Zimbabwe: Poachers Kill 200 Rhinos

3 November 2009

Harare — Zimbabwe has lost about 200 rhinos to poachers in the last three years as locals increasingly network with international syndicates in the illegal trade of the horns, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Natural Resources, Environment and Tourism heard yesterday.
However, journalists were asked to leave the room when national parks officials were about to give statistics on the remaining population, but experts put the figures at slightly over 500 and 300 respectively for black and white rhinos.

If accurate, this means Zimbabwe has lost about a quarter of its rhino population in three years.
Giving oral evidence before the committee, the Director of National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, Dr Morris Mutsambiwa, said 86 suspected poachers had been arrested this year alone.

Of the 45 reported cases, 33 involved Zimbabweans either working alone or with international smuggling rings.

"We have lost close to 200 rhinos in the last two to three years. From the intelligence we are gathering we strongly believe that there are syndicates which operate in the region involving locals, South African citizens and also people of Asian origin, which seem to be the main market for the rhino horns," Dr Mutsambiwa said.

On the involvement of locals he said: "In the past poaching for species like rhinos and elephants were restricted to outside people. The worrying factor is of locals participating together with the international and regional syndicates."
The other suspects arrested were from Zambia, South Africa and China.

Dr Mutsambiwa said the poachers were mainly targeting the south-east low veld, the Zambezi Valley and parts of Midlands Province.

"Rhino poaching has increased in the region and it's greater in Zimbabwe because of our own population as compared to our neighbours.

"It has been linked to two factors and the first one is that it is because South Africa and Namibia were given permission by Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species to hunt five rhinos each.

"Some parties in Africa argue if you give right to legally trade in ivory you give rise to poaching he said," Dr Mutsambiwa said.
He also said current legislation was not deterrent enough to make would-be offenders think twice before poaching, noting that cattle rustlers faced stiffer penalties on conviction than poachers.

Cattle rustlers face up to nine years in jail for every beast they steal.

Dr Mutsambiwa also bemoaned the lack of resources to provide security at conservancies and national parks.

"We haven't been able to generate enough revenue for rhino protection. KwaZulu-Natal, (in South Africa) spends US$3 000 per square kilometre while we spend less than US$10 (on the same area)," he said.