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Black Rhinos killed in Zimbabwe
Willem

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Posts: 98
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Nov 16th - 23:56

Posted: Nov 26 2007, 10:54 AM
I just came accros this news item from the BBC:
Shootings threaten black rhino project

It tells the story of three Black Rhinos shot by armed men in camouflage gear. The Rhinos were part of a Breeding program and seem to have been within an enclosure when it happened. The Breeding program is now at a standstill and they are left with an orphan calf.

There's also a video available to watch.

Very, very sad story!

regards,

Willem

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Willem van Strien - Rhino Resource Center Admin
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Kees

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Oct 26th - 08:27

Posted: Nov 26 2007, 11:32 AM
We have some of the gruesome pictures of the results of this incident in our image gallery. Search for IMIRE in the search of the images.

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Kees Rookmaaker
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Willem

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Posts: 98
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Nov 16th - 23:56

Posted: Dec 2 2007, 01:14 PM
Looks like their taking this very seriously. As they should. Bellow is a news article telling us about a $3bn reward for anyone with information that leads to the arrest of the poachers.

Zimbabwe: $3bn Reward Offered
From (The Herald (Harare) on 30 November 2007)

Harare

The National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority has set a $3 billion reward for anyone with information leading to the arrest of poachers who shot and killed three rhinos at Imire Game Park outside Marondera early this month....

Read more here.

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Willem van Strien - Rhino Resource Center Admin
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gmurphy

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Jul 21st - 17:20

Posted: Jul 21 2008, 05:46 PM
I was distressed to read of the most recent threats to Imire Ranch on the IRF website. John and Judy Travers have been through enough this last year! Thanks to Ministers Nhema and Skeramayi for their intervention, as well as all other conservation organizations involved in the thwarting of the plan!
Equally as upsetting is the latest news of an attack on a young Black Rhino in Zimbabwe on the IRF blog.
I will be bowling in Houston Texas this Friday to continue to raise awareness of these brutal attacks on Black Rhinos!
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ZCTF

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Aug 28th - 19:33

Posted: Aug 28 2008, 07:45 PM
I am the Director of US Operations For Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force.
I am seeking an expert in Captive Black Rhinos for over all information on care health & diet .
Also statistically information with regards to this issue.
I can be reached at us_zctf@yahoo.com
I prefer someone who works in the field with research. Also someone who could asses a black eastern rhino female age 22, with regards to over all health via video footage and photos as well as observation reports.
I suspect she is sick and has been for sometime.
Thank You
Karrie D Kern
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ZCTF

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Aug 28th - 19:33

Posted: Dec 23 2008, 01:26 AM
Hi sorry I have been super busy! With regards to these posts, the poachers who attacked and killed baby Tands parents have been caught all 4 received 28 years prison terms. This happened just in the last few months.
Imire is doing well and thriving even in these difficult times.
You might find it interesting that Baby Tand the orphan black rhino is now just over a year old and is thriving well.
He , Imire & ZCTF will be featured on Animal Planet in a program called there is a rhino in my living room.
Tand is doing extremely well, and shows all signs of a healthy year old rhino.
Recently he was put on semi release into park and has a female companion he has attached himself to. biggrin.gif
CEO
Karrie D Kern
US Operations
Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force
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Mark Brightman

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Feb 28th - 22:01

Posted: Feb 28 2009, 10:05 PM
Sadly, this has not ended here, despite earlier assurances that the culprits had been convicted and jailed:

Poachers walk free as assault on Zimbabwe rhinos escalates

Harare, Zimbabwe – A breakdown in law enforcement against rhino poaching and horn smuggling in Zimbabwe is threatening the success of more than a decade's work bringing rhino populations back up to healthy levels.

Typical of the problem is the recent release of a gang of four Zimbabwean rhino poachers who admitted to killing 18 rhinos in five different areas of central Zimbabwe, including a semi-tame group of black rhinos slaughtered in their pens at Imire Safari Ranch.

The poachers, also alleged to have been involved in a number of armed robberies and arrested with several illegal firearms, were initially denied bail and it was reported that the four had received lengthy jail sentences. However, WWF was recently informed by authorities that the poachers were subsequently granted bail, were freed and immediately absconded.

Rhino poaching has been increasing throughout Zimbabwe including in the Lowveld Conservancies in southern Zimbabwe, home to three quarters of the country's surviving rhinos and host to a rhino conservation project involving WWF, the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority of Zimbabwe, the private sector and several other conservation agencies including the International Rhino Foundation.

“Since January 2000, approximately 70 rhinos have been killed in the Lowveld conservancies, and the losses are now rapidly mounting,” said Raoul du Toit, Lowveld rhino conservation project manager for the Lowveld Conservancies. “About 20 rhinos were shot in the Lowveld during 2008, which points to how this problem is escalating,

“Prior to 2000, for a period of seven years, there was no rhino poaching whatsoever.”

When the poaching first flared up, it was linked to the unplanned occupations of sections of the Lowveld Conservancies by subsistence farmers and primarily involved rhinos getting caught in wire snares that were set out to catch wildlife for meat consumption.

Now the poaching has reached commercial levels, with poachers not only killing rhinos in snares but also shooting them for their horns, without taking the meat.

“WWF and other non-government organisations involved in rhino conservation maintain very constructive relations with the Zimbabwean wildlife authorities,” says du Toit, “But there is growing frustration over Zimbabwe’s poor performance in law enforcement for rhino crimes, which inevitably gives rise to concerns about corruption.”

Although a few poachers from Zambia have been arrested and convicted after cross-border raids into National Parks in northern Zimbabwe, not a single Zimbabwean poacher has been convicted during the current wave of internal rhino poaching.

The few Zimbabwean poachers that have been arrested, have subsequently been released on bail, (equivalent to a few American cents), and have then absconded, or have evaded prosecution in the courts.

“The lack of enforcement and increased poaching pressure in Zimbabwe now threaten to reverse the excellent trends in rhino populations of recent years,” said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF-International’s Species Programme. “WWF calls on the authorities in Zimbabwe to take much stronger action against the internal poaching networks or the recent progress made in rhino conservation in Zimbabwe will be lost.”

Tom Milliken, the Regional Director of TRAFFIC’s programme in east and southern Africa, warns that “In terms of the CITES treaty on wildlife trade, Zimbabwe is now in the spotlight and an international task force will be visiting shortly to investigate its performance in rhino conservation.

“TRAFFIC has sponsored initiatives to improve the country’s law enforcement capabilities, but sadly most investigations appear to have collapsed without a single successful prosecution.”

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ZCTF

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Aug 28th - 19:33

Posted: Mar 5 2009, 03:53 PM
yes they did get bail, my understanding is that most were re caught, The main culprit has fled it is believed to China, There were a total of 4 men involved at Imire.
We are still hopeful that someday this individual will be caught. I would expect his immediate arrest should he return to the country.
We have lost a total by ZCTF count lost 45 Black Rhinos this year, reducing our number to somewhere around 300 population.

With the change in Government , we are hopeful that Parks & Wildlife will be back up on its feet as a fully functioning branch of anti poaching units.

Karrie Kern
CEO/ US Operations
Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force
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dilandilan

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Posts: 5
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Sep 22nd - 07:55

Posted: Sep 22 2014, 07:57 AM
that is really bad.....why should they shoot animals.....????

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Graduated from Soran University with First Class Degree with Honours in Literature
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