Hi again,
Herewith, some snippets from various sources.
Another reminder that we have the Gameranger website up and have updated the information on it. Again I appeal to you to send me items to distribute to our members for both the Cleft Stick and to be posted on the web site. If we can make it interesting more people will look at it and we will become a better known association. It is your magazine and website, so ensure it gets the news that you would like to see in it.
The AGM Minutes and portfolio reports are on the website under AGM, so if you were not there and want to see what went on visit the site! We always welcome feedback from you.
Please let me have any changes to your physical address, phone no. or e-mail address to keep the database up to date.
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.
Sad News
Please inform members
I regret to inform members of the passing of Mrs. Oriole Tinley; John's beloved wife. Our thoughts are with John and family at this time.
Tim
Timothy V. Snow
Africa Chairman, Game Rangers Association of Africa.
Chumbe Newsletter
Hello Chumbe Friends!
To read the latest edition of Chumbe Island's newsletter, including our Head Ranger's account of the tsunami, please visit:
http://www.chumbeisland.com/news/news.html
All the best,
The Chumbe Team
EWT Website Addition
Dear All
please note the following and communicate it far and wide; we will also put it on our wesbite; John, please add it in every EW from now on.
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
24 Hour Anti-Corruption Hotline 0800 701 701.
NPB JAMBOREE
All old NPB staff are invited to attend a gathering of old colleagues and friends that were almost forgotten from the days of the old Natal Parks Board. Friends, wives, husbands, girlfriends, mistresses & concubines are all welcome.
Make a note of the date - Sunday 29 May at 11:30 at CAMELOT outside HILLCREST in Natal, only 30 minutes from central Durban or Pietermaritzburg.
The get together will be a Braai at the Medieval Castle with enjoyable music and singing by the well known Alison D.
The menu will be Steak, Chop & boerewors – choice of salads, putu & gravy.
Cost R55.00 payable as you cross the drawbridge plus a cash bar.
Depending upon response, we would like to see this become an annual affair.
Please use the grapevine method of letting as many people know as possibleby contacting those in your circle & asking them to pass on the date & details of this occasion.
If you are attending contact Rodney Henwood on 031 768 1274 or 083 675 7184 to place your names on the list for catering purposes.
Conservation Planning Short Course
Hi All
CEAD will be running a MARXAN Conservation Planning Software Course over the 30 an 31 May. The course presenter is Dr Bob Smith from the Durrell Institute, University of Kent, UK.
Are you or any of your staff interested in applying for a position on this course. The course will be limited to Max of 30 people as our computer lab only has 30 computer stations.
I will confirm the costs of the course ASAP but will include tuition and teas and a light lunch on both days. Please plan to stay to the end of the course which is likely to be around 16h00 on the last day.
We can give you contact details of B & Bs near the University for the out of town folk.
Regards
Drummond Densham
Protected Area Management Programme
Centre for Environment and Development
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Private Bag X01
SCOTTSVILLE
3209
Pietermaritzburg
South Africa
Tel. +27 (0) 33 260 6174
Fax +27 (0) 33 260 6118
e-mail DenshamD@ukzn.ac.za
Tourists Flee Park Elephants Slaughter.Daily Telegraph (UK), 23 March
'Famine relief' may conceal poaching ring backed by the Mugabe regime, reports Christopher Munnion
Horrified tourists have fled from Zimbabwe's largest game reserve after witnessing the "wholesale slaughter" of animals, part of what conservation groups fear is an officially sanctioned poaching ring. Operation Nyama, or "Operation Meat", is ostensibly a campaign to feed starving villagers in northern Matabeleland. But independent observers say it is a cover for corruption and ivory smuggling approved by President Robert Mugabe's regime. "If the aim was to feed the people, it is strange that most of the elephant bulls that are being shot have 60lb to 70lb tusks and are in their prime," said Johnny Rodrigues, the chairman of the Zimbabwean Conservation Task Force. "Older bulls with broken tusks are not being targeted." Operation Nyama, carried out in Hwange national park, was supposed to end in December, he said. "But three weeks ago we received a report from a group of disgusted American tourists. They saw a national parks truck which had broken down inside Hwange and was fully loaded with dead impala and buffalo. An attempt had been made to conceal the dead animals with branches and leaves but the Americans could easily see what was in the truck."
Two Australian tourists also cut short their visit to Hwange park after hearing automatic gunfire day and night. The couple also passed an official truck loaded with the carcasses of dead wild animals. "They were terrified and said it was like being in a war zone," said a conservationist who met the couple as they fled to South Africa. "They said that, if they had wanted to see dead animals, they could have visited their local abattoir. "It has now reached the point where the wildlife is probably safer outside the national park areas because the people who have been entrusted with safeguarding this precious commodity are the very people who are destroying it," Mr Rodrigues said. The reports of the bloodbath in Hwange coincided with news of an illegal shipment of African elephant body parts recently seized by Dutch customs officials at Amsterdam airport. The cargo included 22 feet, eight tusks, eight ears, three tails, a skull and an entire hide. The shipment, which did not have the proper licences, originated in Zimbabwe and was bound for Germany.
A former senior wildlife officer forced to flee Zimbabwe when he threatened to expose poaching rings organised by park wardens said he was not surprised by the reports from Hwange. "It follows a pattern that has been established throughout Zimbabwe in national parks, hunting concession areas and private wildlife reserves," he said. "All the indications are that the country's game is being plundered and exploited with the connivance and encouragement of senior officials at a regional level and probably at a central government level as well. Trying to prove it is a different matter as all these officials are senior members of the ruling Zanu PF party and all those who know something are too frightened to talk about it." According to Mr Rodrigues, a camp manager in Hwange threatened to remove his diesel engines from the park because there was little point in spending millions of dollars on fuel to pump water to attract game just so it could be shot for meat. One of the wardens at Main Camp had been arrested for stealing 18 diesel pumps, most of them donated by conservation organisations, and selling them to the "new farmers" now hunting in areas adjoining the park. "The Zimbabwean government spends millions of dollars promoting tourism while the national parks staff seem to be making a good job of destroying it," Mr Rodrigues said.
Note: your Africa committee are trying to bring some pressure to bear through the IUCN and other international organizations.
Looking for Warwick Fraser
Dear All,
Let me introduce us first, our names are Izabel and Stephen. We are looking for Warwick Fräser. He was our ranger many times when we were living in South Africa between 96 and 98 in Khoka Moya.
We are back in South Africa and we will be very pleased to know where he is and to see him again.
Should you have any contact details, it would be much appreciated.
Many thanks in advance
Sincerely yours
Izabel and Stephen Alix
Johannesburg
011 883 62 36
082 078 87 38
POSITION(s) Wanted
Hi, I'm a 23 year old female seeking employment in conservation / animal rehabilitation/ game ranch management. Studied Nature Conservation at Technikon Pretoria. I'm passionate about wildlife and working outdoors.
Getting a job would mean a good opportunity to develop myself professionally, culturally and personally.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours sincerely
Dalene van Tonder, Cell: 0724059777
CV available
POSITION(s) AVAILABLE
GORONGOSA: Anti Poaching.
I am desperately looking for somebody to assist me on the Reserve , a general dogs body who is a jack of all trades and who can get the job done. We would be able to offer a initial six month contract that might lead to a permanent post.For the right guy a salary in the region of R 15 000.00 per month + medical aid and accomadation. Can you think of anybody ? If so could you give them my mail and thy cold contact me directly ?
Regards
Dave Falkner, Carr Foundation mailto:dave@carrfoundation.org
WILDLIFE MANAGER
Private wildlife reserve requires a hardworking individual fluent in English and Zulu. Experience managing game, alien vegetation, rivers and dams is essential.
Contact Joe Dawson on: 036 352 0100 or 083 393 5006.
OUR DETAILS:
The Dalton Trust (IT 978/03)
PO Box 176, Estcourt, KZN, 3310
Ph: 036 352 0100
Fax: 036 352 0103
Entertainment Assistant
Entertainment assistant
Please could you advertise a position that I have available, I thought I might find the right person through your newsletter.
Entertainment assistant, Drakensberg resort, min 2 years experience, female 25yrs or younger, must be able to drive a 4 X 4 with a little game experience. Public Driving Permit is an advantage. Must be able to start ASAP. Organize all the entertainment for the guests on a daily basis.
Telephone : 031 - 5621201
email address : hccrecrute@absamail.co.za
Thank You
Kind Regards
Joanne Edmunds
Tailpiece-
2004 Darwin Awards
You all know about the Darwin Awards – Its an Annual honour given to the person who did the gene pool the biggest service by killing themselves in the most extraordinarily stupid way. Last year's winner was the fellow who was killed by a Coke machine which toppled over on top of him as he was attempting to tip a free soda out of it.
And the nominees are:
1.) A young Canadian man, searching for a way of getting drunk cheaply, because he had no money with which to buy alcohol, mixed gasoline with milk. Not surprisingly, this concoction made him ill, and he vomited into the fireplace in his house. This resulting explosion and fire burned his house down, killing both him and his sister.
2.) Three Brazilian men were flying in a light aircraft at low altitude when another plane approached. It appears that they decided to moon the occupants of the other plane, but lost control of their own aircraft and crashed. They were all found dead in the wreckage with their pants around their ankles.
3.) A 22-year-old, Glade Drive, Reston, VA, man was found dead after he tried to use octopus straps to bungee jump off a 70-foot railroad trestle. Fairfax County police said Eric Barcia, a fast-food worker, taped a bunch of these straps together, wrapped one end around one foot, anchored the other end to the trestle at Lake Accotink Park, jumped and hit the pavement. Warren Carmichael, a police spokesman, said investigators think Barcia was alone because his car was found nearby. "The length of the cord that he had assembled was greater than the distance between the trestle and the ground," Carmichael said. Police say the apparent cause of death was "Major trauma."
4.) A man in Alabama died from rattlesnake bites. It seems that he and a friend were playing a game of catch, using the rattlesnake as a ball. The friend, no doubt a future Darwin Awards candidate, was hospitalized.
5.) Employee in a medium-sized warehouse in west Texas noticed the smell of a gas presumed a leak. Sensibly, management evacuated the building extinguishing all potential sources of ignition: lights, power, etc. After the building had been evacuated, two "technicians" from the gas company were dispatched. Upon entering the building, they found they had difficulty navigating in the dark. To their frustration, none of the lights worked. Witnesses later described the sight of one of the technicians reaching into his pocket and retrieving an object that resembled a cigarette lighter. Upon operation of the lighter like object, the gas in the warehouse exploded, sending pieces of the warehouse up to three miles away. Nothing was found of the technicians, but the lighter, being at the exact center of the resulting mêlée, was virtually untouched by the explosion. The "technician" suspected of causing the blast, had never been thought of by his peers as "all there."
And the Winner:
6.) Based on a bet by the other members of his golfing threesome, Everett Sanchez tried to wash his own "balls" in a ball washer at the local golf course. Proving once again that beer and testosterone are a bad mix, Sanchez managed to straddle the ball washer and dangle his scrotum in the machine. Much to his dismay, one of his buddies upped the ante by spinning the crank on the machine with Sanchez's scrotum in place, thus wedging them solidly in the mechanism. Sanchez, who immediately passed his threshold of pain, collapsed and tumbled from his perch. Unfortunately for Sanchez, the post of the ball washer was more than strong enough to support his body weight, and his sack was the weakest link. Sanchez's scrotum was ripped open during the fall, and one testicle was plucked from him forever and remained in the ball washer, while the other testicle was compressed and flattened as it was pulled between the housing of the washer, and the rotating machinery inside. To add insult to injury, Sanchez then broke a new $300.00 graphite shaft driver that he had just purchased from the pro shop, and was attempting to use as a cane. Sanchez was rushed to the hospital for surgery, and the remaining threesome was asked to leave the course.
This last one wouldn't normally count, because the golfer didn't die. But because he cannot reproduce as a result of his qualifying act of stupidity, we have allowed it.
Here we are at the beginning of March and we already may have the 2005 winner of the Darwin Award. This guy is going to be hard to beat.
The following mind-boggling attempt at a crime spree in Renton, Washington appeared to be the robber's first (and last), due to his lack of a previous record of violence, and his terminally stupid choices:
1. His target was H&J Leather & Firearms, a gun shop specializing in handguns.
2. The shop was full of customers - firearms customers.
3. To enter the shop, the robber had to step around a marked police patrol car parked at the front door.
4. A uniformed officer was standing at the counter, having coffee before work.
Upon seeing the officer, the would-be robber announced a hold-up and fired a few wild shots from a .22 target pistol. The officer and a clerk promptly returned fire, the police officer with a 9mm Glock 17, the clerk with a .50 Desert Eagle, assisted by several customers who also drew their guns, several of whom also fired. The robber was pronounced dead at the scene by Paramedics. Crime scene investigators located 47 expended cartridge cases in the shop. The subsequent autopsy revealed 23 gunshot wounds. Ballistics identified rounds from 7 different weapons. No one else was hurt in the exchange of fire.
Matter of Fact
This is an electronic newsletter of the Game Rangers' Association of Africa. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Association, nor of the Editor. This is intended to be an exchange of news snips, ideas and communication between members. Newsletter content may be copied and re-distributed without authorisation. Correspondence should be addressed to the Editor at dyunnie@xsinet.co.za