Is this not a wonderful photo? I just had to share.
It was on the front page of one of my Sunday reads today, it was accompanied by an article explaining that Kruger are relocating over a thousand rhino from ‘high risk’ areas (read close to Mozambique border) to other parts of the park, other parts of the country and even other countries (Botswana and Namibia were mentioned.) Good luck to them.
There was more good news on my 1 o’clock news bulletin. Continue reading “Relocating Rhino”
Ever wondered what to do with your toenail clippings?
and here is Mark Wilby’s accompanying comment… Continue reading “sorry China”
Update Sept 28. a brief interview with Vernon Wait of Lalibela shortly after the gruesome discovery
After sharing that wonderful picture with you yesterday of the Southern right with her calf I’m afraid that today I have grim news…
Some of you may remember my post on the rhino shot by poachers at a local game park and the subsequent loss of the calf to predators. a bit of good news from our Times.
Zhong Whong, 29, a security guard in his home country, was found guilty in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court of fraud and breaking the Biodiversity Act.
He was caught at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport with 16.1kg of rhino horn in his luggage. It would have been worth about R2.2 million in Vietnam, reports Beeld newspaper.
“Fines are clearly not a deterrent,” Magistrate Prince Manyathi was quoted as telling Whong on Wednesday.
“You came to South Africa knowing you were going to do something unlawful. Continue reading “Rhino horn smuggler gets 10 years”
I wrote here on Monday about a female black rhinoceros being killed by poachers at Kwantu, one of our local game reserves.
I also mentioned that the slain mother was nursing a 12 month old calf and that the there were fears for the calf’s survival.
A report in today’s newspaper tells us that that a pride of lions found the calf before the rangers / trackers did.
Kwantu Wildlife Manager William Hofmeyr said “The sad thing is it shows the poachers didn’t only kill the mother, but indirectly killed the calf as well.”
Wildlife expert and Shamwari vet Dr Johan Joubert said the calf’s age would have made it very difficult to rear by hand, that may very well be the case but I would have liked the staff at Kwantu to at least have had the opportunity.
Kwantu game reserve lost another rhino to poachers over the weekend. The reserve is a short drive from my house, the report in my local newspaper tells me that the horn, which is all that they took sells for up to S.A.Rand 700,000 (£60,000) presumably in the far east.
This female was still nursing her 12 month old calf, there is now concern about the calfs well being. She had successfully produced 2 calves previously, this is not just a blow to Kwantu and eco-tourism but Continue reading “Poachers”
