Tag Archives: Poaching

and finally, freedom……

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Early this morning I got a call from Moholoholo to let me know that Porky was ready to come home.  They had one final request though – that the whole team come across to my farm with Porky and watch the release.  I was thrilled to be able to share this precious moment with the volunteers, trainee vets and vet nurses, and other Moholoholo staff who all took such careful care of this badly injured porcupine.

Here is the team on the farm (with Porky in the red box)

I do not have words that can explain the following pictures. I do not have words that explain what it feels like to see this and to be there when a creature that was so badly hurt is returned to the wild where he belongs.  I will let the pictures speak.

Run Porky, run free…….

Read more about Porky on the following links:

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Be careful what you wish for

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Over the 2 years that I have been living here on my farm I have been wishing to see a porcupine.  I know they are here because I pick up their quills and I see their spoor, yet I had never seen one on my land.  It had become quite a challenge for me and I told anyone who would listen about my plight to see one.

This morning as I was going to work I spotted one trying to squeeze under the fence.  I was so thrilled.

This afternoon when I got home, he was still there, so my alarm bells began to ring.  I snuck up really close to him only to see a gash on his back.

I managed to find some help from a nearby friend and we went in after the porcupine. At the same time I called the Moholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Center who advised me to get the porky to them as soon as I could.

Once we got in really close he kept on putting up his quills so it was quite dangerous, and it was then that we saw that he was caught in a snare.  My friend untied the snare off the bush it was tied to and we used the snare to get the porky onto my bakkie (pick-up).

and we drove him through to the rehabilitation center where they were waiting for us.  Here you can see his terrible wounds caused by the snare

The poor boy was so stressed.  Brian Jones from Moholoholo met us and sedated the porcupine while it was still on the back of my vehicle.

and when he was fast asleep

he was moved into the operating room where Brian removed the snare

All the students at the center (volunteers) were called in to look and learn and assist.

There were two vet nurses who were then tasked with cleaning up the wound and removing all the dead tissue.

Tonight he will sleep in this cage

and tomorrow they will have to decide if he is going to be ok or will need to be euthanized.

Unfortunately, due to limited resources, and the fact that these animals are not endangered, my beautiful porcupine might be put down.

At least tonight he will have a pain-free sleep and is free of that horrible wire.

Thank you to all at the Moholoholo Animal Rehab Center.

UPDATE:  Thank you to some incredible donors as well as Pick n Pay for coming forward with funding.  Porky will not be euthanized now and there are enough funds to pay for his care.

 

Good news

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White Rhino

Image by LaertesCTB via Flickr

Two rhino poachers caught

Two men have been arrested for allegedly killing and dehorning a rhino in Hoedspruit, Limpopo police said on Saturday.

Tthe ranger of the private game farm heard shots being fired around 09:00 on Friday and called the police.
“Together they traced the suspects on foot and four suspects were found on the farm.”

Two men ran away but the other two were arrested. A rhino horn, hunting rifle, two projectiles and an axe were found in their possession.

The men, from Mozambique and South Africa, are expected to appear in the Hoedspruit Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
The search for the men’s accomplices continues.

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While on the subject….

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I know that many of you are far away from the problems we face here in South Africa, and my pet subject at the moment (rhino poaching) may not mean much to you in real terms.

However, I ask you to bear with me for this month as September is rhino protection month. Sept 22 is rhino day.

I shared this picture on Facebook earlier today and because of the comments I received I thought it good to share it with you if only to increase world-wide awareness of what is happening here.  If you look at the statistics, one rhino is being poached every 21 hours in South Africa. There are not many left.  Baby rhinos are being orphaned and many of them die after seeing their mothers mutilated and killed.

So I’ll ask you, how does this picture make you feel?

 

PS: Facebook friends – sorry for the repeat.

Hoedspruit takes action against rhino poaching

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In a landmark move, a top-secret mission has been accomplished by game reserves in the Hoedspruit region. After an almost unanimous decision, all rhinos in our area around Hoedspruit have been dehorned to minimise rhino poaching.  The action was kept under wraps so that poaching was not increased before the task could be completed.

This is a temporary measure to ensure the safety of our rhinos while other actions are being put into place in the region.  A rhino action group has been formed and funds are being raised to increase the protection of this species.  In Hoedspruit we are lucky to have the support of our local air force base who assist with air surveillance, and Protrack which is a private anti-poaching unit operating in all the private game reserves.  Our local police department are also very active in anti-poaching and see this as a priority. Plans have also been put into place where each and every rhino in the area will have its own armed bodyguard keeping it under surveillance.

This last week two rhino poachers were shot and killed in the Kruger National Park. Lets hope that poachers will start getting the message and all this unnecessary killing and destruction can finally come to an end.

Personally, I am glad to see something being done to end poaching.  There has been a lot of hype, fund-raising and media attention – all of which is necessary, but it’s now time to see some action.  Well done Hoedspruit and the Rhino Action Group!

Rhino dehorning is a controversial topic, and many say that it is not the answer.  I agree – it’s not the final answer to our problems, but until such time, it will assist in slowing down poaching and protect the species from total annihilation. For those of you who do not know, rhino horns are made of hair and do regrow at a rate of 1 to 3 inches per year.

Another “good news” rhino story can be read here on the Notes from Africa blog.

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And when tomorrow comes….

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Tomorrow is the 1st of September.  Traditionally celebrated as spring day here in South Africa.  Our weather is normally warming up, birds are returning, and trees are budding and blossoming. Schools and businesses normally celebrate by encouraging students and/or staff to wear bright colours. It’s such a cheerful day.

This morning I caught my first whiff of orange blossoms.  Hoedspruit has the most amazing orange blossom smell for a week or two in spring time.

Tomorrow, however, I am going to be doing spring day a little differently.

If you have followed some of my recent posts on rhino poaching you will know what an awful problem we have here in SA. It’s time we grabbed this problem – all of us – and sorted it out.  There has been a lot of talk, and quite a bit of money raised – but what is going to stop the poaching?  We need to raise the awareness of this issue, from a national level to an international level and things need to get done. Soon we will only be able to show our children and grandchildren pictures of these amazing beasts because there won’t be any left.

South Africans (and people all around the world) are uniting tomorrow on spring day to bring about awareness of the rapidly depleting rhino population in South Africa and asking the government to take a serious stand against poaching of rhinos.

I am wearing black tomorrow and will tie a black ribbon around the right hand mirror of my car.  Many South Africans (and others around the world) are doing this to show poachers that the people of South Africa will stand together and say no to poaching.

There is a Facebook event with more information which can be accessed if you click here.

Will you be joining me?

Get your Facebook “Stop Rhino Poaching” badges here
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Rhino fighting for its life

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Rhino horns poached at Aquila Private Game Reserve. 

Sometime during the early morning of 20 August 2011, two groups of rhino poachers attacked 3 of the herd of 6 resident rhinos, on the 7500 hectare Aquila Private Game Reserve…. (read more)    

I have no words for this………………

How does one stop this senseless slaughter?

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Another rhinoceros has been killed for its horn.  This happened on a game farm here in Hoedspruit.  She was pregnant.

Here is a news article on the incident:

Pregnant Rhino Slaughtered in Hoedspruit.

Two innocent lives lost because of myths and greed.

The year’s third confirmed killing of a rhino in South Africa has turned out to be a double tragedy, as the rhino was pregnant. The horrifying discovery was made at a game farm in the Hoedspruit area of Limpopo Province.

She had been shot with a high-caliber hunting rifle.

In 2010, at least 310 rhinos were brutally slaughtered in South Africa to fuel a demanding market for illegal rhino horn in China and Vietnam.  Continue reading…… (news article from http://www.rhinoconservation.org)

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Even after cracking open a syndicate of rhino poachers locally, the slaughter continues.  Many different approaches are being used to try to prevent rhino poaching including horn microchipping, and dehorning, although dehorning is really only possible when the animal is not under threat from its natural enemies.  Some local pilots volunteer their time to patrol areas by air and there are also local anti-poaching units that patrol on foot. As an extreme measure a few anonymous game farmers have taken the law into their own hands and are poisoning the horns of their rhinos – the poison does not affect the rhino but will kill whoever eats the ground rhino horn powder.  It is believed that there are people within the conservation field who are cashing in on the sale of the horns.

This is a white rhino we spotted this weekend on a game drive at Matumi Lodge.

A place on Appendix I of CITES has done little to help the rhino. It has simply driven a thriving trade in rhino horn underground, and the African continental population has crashed from 65,000 in the late 1960s to less than 3,500 today. Between 1970 and 1987, 85 per cent of the world’s rhinoceros population was killed. The cause: demand for rhino products in traditional Eastern medicine and demand for knife handles (made from the horn) used to make “coming-of-age” daggers for young Yemeni males. There are five species of rhinoceros alive today. Three live in Asia, and two in Africa. All are listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and considered endangered. This listing, and a 1987 regulation, prohibits international and domestic trade in rhino products by CITES Parties. Although the ban has been in force since 1976, the trade continues, particularly in China, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.

Rhino horn has been used as an ingredient in traditional Asian medicine for 2,000 years.

At 1991 prices, the cost per kilogram of rhino horn averaged at US$10,000. The average value of each horn is about US$80,000

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Root for rhinos on rhino day!

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Root for rhinos on rhino day!.

Below is an article from news24.  This is what we have to deal with here!  Shocking stuff.

Rhino poaching – vets arrested

2010-09-20 23:00

Marietie Louw-Carstens, Beeld

Johannesburg – Two well-known veterinarians from Modimolle in Limpopo were arrested on Monday, along with seven other people, over their alleged involvement in “hundreds of incidents” of rhino poaching.

National police spokesperson Vishnu Naidoo said the suspects are “the masterminds” of a syndicate believed to be involved in rhino poaching across the country.

“The arrests were a great breakthrough for us. More arrests may follow,” Naidoo said.

Dr Karel Toet and his wife, Marisa, were arrested early on Monday morning. Dr Manie du Plessis, one of Toet’s partners, was also arrested.

They own the Nylstroom animal clinic, as well as Limpopo Wildlife, which is involved with catching and transporting game on farms.

Naidoo said two businessmen – as well as the one businessman’s wife – were also behind bars. The other suspects’ occupations are unknown. They were arrested in Polokwane, Musina and Modimolle respectively.

“These people were supposedly involved with killing rhinos, selling the horns and disposing of the carcasses,” said Naidoo.

Continue reading →