Game Meat Poaching Rife in Zimbabwe
Gibbs Dube
25.04.2013
WASHINGTON DC — A Zimbabwean anti-poaching specialist says game meat
poaching is now rife in the country due to increasing poverty levels.
Bryce Peter Clemence, director of an anti-poaching training institute –
Aggressive Tracking Specialists – said villagers in most parts of Zimbabwe
are believed to be teaming up with local poachers to kill wild animals for
domestic consumption.
Clemence, who is currently on an international program in the united states
where he is observing activities of U.S anti-poaching units together with
representatives of eight other African nations, said the poaching activities
have been worsened by the high demand for rhino horns and elephant tusks.
He said it has become difficult to control such activities as poachers are
normally heavily armed and demoralised anti-poaching units are also poorly
paid.
He is attending a three-week wildlife conservation, anti-poaching and
anti-trafficking workshop in the USA. Other participants are from Kenya,
Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Angola, South Africa, Botswana and Uganda.