Nov 25 2011 9:52AM

Honorary rangers help stop carnage

Kim Helfrich

Fighting a war is as much about equipment as it is about people and the SANParks honorary rangers have come to the aid of field rangers on the front lines of the battle against rhino poaching.

The volunteer corps has handed 10 tons of equipment worth R1.75m to management of the Kruger National Park for use in antipoaching operations.

Backpacks, camouflage gear, first aid kits, tents, compasses and other essential equipment were presented to Kruger managing executive Abe Sibaya.

“Rangers face many challenges and given financial constraints, are not always as well-equipped as we would want. Additionally, dealing with poachers is complicated because their tactics change all the time,” said Sibaya.

“Rangers need to adapt to face up to and beat the new tactics. Poachers prefer to work under cover of darkness and also to stay as far away as they can from other night-time activities. This makes it doubly important for rangers to have as much of the right equipment as possible so they can prevent poaching.”

To date this year, Kruger has lost 196 rhino, up from last year’s high of 146, and the major portion of the 382 poached nationally to date.

The donation was made possible by the Unite Against Poaching collaboration between the honorary rangers and Unitrans, VW and Audi dealers. This sees R500 going to counter-poaching activities for every vehicle sold by a participating dealer.

“Cutting rhino carnage is the major reason why we became involved in this important part of ranger work. Whatever support we can give the rangers, especially those involved in counter-poaching operations, will enable them to work more effectively and cut the rhino carnage,” said John Turner, chairperson of the Honorary Rangers Conservation Services Unit.

kimh@thenewage.co.za