Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
TWO men from Beitbridge believed to be part of a syndicate of poachers that has been targeting wild animals in the Greater Mapungubwe Trans-frontier Conservation Area (GMTFCA) have been jailed for an effective 12 months each.

The poachers targeted impalas in the GMTFCA. The mega park is located some 40km West of Beitbridge and brings together game parks in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Lightmore Muleya (20) and Votemore Singo (21) all of Toporo Village, under Chief Stauze were convicted on their own plea of guilty when they appeared before Beitbridge magistrate, Mr Godswill Mavenge recently.They were jailed for 12 months each.

The magistrate also ordered each to pay $3 500 as restitution to Sentinel Safaris which manages the section of the GMTFCA they were caught poaching in.
Prosecuting, Mr Oswell Arufandi said on February 13, the two went to the park to illegally hunt for impalas using dogs and torches. He said they killed nine one-month-old impalas using dogs.

They ran out of luck when they were confronted by game rangers at around 2AM.

The court heard that the two were tracked to the crime scene by game rangers, who followed their hunting lights.

Mr Arufandi said nine carcasses of baby impalas were recovered at the scene. Muleya and Singo were apprehended by the game rangers and were taken to Beitbridge police station.The impalas were worth a combined $7 000.

Meanwhile, Mr Digby Bristow, who is the director of Sentinel Safaris, has said the continued poaching of wildlife in the TFCA threatened tourism development activities and national economic development.

He said the poachers were targeting mainly baby impalas and elands.

“In essence the wildlife heritage in Zimbabwe is facing extinction if we don’t address the issue of poaching. I want to appeal to members of the community to desist from poaching activities. We need to preserve our wildlife for the benefit of future generations and economic development,” said Mr Bristow.

He said between November last year and January this year, 15 poachers were apprehended in the area.

Mr Bristow said during the same period, they also removed 354 snares in the safari area and recovered 48 carcasses of wild animals which had been killed by poachers.