Sad News member no 78
WILD CAPTURED ELEPHANTS SCHEDULED FOR RELEASE
Precious ivory, horn moved to Kruger Park
Poaching figures contrast with SA’s reputation
Forensic tools
Canada. MEX, gains for wilderness
Sustaining the Wild Coast
Chronicles of a Game Ranger by Nick Tredger
AFRICA TALKS
Another book recommendation by Jim Feely
Tailpiece
Hi again,
Herewith, some snippets from various sources.
I appeal to you to send me items to distribute to our members for the Cleft Stick, the Game Ranger magazine and to be posted on the web site. These are your magazines and website, so ensure it gets the news that you would like to see in it.
Please let me have any changes to your physical address, phone no. or e-mail address to keep the database up to date. Remember this is the address we will send your Game Ranger Magazine to.
Thanks to all of you who have made the effort. Please will any of you who know of members who do not get this “electric” Cleft~Stick, & have access to e-mail, pass their address along to me.
Don Yunnie
7 Chalet Drive, Hilton, 3245, South Africa Local Tel & Fax (033) 343 1534
Int. Tel & Fax (+2733) 343 1534 cell 082 377 7562, E-mail dyunnie@xsinet.co.za
If you do not wish to receive this e-mail newsletter please send a blank e-mail to me at the above address with the word “Unsubscribe” as the message heading.
Please feel free to write to express your views on the content or the subject of any of the articles in this magazine – to the address above.
Sad News member no 780
KWAZULU-NATAL WILDLIFE, Media Release No: 2009 07
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife pays tribute to Pioneer Conservationist Mr Khulani Mkhize For immediate release
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has lost a pioneer in the field of conservation Mr Khulani Mkhize who died on 23 June 2009 at the age of 49. Khulani Mkhize, the former Chief Executive Officer of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, served the conservation community with diligence and care during his career as a nature conservationist, which spanned 28 years.
He was born in Mfume in the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal and was educated at Madundubala Primary School and Ewubini Secondary School in Mfume, moving to Groutville High School in Stanger for his high school education. It was during this time that he discovered a love for nature conservation through a radio programme he had heard.
He enrolled for a Diploma in Nature Conservation from Cwaka Agricultural College in 1980 and a year later joined the then KwaZulu Bureau of Natural Resources, later to become the KwaZulu Directorate of Nature Conservation. While working for this organization Mr Mkhize was involved in a wide spectrum of activities including Environmental Education, training, investigations, communications, and working with Organised Labour and communities.
As second in charge of the Directorate, Mr Mkhize was responsible for formulating conservation policies and also played a leading role in implementing ground-breaking Community Conservation Policies. After the 1994 elections, Mr Mkhize played a leading role in the negotiations leading to the amalgamation in 1998 between the then Natal Parks Board and the KwaZulu Directorate of Nature Conservation resulting in the creation of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and his subsequent appointment as Assistant Chief Executive Officer.
He was closely involved in the restructuring of the new organiza tion in order to maximize its effectiveness. In April 2001 he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife a position he held for 7 years. During this time Mr Mkhize remained committed to effective nature conservation, managing bio-diversity conservation, ecotourism and community conservation in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.
“Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has indeed lost one of the black pioneers of nature conservation in KwaZulu-Natal. It is very sad and sudden that our colleague has passed on and we express our deepest condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. He laid the foundation for this organization to become a leader in biodiversity conservation, ecotourism and partnerships and for that contribution we pay tribute to him,” said Chief Executive Officer of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Dr Bandile Mkhize.
AJG/ Media Release No: 2009 - 07 24/06/ 2009
Media:
For further information contact the Communication Services Manager on 033 845 1999; email mxakasas@kznwildlife.com or fax 033 845 1299
WILD CAPTURED ELEPHANTS SCHEDULED FOR RELEASE
Yay – incredible news...well done Glynis, ZNSPCA and the Zimbabwe. Will keep you updated on rehabilitation of these ellies !
ZNSPCA PRESS STATEMENT ON WILD CAPTURED ELEPHANTS HELD CAPTIVE AT SONDELANI RANCH
ZNSPCA are pleased to inform the international community that the ten wild elephants captured by Basil Steyn for commercial purposes are scheduled for release.
ZNSPCA would like to thank the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Honourable Minister Nhema, the Attorney General's offices, officials from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority for their integral role in the release of these abused elephants. We are proud of our Ministry's recognition of animal cruelty and the prevention of such acts.
Furthermore, ZNSPCA extends its gratitude to elephant specialists Karen Trendler and Dr. Lucy Bates whose reports clearly indicated that these elephants had been subjected to cruelty. We acknowledge the role of Dr. A. Dube (BVSc Zim) who carried out the veterinary inspection of the elephants. These specialists' opinions, and the ZNSPCA Inspectorate reports have paved the way for a brighter future for these elephants.
This cruel capture resulted in ZNSPCA having numerous meetings with National Parks and it has been agreed that Parks will organise workshops with relevant stakeholders in order to address loopholes and prevent such incidents re-occurring in the Country. Controls and codes of conduct for the management of the remaining wild elephants in captivity will also be put in place. ZNSPCA commends National Parks on this positive move.
These ten elephants will require rehabilitation before they are released. Following advice on ownership issues from legal experts, the elephants will be released from the boma into Sondelani Ranch estate. ZNSPCA Inspectorate will be approaching relevant experts to assist with the rehabilitation of the ten elephants. ZNSPCA requires that all ten elephants be micro chipped before they are released in order to protect them in the future, that they may be traced any time. The public will be kept appraised of our progress.
Assistance was given by numerous other individuals throughout this challenging journey that the ZNSPCA had to take on behalf of these elephants, and we thank them all.
Glynis Vaughan
Chief Inspector
ZNSPCA
156 Enterprise Road , Chisipite, Harare, Zimbabwe
P O Box CH55 , Chisipite, Harare, Zimbabwe
Precious ivory, horn moved to Kruger Park
2009/06/29, Guy Rogers, ENVIRONMENT & TOURISM EDITOR rogersg@avusa.co.za
THE Addo Elephant National Park is transferring all its valuables to SANParks‘ central office following the rhino horn heist there last week.
Addo Park spokesman Megan Taplin said all ivory and rhino horn, as well as “anything else which could possibly be targeted”, had already been moved to SANParks‘ central strongroom, which is in the Kruger National Park.
“It is a drastic decision but it is being implemented immediately. This was an extremely serious incident and this is part of our plan to avoid future problems.”
Only rhino horn from the park‘s resident black rhino population was seized, not tusks as well, as was thought initially. The horn comprised “off-cuts” taken when an animal needed to be darted and put in a boma, or crated for translocation, she explained. This is done to prevent them injuring themselves.
Rhino are a protected species and trade in the species or any parts are illegal without a permit. Once sufficient horn is stockpiled at Kruger SANParks applies to the national Environment Department for a permit to sell it.
The horn stolen from Addo was micro-chipped and exhaustive physical data and photographic identification were also recorded for each piece.
A task team, including police and SANParks personnel, has been formed to track down the thieves, Taplin said.
The gang confronted a senior section ranger at Addo as he was locking up his office. A Port Elizabeth veterinarian, who does work in the park, was with him.
The gang then seized the keys to two staff vehicles and escaped with 10,5kg of horn, worth about R850000. They abandoned the vehicles outside the park. No arrests have yet been made.
Taplin said she could not comment as to whether the gang was part of a wider syndicate, or if and how the case was linked to other recent wildlife crime.
In the past three years, however, a series of similar heists have occurred. On April 15 last year, thieves broke into Reinet House Museum in Graaff-Reinet and seized a white rhino horn from a 120-year-old exhibit.
This was followed by a similar incident at the Amatole Museum in King William‘s Town. The thieves struck in broad daylight on a Saturday morning after trussing up three staff.
Rhino horn thieves struck again at the Grahamstown Observatory Museum and then at the Oudtshoorn Museum during this year‘s Klein Karoo Arts Festival. In April this year, at Cape Town‘s national Iziko Museum, they seized two priceless white rhino horns dating back to the late 1800s.
Following these incidents at museums, thieves struck two weeks ago at a well- known private game reserve, seizing 16 horns.
In November last year, an official at the Vietnam Embassy in Pretoria was filmed by an undercover camera from SABC‘s 50/50 programme, accepting rhino horn from a known smuggler.
In December last year, poachers struck twice at Shamwari and Kwantu game reserves, killing two animals. In both cases they were apparently disturbed and the horn was not removed.
The authorities said at the time it was likely these incidents were linked to the countrywide spike in rhino poaching, apparently co-ordinated by a single syndicate, which had already seen more than 40 animals slaughtered through the year in the Kruger National Park and reserves in KwaZulu Natal and Limpopo.
A commentator, who did not want to be named, said: “If this goes on it can seriously compromise tourism in this province as well as conservation because it will undermine the incentive to keep these animals. What is our government doing about it?”
Poaching figures contrast with SA’s reputationWYNDHAM HARTLEY Published: 2009/07/01 06:38:05 AM
A HUGE number of rhinos — 45 white rhinos and two endangered black rhinos — have been poached in the Kruger National Park in the past 15 months, Water and Environment Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said in a report that was tabled yesterday.
Sonjica’s admission that so many rhinos had been poached is in sharp contrast to SA’s international reputation of having been instrumental in saving the white rhino, particularly, from extinction.
In a response to a parliamentary question from Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Gareth Morgan, the minister also said that the plunder of abalone on our coast was continuing despite a ban on fishing for it.
Morgan asked how many incidents of poaching and of what animals had taken place last year and so far this year. The minister replied that last year one black rhino and 35 white rhinos were poached.
In the first three months of this year a further 10 white rhinos and another black rhino were illegally killed.
In addition to this information, the minister provided a comprehensive list of animals poached in the park, including buffalo, bushbuck, duiker, fish species, kudu, lion, giraffe and even hyena.
None of the national parks were immune from poaching and all those on the coast had significant abalone poaching. In Addo National Park near Port Elizabeth, for instance, there were 11 cases of abalone poaching last year. In the Table Mountain National Park there were 3645 abalone poached last year and more than 2000 were poached in the first three months of this year.
The marine shellfish alikreukel was also reportedly being poached in different coastal parks.
Sonjica said two officials, one from Table Mountain National Park and the other from the Kruger National Park were found to be involved in rhino and abalone poaching for reasons of “self enrichment”. Both were dismissed from the department following disciplinary hearings and are also facing criminal charges.
In reply to a further question from DA MP Piet Pretorius, Sonjica said that since 2002, a total of 1642 abalone poachers had been arrested.
The majority of these arrests were in the Western Cape, then in the Eastern Cape and in Gauteng.
Hundreds of thousands of abalone had been recovered from the arrested poachers since 1994.
There were 21002 recovered abalone in 1994, peaking in 2007 at 907899, and then showing a huge decline last year to 56106. This is perhaps an indication the ban on abalone fishing is working simply because anyone found in possession of abalone will have to have got them illegally.
The value of the abalone retrieved since 2003 is R240m.
Sonjica said that all confiscated abalone was processed to a dried product and sold through the processor appointed by the department.
Forensic tools
In 1983 while exploring a small forest called Malundwe on the edge of the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania, one of us (Wasser) came across two elephant skulls lying side by side.
One, from a female, was big, and the other was small—it had molars just a quarter the size of the female’s and they had not yet been used enough to show any signs of wear. The poachers had first shot the young elephant, a ranger explained, so that they could draw its grieving mother close enough to kill her for her enormous tusks. This exploitation of familial ties in the sophisticated social system of elephants has been repeated thousands of times in Africa.
The full story can be found at http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=forensic-tools-battle-ivory-poachers I have a pdf version which is 3658KB let me know if you would like it. – ed
Canada. MEX, gains for wilderness
Friends, the last few days have been big ones for wild nature. President Calderon announced 5 new protected Areas, including one directly across from Big Bend NP…hopefully the precursor to an announcement at WILD9?!
Canada did its thing yesterday at an announcement in Quebec at which Harvey Locke spoke…the Nahanni National Park was expanded 6 times to a total size of almost 7.5 million acres, 3 times the size of Yellowstone…see attached
Vance G. Martin
President, The WILD Foundation
717 Poplar Ave, Boulder, CO USA 80304
303-442-8811 tel; 303-442-8877 fax
(+1) (805) 320-5975 cell
www.wild.org
Coal mines on the boundaries of iMfolozi Game Reserve
Dr Ian Player asked me to send the attached images of three coal mines, one on the eastern boundary and two on the western boundary of iMfolozi Game Reserve.to Andrew Ewing.
If anyone would like to see the 13 images I can email them just let me know – ed
Mine East is about 5km east of iMfolozi Game Reserve at Somkele surrounded by rural homesteads.
Mine South West is situated west of Ukuku mountain in between the two iMfolozi Rivers.
Mine North West is situated west of Ukuku mountain and the closest to the Black iMfolozi River
Sustaining the Wild Coast - PRESS RELEASE
N2 Toll road. Is the government ignoring its own legislation?
Sustaining the Wild Coast (SWC) is astounded and puzzled by latest news reports that that the government, with the support of the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL), has given approval for the N2 Wild Coast Toll road.
According to information received from CCA Environmental, the consultants tasked with compiling the final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on the N2 proposal, this report has not yet been completed, so a Record of Decision (ROD) approving the N2 cannot possibly have been issued. CCA Environmental anticipates submitting the Final EIR at the beginning of August.
“If these news reports are true, it makes a complete mockery of the governments own legislative processes, and flies in the face of all of President Zuma’s rhetoric about installing responsible government. It raises huge questions about government intentions to act within the parameters of the law?” according to a spokesperson from SWC.
The announcement does not have appear to have come from the Department of the Environment, the government department with legislative authority to approve of the development once the EIR is completed, but from an announcement made by the new Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Sicelo Shiceka, in conjunction with the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL).
SWC is not aware under what authority Minister Shiceka has been endorsed to make such an announcement.
“We are perplexed about how any decisions of this nature could possibly be made before the EIR is complete and a Record of Decision from the appropriate authorities has been issued?” says SWC. “It is completely contradictory to the requirements of South Africa’s NEMA and EIA legislation”.
But rumours in the Eastern Cape that both the Wild Coast mining and the N2 Toll road have been given approval are rife. Locals along the Wild Coast report that red and white flags have recently been planted along the ‘Sanral preferred route’ of the N2.
“EIA processes are set in place to ensure that the best interests of the public are served, and that proposed developments are sustainable. Government agencies such as SANRAL are supposed to act neutrally, in the best public interest. So why do they appear to be pushing the agenda for such a development before the EIR, which determines the viability of the project and is supposed to address public concerns, is completed?”
According to reports SWC has received from Wild Coast Community members, Wild Coast communal dwellers have divided views about the Toll road. Communities do not feel that they have been given adequate impartial information to make informed decisions about how the road will impact on their livelihoods, or what benefits they might get.
“President Zuma has repeatedly stated that job creation, rural development and public consultation are key priorities for his government, and that people should let him know if his government makes bad decisions. Surely, before development decisions are made, communities should be properly consulted about what sort of development they feel would best meet those concerns? If President Zuma is serious about addressing these issues, then he should be aware that communities along the Wild Coast are in desperate need of better health facilities, improved educational facilities, better local road infrastructure, far, far improved local government capacity, and the stamping out of corruption and cronyism in local government, which includes instilling a proper respect for the law and for public procedures.
National Tolled highways and private mining ventures that disregard the real needs of the local people, that are approved in contradiction of legislative procedures, and that trash the environment that people depend upon for their livelihoods, are not going to provide solutions for these problems, and will probably make these problems even worse” says SWC.
Ends
Contacts
Val Payn
SWC communications
swcoastval@gmail.com
cell – 0834416961
AFRICA TALKS
Ian Thomson has advised that he and his wife Lesley have launched a new publication called AFRICA TALKS. This is a free distribution newspaper that goes throughout sub-Saharan Africa and to selected destinations worldwide. The purpose of AFRICA TALKS is to try and help create an awareness of Africa through conservation, responsible tourism, community development, wildlife, research and appropriate charities. It is an extension of their very popular e-newsletter TALKING TRAVEL AFRICA www.talkingtravel.co.za that goes to thousands of subscribers worldwide.
Ian is looking for interesting articles that will promote such an awareness and would like any members to send their opinions/comments and news to africatalks@netfocus.co.za. The first issue was launched very successfully in May 2009 at the travel Indaba, Durban, and can be read and downloaded from www.africatalks.co.za.
Advertisers are made extremely welcome as this is what pays for the printing and distribution!!!
Another book recommendation by Jim Feely
R W Johnson, 2009. South Africa's brave new world: the beloved country since the end of arpartheid. 700 pp. Penguin Books (Alan Lane), London.
This is essential, though sobering, reading for every South African.
Best
Jim
Tailpiece
A kindergarten pupil told his teacher he’d found a cat, but it was dead.
“How do you know that the cat was dead?” she asked him.
“Because I pissed in its ear and it didn’t move,” answered the child innocently.
“You did WHAT?!!” the teacher exclaimed in surprise.
“You know” explained the boy, “I leaned over and went ‘Pssst!” and it didn’t move.”