially popular as an ingredient in Chinese traditional medicine.
The four accused, who were arrested in possession of freshly hacked off rhino horns linked to a carcass in Umfolozi game reserve, were each granted bail of R10 000.
Another rhino death
Police are also looking into the circumstances in which a white rhino died in Hluhluwe Game Reserve.
The animal’s skull was recovered last week with the horns missing. An extensive search of the area has failed to uncover the horns.
Although predators such as hyenas may have carried them away, experts say that they should have been found in the vicinity of the carcass. The rhino probably died at least a month before the skull was discovered.
The Witness
Ingrid Oellerman
Pietermaritzburg - A white rhino was knocked down and killed by a bakkie and subsequently dehorned in a baffling hit-and-run accident in the Weenen Game Reserve on Tuesday night.
Wildlife investigators are looking into the unusual circumstances surrounding the death of the animal, and the subsequent removal of one of its horns, which was discovered hidden in the bush some 100 metres from where the collision occurred.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife spokesperson Maureen Zimu confirmed the incident, but referred The Witness to top EKZNW official Bheki Khoza, who said he is awaiting a written report before commenting.
Lost its horn
The Witness learned that the white rhino female - believed to have been pregnant - was struck by a white Toyota Hilux bakkie on the main road leading through Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife’s Weenen Game Reserve shortly before 19:00 on Tuesday.
When police arrived at the scene about three hours later, in response to a report, they discovered the rhino carcass and the bakkie still at the scene.
There was no sign of the driver or any other occupants of the bakkie.
Stranger still was the fact that the dead rhino appeared to have lost its horn.
The horn had not been hacked off in the usual manner employed by poachers, but probably came loose as a result of the collision, after which it appears it was pulled off.
A member of the Pietermaritzburg Organised Crime Unit, Inspector Riaan van Rooyen - who is assigned to a task team investigating wildlife crime, including the recent rhino poaching epidemic in the province - said guards had been stationed at the site until daylight.
Driver traced
At first light, an extensive search of the area was made and the missing horn was found concealed in a thorn tree in the bush.
The driver of the bakkie has since been traced by the police, but his name is being withheld pending further police investigations into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
A full forensic examination of the bakkie and the recovered rhino horn will be carried out.
Van Rooyen said the driver of the Hilux returned to the accident scene on Wednesday. He did not sustain any serious injuries as a result of the collision. The Hilux was badly damaged, however,
A veterinary surgeon carried out an autopsy on the rhino carcass on Wednesday to determine whether or not the animal had been shot, but reportedly found no evidence of gunshot injuries on the rhino.
Alarming increase in poaching
According to evidence led earlier this month during a bail application by four alleged rhino poachers at Kwambonambi, rhino horn currently sells for between R35 000 and R45 000 per kilogram on the black market.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife investigator Rod Potter gave evidence of an alarming increase countrywide in rhino poaching in 2008 and 2009, which is likely to impact on tourism.
In KZN, private game reserves are showing reluctance to stock rhino because of the threat of poaching by syndicates.
Rhino horn is usually destined for the international market as there is a limited demand for it in SA traditional medicine.
It is especially popular as an ingredient in Chinese traditional medicine.
The four accused, who were arrested in possession of freshly hacked off rhino horns linked to a carcass in Umfolozi game reserve, were each granted bail of R10 000.
Another rhino death
Police are also looking into the circumstances in which a white rhino died in Hluhluwe Game Reserve.
The animal’s skull was recovered last week with the horns missing. An extensive search of the area has failed to uncover the horns.
Although predators such as hyenas may have carried them away, experts say that they should have been found in the vicinity of the carcass. The rhino probably died at least a month before the skull was discovered.
Huge seizures of 1169 kgs of elephant ivory in Kenya and Ethiopia
From http://www.wildlifeextra.com
Are fears being realised that the auction of ivory from Southern Africa will increase elephant poaching?
More than 1 tonne of ivory seized in East Africa in days.
September 2009. The Kenya Wildlife Service has seized the largest haul of ivory in recent history at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi.
61 tusks
The interception of 61 whole tusks of raw ivory weighing about 532 kg at a Kenya Airways warehouse at 6pm followed joint efforts by the Kenya Wildlife Service Dog Unit, Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines and Airport Police as well as the Nairobi-based regional wildlife organisation Lusaka Agreement Task Force.
The unaccompanied luggage was to be air-freighted to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on the way to Bangkok, Thailand. The ivory had been falsely declared as "Polishing bench" on the Air Bill and was packed in four boxes.
Second seizure in Addis Ababa
This follows closely on the seizure of another consignment of 637 kg of ivory that was intercepted by Ethiopian authorities just two days earlier on Sunday (September 27, 2009) at Addis Ababa. This consignment had also originated from Nairobi and was destined for Bangkok via Addis Ababa by the same consignee. This consignment had been labelled as "Dye polishing bench". This makes a total of 1169 kg of ivory seized within two days in Addis Ababa and Nairobi, all suspected to be from Kenyan elephants.
In the past, illegally obtained ivory from Kenya usually transited out of the country through porous borders and Moyale has long been suspected to be a point of exit. From Ethiopia, the trophies would find their way to the lucrative black markets in South East Asia.
Intensified surveillance
Kenyan laws allow confiscation and seizure of illegal goods while on transit. Kenya Wildlife Service has intensified surveillance at all the international airports in the country using sniffer and tracker dogs to enforce these provisions. 24-hour surveillance has been mounted at JKIA and will be extended to Mombasa and Eldoret, the other international airports in Kenya. KWS intend to ensure that it's almost impossible to leave Kenya with any ivory and other illegal trophies.
Poaching on the risePoaching for Elephant ivory has been on the rise across the continent since the partial lifting of international trade in ivory in 2007 to allow the one-off sale to China and Japan by four South African Countries: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
125 elephants killed in 2009 by poachers in Kenya
The recovered ivory is suspected to have been sourced locally and from the neighbouring countries. Kenya has this year lost 125 elephants through poaching but most of the poached ivory has been recovered by KWS through security operations. Kenya lost 47 elephants to illegal killings in 2007 and 98 last year. In absolute terms this is not alarming. However, the percentage increase in illegal killings within the last three years is worrying. The current prolonged drought has also taken its toll on the elephant population but has mainly affected the young and sub-adult elephants, about 70.
KWS is concerned that the CITES decision to allow the one-off sale of ivory was not well supervised and has led to the death of other species like rhinos, buffalos and antelopes. Investigations show that killers of elephants take everything in their wake.
Our message to the world is: "Please don't wear ivory. It belongs to elephants"
Investigations have been launched to ascertain the origin of the ivory and the culprits behind this illegal trade in wildlife.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Kin Under Skin : What elephants and humans have in common.
G.A. Bradshaw, 09.13.09, 12:01 AM EDT
Taken from : http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/12/science-elephants-humans-opinions-contributors-neurobiology.html
William is an executive at a Wall Street firm. He has three children, is on the arts board,
and is easily the club's best
tennis player. No one would guess that the pressed white shirt he wears every day hides cigarette burns and the ragged scars of abuse. William never knew a father's love or a secure home until his mother remarried. It was then he learned how to play tennis, laugh and watch television on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, a stepfather's arm around his shoulder and a mother's hand on his knee.
When William made partner, his wife booked him a ticket to Africa to celebrate his achievement. It was there he first met Kani. The safari guide had pointed out Kani in camp. Without words, there was a flash of recognition. Kani had also suffered as a child; he was orphaned after witnessing his family hacked to death by angry villagers. Fortunately, a loving family took him in. The first years were hard, but eventually he matured into an upstanding member of the community with children of his own.
Both William and Kani had brothers who were less fortunate. Brian and Mukiri never had the opportunity to heal from their violent wounds. Each grew up on his own, lacking the love and reassurance of a father figure who could guide him to manhood. At age 16, Brian was killed in a drug deal gone bad. At 14, Mukiri was gunned down by authorities.
Standing beside the Land Rover, William gazed out over the savannah at the awesome bulk of an African bull elephant. The giant, Kani, turned his head and the two locked eyes. “We survived,” they said. “We survived.”
***
An elephant's brain is nearly four times the size of a human's. The added volume affords elephants the prodigious memory needed to store a vast knowledge of elephant society and the complexities of African life. Elephant matriarchs recognize over 100 different relatives and friends, and when conditions are harsh, they can navigate scores of miles to lead their families safely to food and water.
Despite the difference in size, human and elephant brains are surprisingly similar. Neuroscience reveals there are no appreciable differences in brain structures and mechanisms between humans and other animals. Even birds, with evolutionary history that took a separate path, have brain functions and capacities convergent with their mammalian counterparts.
This cerebral overlap accounts for the similarities between William and Kani. Though man and elephant grew up in different skins and on different continents, they share similar stories and endings because of a common neurobiology. Brain science also explains why they became who they are today and their brothers did not. Mental receptivity and brain plasticity endow the elephant matriarch with wisdom--and allow human children to learn Japanese, Swahili and English simultaneously while adults stumble through their menus in Paris, trying to recall college French. Sadly, it is the same plasticity that makes humans and elephants vulnerable to suffering. Abuse and neglect leave enduring scars. What we experience in the outside world penetrates deep inside, even to the point of turning genes on and off.
Traumatic memories persist, but wrongs can be righted with love. For William, it came in the form of a stepfather he could trust. For lucky orphans like Kani, it is the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, outside Nairobi. There, from infancy to teenhood, orphaned elephants are nurtured and taught elephant ways and values by caregiving African men so that they are able to rejoin their pachyderm kin in the wild expanses of Kenya.
Science increasingly reveals that nature has a face. The stories of William and Kani suggest that what we do and how we treat each other can leave a long-lasting legacy on the neurons and synapses of the brain. A polar bear drowning in Arctic waters, a parrot alone in a metal cage and a child abandoned are variations on the same theme. Saving the elephant or the whale is a way to save ourselves and our children. We are kin under skin.
G.A. Bradshaw, Ph.D., is director of the Kerulos Center and the author of Elephants on the Edge: What Animals Teach Us About Humanity, to be published Oct. 6, 2009 by Yale University Press
Culling 'a last resort' in Ezemvelo's elephant control plans
Mercury: September 16, 2009 Edition 1
Tony Carnie
EZEMVELO KZN Wildlife has become the first conservation agency to submit new elephant management plans - including the option of culling elephants at Hluhluwe-Imfolozi, Tembe, Isimangaliso and Ithala game reserves.
But Ezemvelo says no culling is on the cards yet as other methods of limiting elephant populations are being tested, including contraception at Tembe Elephant Park on the Mozambique border.
South Africa has more than 17 000 elephants in 80 national, provincial and private reserves. Most are in the Kruger National Park, which suspended culling 14 years ago.
A new elephant management policy was finalised last year and included the resumption of culling as a last option.
Responding to recent questions from DA environment spokesman Gareth Morgan, the national Environmental Affairs Department said no elephants had been culled since the new policy came into force in January last year.
Environment affairs director-general Nosipho Ngcaba confirmed that Ezemvelo had submitted management plans to the department for the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi, Isimangaliso, Ithala and Tembe reserves, and that they provided for culling.
She said, however, that the new policy stipulated that culling would be approved only as a last resort.
With the exception of a small herd on the border with Mozambique, elephants were wiped out in KwaZulu-Natal in the early 1900s.
More than 200 elephants were reintroduced to KZN's parks from 1981 to 1994. From a founder population of 160 orphans, the number in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park has grown to about 470. Tembe Elephant Park now has 270 elephants, Ithala about 110, Isimangaliso (St Lucia) 60 and Mkhuze about 50.
Appeal to the Dutch Government Who wants Emergency Act Against Environmental Defenders Sea Shepherd
You can view this petition at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/tell-a-friend/5519958
Message from jose kersten: I just signed the petition "Appeal to the Dutch Government Who wants Emergency Act Against Environmental Defenders Sea Shepherd". I'm asking you to sign this petition to help us reach our goal of 6,000 signatures. I care deeply about this cause, and I hope you will support our efforts.
Gambia: Thirteen Wild Animal Species Extinct
The Daily Observer (Banjul)
Gambia: Thirteen Wild Animal Species Extinct -Minister Cham
Hatab Fadera
14 September 2009
Banjul — Momodou Kotu Cham, the minister of Forestry and the Environment, last Thursday, informed members of the National Assembly that 13 species of wild animals have gone extinct. Among them, he said, include elephant, giraffe and lion.
Minister Cham was responding to a question posed to him by the National Assembly member for Banjul South, Honourable Baboucarr S Nyang, who wanted to know the reason behind the extinction of wild animals in the country, especially in regions such as the Central and Upper River Region, which he said, were in the past endowed with lots of animals.
The Forestry and Environment minister said as in all other natural processes, extinction could be both natural and human driven. For most of the wild animals of The Gambia, he said, the major cause of extinction has been loss of habitat by basically human beings. "To a large extent, our human population has been responsible for the extinction of a large number of wild animals because as the population increases, so is its demand on land to settle, to cultivate, and indeed to conduct all other human development needs," he said.
He then went on to inform the members that species like the elephant and lion need hundreds of kilometres of land as their home range. But as their habitat gets destroyed as a result of human activities, he said, these wild animals that require large home ranges are forced to migrate, or get killed, and eventually go extinct.
Reintroduction of some species
Also responding to a related question from the same NAM, on whether there are plans or programmes geared towards re-populating some of the designated national parks with animals such as leopard, antelopes, bucks, and cheetah amongst others, the Forestry and Environment minister told deputies about plans to re-introduce certain species of these animals into some of the nature reserves and parks. "But it must be noted that reintroduction has both technical and financial implications. Game reserves for viewing, and nature tourism including safaris could become an additional high class tourism product for the country, and at the same time enhance and increase the value of wild species," stated Minister Cham.
This, he told members is the reason why the government has invited the private sector, both Gambian and foreign to invest in the parks since the private sector could provide both technical and financial requirements. "As I speak, we are studying several requests from some investors who have expressed interest," concluded the Forestry and Environment minister.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
‘Mabunda smear tactics a low blow’ (Sunday Independent 6 September 2009)
Animal Rights Africa (ARA) is dismayed at the unwarranted attack on ARA by SANParks CEO, Dr David Mabunda in his opinion piece, Anti-hunting groups have misfired, Sunday Independent, 30 August 2009. But clearly, in our dedication to ending the unnecessary suffering of oppressed and exploited sentient beings, and to the total liberation of human animals, nonhuman animals, and the Earth, ARA has struck a raw nerve.
Let us start with Dr Mabunda’s simplistic and patent attempt to side-line and discredit ARA. By implying that ARA is part of some kind of international illuminati-type conspiracy from the North, Dr Mabunda makes use of apartheid-style smear tactics, a-la-PW Botha. Why is it so difficult for Dr Mabunda to accept that ARA is a “proudly South African” initiative that is simply part of a global trend towards the expansion of justice and respect for all animals (humans included)?
The liberation struggle in South Africa was part of a global momentum towards recognizing the dignity and integrity of oppressed people the world over. Why are the same principles, when applied to the animal liberation struggle, so difficult for him to comprehend? It is clear that Dr Mabunda has not bothered to understand what the guiding principles of the animal liberation and animal rights movement are. It is therefore absurd and disingenuous in the extreme that he tries to link our movement to colonialism and imperialism.
We are a new global breed of activism and we are part of the new social movements: seeking new relations with the natural world and an end of hierarchies. As a South African advocacy and campaigning organization that is trying to contribute to policy debates and formulation in relation to wildlife, ARA obviously welcomes robust engagement, but Dr Mabunda’s vitriolic response is worrying because at its core it damages constitutional democracy in South Africa.
By striking out at NGOs like ARA he is showing unacceptable intolerance for those that he perceives as not totally in support of SANParks – the kind of censoring “if you are not with us you are against us” position. Not everything can and should be State-driven. By taking such an intolerant stand Dr Mabunda is directly making a cynical and comprehensive attack on the rights of civil society to legitimately organize themselves.
The irony is that it is current government neoliberal conservation policies which are reproductions of old colonial economic logic where the unfettered exploitation of natural and human resources was (and is) the norm. So it does not surprise us that in South Africa it is pro-utilization lobby organisations, donors, individuals and governments from the North that rule the roost and with whom government conservation agencies partner with.
Along with Dr Mabunda, members of the IUCN and other aligned organisations are largely proponents of so-called “wise use” interest groups, the very antithesis of “progressive conservation”. Rather than consider the sustainability of wildlife and ecosystems, wise-use emphasizes sustaining the maximum human consumptive use of the animals and the environment.
Dr Mabunda’s unwarranted swipe at Kenya and its wildlife policies, which he says have been hijacked by animal rights and welfare NGOs is patronising and dismissive of Kenya’s sovereignty. It is far-fetched to claim, as he does, that animal rights and welfare NGOs have the financial and political clout to influence the views of Kenyans on such a grand scale. Kenya will no doubt reply to this poisonous allegation itself. But, let us be clear, through a consultative process, it is the majority of communities living with wildlife in Kenya who are overwhelmingly opposed to the resumption of trophy hunting , believe that it will negate conservation and provide even fewer returns for local communities in wildlife areas. The fact that Kenyans seem to be weighing up the arguments and then choosing to take a more measured and respectful is laudable. It is Kenya who leads the fight at every CITES meeting against countries, such as South Africa and Namibia, and “wise use” lobby groups, that are trying to weaken protection at CITES meetings and who push trophy hunting and the trade in wildlife as the panacea for protecting wildlife. Is this the real reason why Dr Mabunda is so keen to misrepresent Kenya?
ARA will continue to positively contribute and push for vigorous public debate and policy change that will build our growing democracy and not stifle it, and we can only hope that SANParks will be gracious enough to accept that.
Michele Pickover (Coordinator: Animal Rights Africa)
IN THE PRESS (Week of 6 September 2009)
Click on the news article that interests you.
Number of slaughtered white rhinos in Kruger up to 33
Click HERE to read more.
Bolivia bans all circus animals
Click HERE to read more.
or
Click HERE to read more.
Farm dumps 'economically worthless' male chicks
Click HERE to read more.
Animal cruelty charges for ex-agriculture MEC
Click HERE to read more.
Claims of monkey business in baboon contract
Click HERE to read more.
Rhino horns give the game away
Click HERE to read more.
Leopard skin haul case is delayed yet again
Click HERE to read more.
Number of slaughtered white rhinos in Kruger up to 33
Click HERE to read more.
Bolivia bans all circus animals
Click HERE to read more.
or
Click HERE to read more.
Farm dumps 'economically worthless' male chicks
Click HERE to read more.
Animal cruelty charges for ex-agriculture MEC
Click HERE to read more.
Claims of monkey business in baboon contract
Click HERE to read more.
Rhino horns give the game away
Click HERE to read more.
Leopard skin haul case is delayed yet again
Click HERE to read more.
46 Black rhinos moved to safer areas in Zimbabwe
Click HERE to read more.
Six critically endangered western lowland gorilla orphans released onto an island
Click HERE to read more.
Congo’s wildlife rangers launch offensive against armed groups trafficking charcoal in gorilla zone of Virunga
Click HERE to read more.
Amboseli elephants dying in worst drought for 50 years
Click HERE to read more.
Brutal Namibian seal hunt caught on film – Journalists attacked
Click HERE to read more.
Big cat hunting has disproportionate affect on populations
Click HERE to read more.
Click HERE to read more.
Six critically endangered western lowland gorilla orphans released onto an island
Click HERE to read more.
Congo’s wildlife rangers launch offensive against armed groups trafficking charcoal in gorilla zone of Virunga
Click HERE to read more.
Amboseli elephants dying in worst drought for 50 years
Click HERE to read more.
Brutal Namibian seal hunt caught on film – Journalists attacked
Click HERE to read more.
Big cat hunting has disproportionate affect on populations
Click HERE to read more.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Permanently Ban the Sale of Ivory
You can view this petition at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/tell-a-friend/4979981
The growing demand for ivory has lead to skyrocketing rates of illegal poaching, and unless ivory sales are permanently banned, elephants and rhinos are likely to go extinct. In fact, Kenyan Wildlife Authorities recently seized $1 million worth of elephant tusks and rhino horns bound for ivory markets in Asia. Please sign this petition today to call for a permanent, total ban on ivory sales to save elephants and rhinos!
Seal killing in Namibia
Bart Smithers, film maker extraodinaire, has despite being beaten up, arrested and thrown in jail, managed to get out footage of the Namibian seal killing.
The footage can be viewed here: http://www.bontvoordieren.nl
Please be aware that the footage is upsetting and traumatic. However, it is incredibly important to get this out to the world. This is the only new footage which is available. The last footage which was release was back in the late nineties beginning two thousands when Namibia threw
open the doors to let the media see how "humane" the killing is. After that, there was a complete ban on anyone witnessing the process.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Leopard Number 29 is dead !
Courtesy of Landmark Foundation : http://www.landmarkfoundation.org
29 NOW DEAD, 29 NOW LEFT!
Press Release: 16 July 2009
This large territorial male leopard, of 41kg, was killed on the outskirts of Port Elizabeth yesterday. It was caught around the neck in a cable snare and died of suffocation. It was likely a dominant male that commanded a territory of larger than 25 000 hectares. The snare was made from a bicycle break cable.
Killed on the outskirts of Port Elizabeth
The damage to the already stretched genetic stock of the species in the region and the social structures of this population of leopard is incalculable.
This leopard's death is of major concern, as a recently completed Rhodes University study indicated that this cat would have been part of a core population of territorial leopard that lived in a 300 000 ha area in and around the Baviaanskloof Reserve. The study indicated that only about 30
territorial leopards remained in this region (between PE/Uitenhage and Uniondale, Eastern Cape, South Africa). Over the past 6 years we know of at least 29 killed leopards in this area. It does not require a rocket scientist to realize that this species is under severe stress in this
region, and that perhaps we are past the 11th hour for its survival.
Such snaring and agricultural production practices such as gin traps, poisons and hunting dogs continue to threaten these species and hundreds of others across the country.
Such events are now so common that it is almost not newsworthy. Yet, we still live in a country where we have legislation that makes it legal to
set leg hold traps (such as gin traps), to use poisons and even to hunt predators from helicopters. We have many other less charismatic species suffering similar and worse fates, and at far greater rates. We have production bodies like the National Woolgrowers, the South African Mohair Growers and Red Meat Producers Organization calling for more lethal controls of predators through indiscriminate methods. We as consumers must vote with our wallets and support produce that is not
tainted with this abuse of our wildlife! Please support Fair Game(tm) Wildlife Friendly produce when it appears on your supermarket shelves later in the year, as it will be produce that does not destroy our
wildlife in its production, and it will reward producers that comply with audited and acceptable production standards that are ethically and ecologically acceptable.
Cubs rescued on Sunday 12 July 2009 in the Baviaanskloof
The Landmark Foundation has tried to create some respite for the leopard in this corner of South Africa, and working with willing farmers, especially in the Baviaanskloof River Valley of the Baviaanskloof Mega-reserve, to counter the persecution of the leopard in this region.
It has seen us now rescue 27 leopards since 2004, of which 24 cases have taken place in the last 30 months in an around the Baviaanskloof and the Garden Route areas. The last of these rescues occurred on Sunday 12 July 2009, where 2 leopard cubs were rescued in a cage trap - unusually
caught together. This area had been totally cleared of gin traps which had been the method of predator control previously, and which in the past would certainly have resulted in the death of at least one of these cats. The cubs were released and reunited with their mother who was seen
with them at the release.
--end press release--
Issued by: Dr Bool Smuts, Director Landmark Foundation
+27 (0)83 324 3344
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
YOUR HELP NEEDED TO STOP GREYHOUND RACING - PLEASE ATTEND HEARINGS
WHY CONDEMN DOG RACING?
The introduction to South Africa of abhorrent practices that surround this activity as they exist in other countries globally ultimately would result in enormous untold suffering and deprivation of welfare for thousands of animals in the future. Empirical research shows that the greyhound racing industry is in rapid decline around the world, for good reason, in that progressive societies are realizing the extent of cruelty involved in the sport, and thus a greater lack of support for the practice.
Global evidence reveals that ultimately only a few interested stakeholders will profiteer enormously off the back of suffering not animal amongst the animals, but amongst the millions of impoverished citizens for whom gambling merely adds to their economic deprivation. If South Africa is to thrive both economically and as a prosperous democracy, both government and its citizens should be engaging in positive economic opportunities, not encouraging a lose-lose industry whereby both the poor and the animals will be the resultant casualties at the hands of a few profiteering opportunists. In so many other respects, South Africa continues to hold its head high globally for its extremely progressive constitution and democratic practices, which many fought and sacrificed so much in order to achieve. It would be a very sad day indeed if South Africa slid back to darker days involving oppressive practices that involve causal suffering, both economically and socially.
As a country, we should continue to serve as an example to the rest of the world as a thought leader and that we reject all forms of regressive practices, however lucrative they are to a small pool of self-interested business proponents who have no self-regulatory system to combat welfare issues or concern for the poor.
Please call and/or forward this to as many people as you know who will be likely to attend and object to greyhound racing
Your help is needed now to stop dog racing and we only have a few weeks left to do it. However, it is not in the form of an e-mail, SMS or petition but your presence is needed at a hearing to state your objection to the introduction of greyhound racing.
The DTI is holding public consultations so that members of the public and interested groupings can submit their input. The process is neither confrontational nor a debate, and all that citizens are required to do is give their name, state whether or not they support greyhound racing, and why.
How?
Simply by attending the hearing nearest to them and participating in the process and saying NO to greyhound racing. In this instance as your presence and input are required inside the actual hearings to make a difference.
Where and when?
CAPE TOWN
13 FEBRUARY 2009 : 09h00-12h30
PROTEA SEAPOINT HOTEL
PORT ELIZABETH
20 FEBRUARY 2009 : 09h00-12h30
PROTEA MARINE HOTEL
BLOEMFONTEIN
26 FEBRUARY 2009 : 09h00-12h30
GARDEN COURT HOTEL
PRETORIA (HATFIELD)
27 FEBRUARY 2009 : 09h00-12h30
PROTEA MANOR HOTEL
EAST LONDON (ESPLANADE)
6 MARCH 2009 : 09h00-12h30
GARDEN COURT HOTEL
POTCHEFSTROOM
13 MARCH 2009 : 09h00-12h30
WILLOWS GARDEN HOTEL
BE THERE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Elephant Culling Documentary
Elephant culling documentary posted on the Southafricull website : http://southafricull.blogspot.com/
Part 1:
Part 2:
Direct YouTube links :
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