Army, police implicated in poaching
by Own Correspondent Monday 27 September 2010
HARARE – Senior ZANU PF officials, policemen and soldiers have been fingered
in a fresh wave of poaching activities taking place in the Beitbridge area
where more than 200 zebras have been slaughtered for their skins in the past
two months.
Animal conservationist Johnny Rodrigues said at the weekend that a group
calling itself Zhove Conservancy Cooperative had invaded Denlynian and
Tamari Wildlife Farm in the district and looted property before butchering
the animals at the conservancy.
“The members of this group include police, army, civil servants, rural
council employees, war vets and ZANU PF activists,” Rodrigues said.
The looting has continued despite a court order barring the clandestine
group from occupying the farm.
Investigations by conservancy owner Ian Ferguson at the Deeds Registry
revealed that Zhove Conservancy Cooperative is non-existent, raising fears
that this could be an ad hoc group formed for purposes of harassing white
conservancy owners and looting their properties.
Window and doorframes of a luxurious safari hotel which was under
construction in the conservancy have been ripped out and stolen while broken
water pipes are scattered everywhere.
Solar panels, water pumps and a 7-km strand game fence, among other
equipment, have also been looted.
Rodrigues said the invaders have particularly targeted zebras and elands.
The eland population at the farm has dropped from 973 to 374 during the past
10 years while the number of zebras has fallen from 871 to 163 over the same
period.
“The invaders have slaughtered 300 zebra for their skins in the past two
months alone,” he said.
In addition to the decimation of the wildlife, the invaders have also burnt
approximately 200 hectares of trees, most of which have been standing for
the past 300 years.
Rodrigues warned that an ecological disaster was looming in the district due
to the indiscriminate cutting down of trees.
“The game farms are situated in a low rainfall area which is only suitable
for wildlife and the ecosystem there is now so fragile that if the land is
tilled, the soil will end up in the river,” he said.
The conservationist also said 13 elephants were killed by a gang of poachers
in the Hurungwe safari area three weeks ago.
Nine poachers were arrested on September 10 at a road block in the area.
“Upon searching their vehicle, the police found 25 tusks, elephant tails, an
unlicenced rifle and machetes,” Rodrigues said.
A further seven rhino poachers were arrested in the Chiredzi area recently
and a .303 rifle fitted with a silencer, telescopic sight and a carbine was
recovered.
The suspects consisted of three South Africans and four Zimbabweans.
The poachers had allegedly killed a rhino in the Save Valley Conservancy and
badly wounded its calf.