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
Sunday, October 4, 2009
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.
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