Rhino Wars – A 6 year Review Series. Part V

Re-reading this article, I see I left a lot of info out.

The person that was trying to recruit me to the Pro Trade side was none other than Hume himself. Oh, but he did not phone me, his wife did. She called every day for a week. I did look into this issue and for me there is no doubt at all what the answer is. This did not make me popular with Mrs Hume, she stopped calling, but her hubby did send me an email withe barely veiled threats of grievously bodily harm or death. Ha, he would have to get in the que, Selomie and Neil Maritz of Palala Rhino Sanctuary had first dibs already! They were much more straight forward about it, Selomie even tried to hire someone to do it, but that is another story.   But I am jumping the gun, this article, written on 2013/05/03, was the start of my re-entry into this game. I regret and don’t regret it.

Rhino Wars – No Trade/Pro Trade

For all intent and purposes I left the “Save the Rhino” business. The word business is not used accidentally. I grew tired of all the bullshit and lies, the attacks on my personality and my lifestyle. I have no doubt that this caused a small celebration amongst certain people. I have my other mission doing what I can to try and curb this horrible killing, and it is my own mission and not discussed on the internet.
I left but it did not leave me completely alone, information still trickles in, mainly from my Brothers whom I can trust. Amazing that they find out things that all the “Save the Rhino” activists and even our “investigative” reporters cannot/will not know.

Now in the past two weeks I am getting pushed, from both sides, via email and pvt messages, to take a stand and write something about the Pro Trade. (Legalizing the sale of rhino horn.)
I looked at the sites and forums that are suppose to debate this issue. F*^k it! A cat fight is more like it, far worse than the Bunnyhugger/Hunter fights. It is impossible to glean any constructive evidence, for or against in that mess of egos. The only solid conclusion I came to is the rhino is doomed, while these pseudo intellectuals boost their own egos and show how important they are in the rhino business, the rhino die.
On one such forum, Legalize Limited Trade in Rhino Horn gathered through natural mortality I found and commented on this.

“If you do not agree with the position expressed on this page, please state precisely what your solution to the rhino poaching is – and please let it not be a) the Govt. must put more effort and finance into the campaign, b) surveillance by drones c) educate the consumer countries d) dehorning e) poisoning rhino f) cross border counter insurgency g) improved training of field staff h) more equipment etc. etc – because its all been tried and some 1800 mutilated dead rhino down the drain since 2010 – and counting – we should be doing something differently don’t you think ?
When this whole saga is over there is going to be a reckoning; what did South Africa do and what did they not do in confronting the poaching. Was anything left untried ? We hope you and your ilk are ready to answer the question.”
The “you and your ilk” statement is a beautiful way to gain support and further the cause, which should be SAVING THE RHINO!

My reply was/is.

I put it to you, all the “efforts” that have been made by the people,places and things mentioned in the post, have been either done poorly and/ or, are RIFE with corruption. Most are run by egotistical maniacs at best. (That should make me a popular chap!) I care not. If we had one central, honest APU things would be different. No with all the corruption, a national pastime in South Africa, I put it to you that Pro Trade, while it has many merits will fall in the same hole of greed; not only that it will feed the demand side for horn, “validating” what we KNOW is not true, the horn is not medicine. It will also open many, many doors for unscrupulous people to enter. That said if the Pro Trade and the Anti Trade can reach a truce and join together to fight the real enemy (greed and corruption, not of the Asians, but of the South Africans!) annihilate the middlemen in private and government sector, that would go a long way to saving the wildlife in our country.
So that is where I sit on this issue, until I can get some solid cold, unemotional information.
I still think my article of a few years back is the immediate solution.

How to end the Rhino poaching.

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Rhino Wars – A 6 year Review Series. Part IV

The original post was done on 2012/02/15

I had been reading up about the concept and then implication of poisoning live rhino's horns. I thought then it was a good plan and still do. After I wrote this article the lady that invented the means to do this successfully and I became friends. She invited me, years later to go on a mission with her. As you will read below, Lorinda Hern did not have an easy time of it.

Rhino Wars – Inner Fighting and Spencer the Rhino

I find it very sad that the very people that are trying to help our Rhino are coming under attack from other groups of people that claim that they too are fighting for the survival of the Rhino.  I strongly feel that ALL groups and individuals that are collecting money for this cause should be held accountable for moneys received and practice transparency in their organizations; and shall not remain quiet on this issue as it is as dangerous for the Rhino as the poachers themselves.
Recently a lady that has all of the above came under attack when a very tragic incident occurred, a classic case of, “ When bad things happen to good people” as far as I am concerned. She writes about the incident in the heartbreaking letter below. I have also taken the liberty of putting in a reply she received from the famous Dr. Ian Player.
Wayne Bisset.
“As you can probably well imagine, the past three nights were fraught with much reflection, a crushing sense of loss and endless “would have, could have, should have” questions. I woke up with the realization today that, if I were given the opportunity to perform this particular procedure again, there was not a single thing I would have changed or done differently. By anyone’s standards, Spencer’s horn treatment was the perfect procedure – from start to finish, everything ran absolutely smoothly; a fact to which I believe every person present on the day can attest. No less than five wildlife veterinarians, unrelated to the project, concluded that negligence or incompetence played no role in the animal’s death. Dr. Joseph Okori from the WWF and Dr. Brett Garnder from the Johannesburg Zoo in fact said the procedure was performed with great professionalism. To be honest, I myself did not realize disaster had struck until I sat down to do the media briefing after and received the devastating news: “We’ve lost him”. Stupidly, in that instant, I had an “ER moment” – I was convinced we could resuscitate our unresponsive patient with a shot of adrenalin or a heart massage… had it not been for the fact that the “patient” weighed in at a hefty two tons, I think I would actually have tried.
I have unfortunately become, from one day to the next and certainly not by choice, a rhino owner in a very unique position: I have lost an animal due to poaching and I have lost animal in an attempt to protect it from poaching. Although the emptiness and grief is the same, I am at peace with Spencer’s passing in a way I was not with Queenstown’s. You see, my sadness over Queenstown was punctuated with feelings of guilt and shame that we had not done enough to protect her. With Spencer, I am comforted in the knowledge that we could have done no more for him.
I am sure many will question the need for this procedure, and why we invited the press to attend it. These are valid questions. Some time ago, we received information that Spencer was a potential poaching target, as he did not form part of our initial treatment sample and was therefore vulnerable. We had reason to believe that he was in danger and scheduled the treatment accordingly. Such is my belief in this project, all the research we have done and the number of successful treatments we had performed previously (we have even treated pregnant cows before – all of whom are in perfect health, as well as their calfs) that I was happy to have the media attend, given that so many had expressed an interest before in seeing what exactly the treatment entails. We were certainly not engaging in any activity we were embarrassed about or did not want recorded. I believed openness and transparency about the procedure would debunk many of the myths that still surround it, hence our willingness to engage with the press.
In my mind, we could only ever have handled the ensuing tragedy by telling the truth. Although I will gladly admit that running away was a very attractive (albeit completely unrealistic) alternative as sheer panic set in. The truth is that, in this industry, losing animals under anaesthesia is not uncommon. In fact, losing humans under anaesthesia is not uncommon either. Rhinos especially, are very sensitive to sedatives and these animals are often lost during relocations, dehornings or other medical procedures. Whenever an animal is immobilized for whatever reason, the possibility exists that said animal might not regain consciousness. Needless to say, this does not mean we should no longer perform medical procedures on animals, only that we be aware of the risks involved every time we do.
On the surface, Spencer appeared to be in excellent health, and the risk of immobilizing him was a calculated one. His heart rate was monitored throughout the procedure and did not fluctuate greatly at all – indicating he wasn’t getting overly stressed. He was turned once during the procedure to ensure that he did not cut off the blood supply to his limbs by laying with his full weight on them for too long, and the procedure was scheduled for early in the morning to reduce the risk of the animal “over heating”. Spencer was darted from a helicopter and all went smoothly with the initial sedation – he did not have to be chased down. He went down approximately 6 minutes after the dart was inserted. His eyes and ears were then covered and plugged to keep his stress levels to a minimum. A DNA sample was harvested, after which the infusion equipment was attached to the horn. This device infuses all of the horn’s “tubules” with a bright pink dye (which makes it impossible to smuggle the dye out of any major port with scanning equipment) and an ectoparasiticide to protect the animal against ticks (rhinos in captivity, where there are often not many Ox-Peckers, are very attractive targets to ticks). Lastly, a tracking device was inserted and the holes in the horns sealed with an epoxy mixture. During the procedure, Spencer was shivering and twitching (called “paddling”, which is a normal response to anaesthesia) and snorting loudly from time to time, with spittle collecting in the corners of his mouth (also a normal reaction to anaesthesia). It is believed that he, for the first time, developed heart arythmia when the wake-up drug was administered, after which he simply did not regain consciousness.
It was only after the veterinary team failed to revive him that a preliminary post-mortem examination was performed during which it was revealed that Spencer had a particularly high body fat percentage. This, coupled with his age (he was in his twenties) could possibly have brought about his negative reaction to the anaesthetic. We are still waiting for the toxicology, hematology and histopathology testing to be completed by scientists at Onderstepoort and will give feedback on the results as soon as we can. However, I can categorically state that the horn treatment was in no way responsible for, or a contributing factor to, Spencer’s passing. Were it not for a poaching situation that will cause the species to go extinct between the next 5 to 8 years, rhino owners would not have to resort to counter-measures like horn treatments, dehorning or relocation (all of with involve immobilization of the animal) to keep our rhino’s safe. Even a full-time anti-poaching unit (which we also have on the property) is not a guarantee against poaching.
What happened was, and remains, a humbling experience. Bad things happen to good people all the time, and we are not exempt from our share of suffering. I am sure that we will face many vindictive attacks about Spencer in days and weeks to come. However, we shall continue the work we are doing with the same level of integrity we always have. I am happy to answer any questions anyone may have about Spencer or the treatment. We still believe that the relative small risk involved in sedating an animal versus the big risk of leaving that animal unprotected from poaching in any one way, shape or form, is a justifiable one. Insurance companies believe the same thing – they are willing to insure animals who need to be immobilized for medical procedures, but they are seldom willing to insure animals against poaching. In over 500 prior procedures, our wildlife vet, Dr. Charles van Niekerk had never before lost a rhino under anaesthetic. His sense of loss is probably even greater than my own.
Spencer’s passing is a stark reminder that rhino poaching is one crime that leaves little room for happy endings.”
Lorinda Hern.
The reply by Dr Player.

My dear Lorinda,

Thank you for your email. Nil deperandum. In wild life conservation these things happen and often for a good reason although at the time hard to understand. I presume it was the drug m99 that vet used. It is very powerful and can adversely affect the heart. This should show up if there was a autopsy. Dont give up, get back onto the horse and look at what positive can come out of it. It does bring the plight of the rhino into dramatic focus and shows you were doing your best to help the whole rhino cause. In my case it took a long time to get over the death of the rhino I darted but I learnt a lot from the experience, not the least being how mean and spiteful people can be. I also learnt who my friends were. All his encouraged me in my work and operation rhino went on to become a great success story. If you ever read my book The White Rhino Saga you will see what had to be overcome. But as Maqubu Nttombela always used to say. We are doing the work of God and sometimes (he or she) makes it hard so we can learn. He was a very wise old man I tell the full story of him in my book Zululand Wilderness Shadow and Soul.
You are doing your best and have always done so so you can sleep with an easy conscience.
Cheer up and take care;
Yours,
Ian Player

 

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Rhino Wars – A 6 year Review Series. Part III

The original article was written in 2011/11/09. If I thought we were losing then, we are not only losing now, we are getting slaughtered, pun intended.

1,175 rhinos were poached in South Africa during 2015.

Rhino Wars – we are losing..

In South Africa we have lost, as I write this, 348 Rhino, but by the time you read this the figure will more than likely be higher.

There was a small spot of bother in a country called Vietnam a good few years back. During that time a terrible thing called Napalm was used, as well as a poison called Agent Orange. Then too, a tactic called carpet-bombing was tried out. More bombs were dropped on North Vietnam than were dropped during the entire 2nd World War! The Rhino survived this apocalypse. This year it was reported by the World Wildlife Fund that those Rhino are no more. The Vietnam Rhino was poached to extinction.
The IFP wants to hold yet another summit, talk, talk. One of the plans that has come up before was to move certain of the Rhino to “safer” areas. This plan really perplexed me. Forgive this ignorant Gypsy for asking but: The poachers have proven to be a highly mobile force that has taken Rhino right next to an APU’s HQ, for one thing. Also, with all the publicity of this project, did we not just tell the poachers bosses exactly where to find a nice concentration of these animals? WTF?
We have at our disposal here in South Africa, some of the best bush soldiers in the world. Many are looking for work. Why are we not using this resource? I ask you with bloody tears in my eyes.

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The Tale of the Cat with the Sapphire Eyes

Religion and Ivory

As for the past few years I concentrated on the slaughter of the rhino; I did not write much about the other animals that are also getting wiped out. On the Rhino sites I see so many comments, about the Chinese. Now, I am not saying that China has a huge responsibility in the business, but to be accurate, the Vietnamese are the forerunners in rhino horn trade.
When it comes to the slaughter of the elephants, China is taking a leading role, of that there is no doubt. In China and Hong Kong, ivory is seen as precious material and is used in ornaments and jewellery. I think there must be millions of Ivory Buddha  statues in the world.  Most will be found in Japan. The Buddhist religious leaders say little in defence of the elephant. Recently a few websites selling Ivory Buddha statues have popped up, the biggest client base? Britain.
Then we come to the other idols that are made from Ivory, they estimate about 30 % of the tusks poached are made into little Jesus and Mary statues. Ivory baby Jesuses and saints for Catholics in the Philippines mainly. That the Pope does not make a stand against this show he should re-read the book of Genesis, and think what God, to whom he claims a direct line, by the way, said about man being responsible for the well being of the animals.
National Geographic published the following:
“Monsignor Garcia is head of protocol for the archdiocese of Cebu, the largest in the Philippines, giving him a flock of nearly 4 million in a country of 75 million Roman Catholics, the world’s third largest Catholic population. The tradition of carving ivory into religious pieces in the Philippines is so deeply rooted that in Cebu the word for ivory, garing, also means “religious statue.”

“Christy reports that another prominent Filipino Catholic, Father Vicente Lina, Jr. (Father Jay), advises people to buy religious icons made of “new” ivory—”so the history of an image will start in you.” By “new” Father Jay means smuggled.”

Then, we have the Islamic prayer beads for Muslims, all over the world.

Religion is obviously no friend of the elephant.


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1. Rhino Wars - A 6 year Review Series.

With, what some people,  regard as the shocking news that the ANC is involved at very high levels, in the Rhino poaching business I decided to post a review of my articles written on the subject over the past 6 years.

Date of original article 2011/07/29

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Rhino Wars — Private Military Company vs Anti-Poaching

Took some time to think about which direction I should take in my life. I hate the business world , cities and suburbia; working in the bush, where I belong, was my final decision. But what to do? I am willing to do any job on a game farm, toilet janitor even! I sent out CV’s to over 600 places, received less than 15 replies, all negative, two maybe. Mmmm. All the known anti-poaching units, I know how to do this job. I offered my services for just board and lodging. All negative, indeed it would seem that they do not want men that can do the job?

Next I contacted the private military companies. Now here the response is better. Due to the fact that I worked for the first modern PMC ever, Executive Outcomes, not my winning personality. The pay is astronomical. Afghanistan work is the highest paying at $650.00 a day!!!

Then a a lady that runs a recruitment agency in the UK told me I should look into the poaching in my own country. She said she could send me to Mogadishu or send me a small allowance to find or start an APU here.

My head tells me to go for the money, I am tired of been broke. Modern society has tried to condition me to think it all about the money. To no avail, I might add. More important my heart tells me that the anti-poaching is what I must do. So despite obstacles this is what I SHALL do.

What also surprises me is all these units do not seem to communicate with each other. They are fighting the same war but separately. ?? Ego and money. Meanwhile the animals die.  This mission to get into the anti-poaching is going to be harder than I thought……….. a mine field of problems.

As the story of my Rhino Wars evolves you will see why I had to walk away after nearly 7 years of fighting.

This is what  I do now to try make ends meet.

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Smuggelers High Way - Rhino Killed

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In the wake of a Rhino Poaching at iSimangaliso Wetlands Park near Mfabeni Section a Poacher was killed in the ensuing fire fight. As The Mexican said in a previous post by himself on this blog on Rhino Wars, there is many hungry men that can fire a gun out there, but we never get the master minds who profit from the artificially inflated Rhino Horn prices. At his point me and The Mexican disagree, but I stand my ground ... Rhino Horn Price is artificially inflated.

To come to this conclusion is easy and time consuming. Right at the beginning of the War there was a spike in inelegance's monitory worth of Rhino Poaching. It was so high and the punishment so irrelevant that two people could easily conspire in harvesting the trophy money that was offered on mere information that might lead to the capture and prosecution of a suspected poacher.

Then followed the massive over load in NPO's that could harvest 40% of Donations they raised in their evil fight against Rhino Poaching. The fight of an NPO against Rhino poaching is evil ... for already well placed anti poaching units where on the round that just needed funding. Their administrative cost was already covered because they where NGO's. An NPO can retain up to 40% of donations made to them.

This is not "mostert na die maal" I sacrificed hundreds of Facebook friends in this battle to stop NPO's from popping up like mushrooms. Pun Intended, because these tea party warriors where part of a click that was a mere link in a chain of a much bigger well planned and played out network of illegal Rhino Horn Sales.  If these tea toddlers did not know about the conspiracy they belong to then they are mushrooms. If they did they are part of the Syndicate feeding the trade.

Fact is ... Supply vs Demand. If you cut the supply the demand will stay the same and the price will increase. Now here can be two snakes to this head. Syndicates already had a stock pile abroad and legal trade would kill their lucrative markets. Or they could merely wanted to keep demand higher than supply. Either way it is fairly easy to harvest Rhino Horn. Every ten months you have a healthy new growth. It was not illegal to do this so many private farmers did take part in this activity. It is unclear what happened to this massive stock pile.

What is very clear is that the sympathy out cry of this tea toddler mushrooms are keeping the price artificially high and it is like playing the Lotto just better stakes for desperate fathers/brothers/sons/husbands who need to feed their families in a corrupt African economy. Where the Blackness feast on white guilt while enslaving their own for generations to come through debt. 

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Slaughter in South Africa – Looking for the Common Denominator

Two seemingly different issues, the slaughter of rhino and the slaughter of white farmers, but, are they so different? They both, on the surface seem to be JUST about money, the value of the rhino horn and then household goods stolen. The reason they are linked together, in my mind anyhow, is the senseless violence, nay, the absolutely inhuman acts that are common in both.

The rhino are not merely shot dead, a lot of the time they are drugged and the horn is hacked out while the animal is alive. When the animal awakens it can stagger around, confused and in great pain for hours before it dies. Then if they animal has a calf, often the calf is mutilated with a panga, not killed, and also left to die a slow and agonizing death.
Here is a report from an APU person.
STTU Report. Please note we do not disclose the names of our team members. This report is a direct copy from member x
“Xxx and xx where counting Rhinos on said farm when they noticed a rhino down on one of the plains, as they circled closer xxx saw that the animal was still moving. They landed and he walked to closer to the animal, only to be met by one of the most horrific scenes. A Rhino calf aprox. 2 years old, horn hacked of and back broken with a panga, he was still alive and crying, tears was streaming down his face as he tried to get up with all his might but could not because of his severed spine. ( Images like these HAUNT us for the rest of our life’s). XxX started looking for spoor as the manager(owner?) Had to do what needed to be done to put the animal out of his misery. Once spoor was confirmed he arranged for back-up from Thaba. Lephalale SAPS requested help from Thaba SAPS and my self and xxx lifted off just after 2pm en route to the farm. Upon our arrival we met up with xxx and some of the managers on the ground, after spoor was confirmed we started following them. It was clear that they were somewhat disoriented and was walking in circles. As soon as they got their heading they set of running some distance through open feld only to slow to a walking pace as the got to cover. Our last tracks was aprox 800meters from the tar road. Farmers in the area closed down all roads to limit their movement. Unfortunately we had to stop. The heli’s we where using had to return to thaba before nightfall. One of the local farmers who has also lost an animal in the last week, assured us that he will fly as to any scene as long as the owner of the property covers his fuel cost. This will cut our response time dramatically and combined with the thermal camera on the drone we expect to start seeing more and more arrest of these inhumane monsters we are hunting. It’s been a hellish 11days so far, definitely the worst we’ve had.”

In the case of the “farm murders” as they have become known, there is a striking similarity of the appalling and unnecessary violence. The criminals do not just kill or disable the victims, they rape and torture then, sometimes for hours and steal very little.  Here are just two reports out of literally hundreds.

“Mbombela – A 78-year-old woman has been tortured and beaten to death with a hot clothes iron in her home in Dullstroom, Mpumalanga. The body of Johanna (Jo) Moore was found in her home on Thursday morning with serious burn wounds to her face and both arms. According to forensic experts, it looked as if her attackers had crushed her head with the same iron.”

“Free State farmer Attie Potgieter was stabbed and cut 151 times and took “many minutes” to die, while his wife and daughter were cut and shot in the head and neck, the Bloemfontein High Court heard on Wednesday.
“The deceased was tortured to death,” pathologist Dr Robert G Book said, when asked by State prosecutor Jannie Botha on his first impressions of Attie Potgieter’s body.”

So I have to ask, firstly, what type of people can do this? Then, what is the object of causing such horror? It seems to me to be a deliberate thought out process, in both cases to simply kill, take, and run would be the logical way to conduct both crimes.

In looking for a common denominator amongst those criminals caught some of the questions asked.

Are they the same nationality? No.
Do they all belong to one political or religious group? No
Are they all of one tribal back ground. No.
Are they all in the pay of one organization? Hard to say, but seems not.

Unfortunately after a whole list of all the questions I only found two common factors.
They are all young males.
They are all black.

Rhino Wars – No Trade/Pro Trade

For all intent and purposes I left the “Save the Rhino” business. The word business is not used accidently. I grew tired of all the bullshit and lies, the attacks on my personality and my lifestyle. I have no doubt that this caused a small celebration amongst certain people. I have my other mission doing what I can to try and curb this horrible killing, and it is my own mission and not discussed on the internet.
I left but it did not leave me completely alone, information still trickles in, mainly from my Brothers whom I can trust. Amazing that they find out things that all the “Save the Rhino” activists and even our “investigative” reporters cannot/will not know.
Now in the past two weeks I am getting pushed, from both sides, via email and pvt messages, to take a stand and write something about the Pro Trade. (Legalizing the sale of rhino horn.)
I looked at the sites and forums that are suppose to debate this issue. F*^k it! A cat fight is more like it, far worse than the Bunnyhugger/Hunter fights. It is impossible to glean any constructive evidence, for or against in that mess of egos. The only solid conclusion I came to is the rhino is doomed, while these pseudo intellectuals boost their own egos and show how important they are in the rhino business, the rhino die.
On one such forum, Legalize Limited Trade in Rhino Horn gathered through natural mortality I found and commented on this.
“If you do not agree with the position expressed on this page, please state precisely what your solution to the rhino poaching is – and please let it not be a) the Govt. must put more effort and finance into the campaign, b) surveillance by drones c) educate the consumer countries d) dehorning e) poisoning rhino f) cross border counter insurgency g) improved training of field staff h) more equipment etc. etc – because its all been tried and some 1800 mutilated dead rhino down the drain since 2010 – and counting – we should be doing something differently don’t you think ?
When this whole saga is over there is going to be a reckoning; what did South Africa do and what did they not do in confronting the poaching. Was anything left untried ? We hope you and your ilk are ready to answer the question.”
The “you and your ilk” statement is a beautiful way to gain support and further the cause, which should be SAVING THE RHINO!
My reply was/is.
I put it to you, all the “efforts” that have been made by the people,places and things mentioned in the post, have been either done poorly and/ or, are RIFE with corruption. Most are run by egotistical maniacs at best. (That should make me a popular chap!) I care not. If we had one central, honest APU things would be different. No with all the corruption, a national passtime in South Africa, I put it to you that Pro Trade, while it has many merits will fall in the same hole of greed; not only that it will feed the demand side for horn, “validating” what we KNOW is not true, the horn is not medicine. It will also open many, many doors for unscrupulous people to enter. That said if the Pro Trade and the Anti Trade can reach a truce and join together to fight the real enemy (greed and corruption, not of the Asians, but of the South Africans!) annihilate the middlemen in private and government sector, that would go a long way to saving the wildlife in our country.
So that is where I sit on this issue, until I can get some solid cold, unemotional information.


I still think my article of a few years back is the immediate solution.
How to end the Rhino poaching.

Rhino Wars – The X Factor

There is one important factor in the effort to save the rhino that is NEVER mentioned, never mind discussed. The fact that the majority of the people, that make up the majority of the population in South Africa, either do not care or worse; see the rhino as belonging to the Whites. There is no, and never will be, a formal study or census of this. I first picked up on this about three years ago, my tracker in the Waterberg told me this. Since then I have asked a few of my Black friends to find out what the people say. The findings were not very inspiring or hopeful.
My friends,  that work at the Universities and the Hospitals, found amongst their colleagues a few that were aware of the problem, less than 1% cared about it either way. Then my friends that work in factories and ride the taxis reported what they had found. It is worse than bad. A 100% negative response. The most hopeful response was that the person did not know about the rhino. Why is that good, you ask? Because the other answers were so bad.
The majority that did know a little about the problem shrugged it off and said it was a White man’s problem. Even that is bad, but not the worst yet. A small percentage support the killing of the rhino whole heartedly. The reason being, that if they kill rhino, which belong to the White man, they are doing the “cause” some good. The way things are in South Africa right now, and the worsening Black racism is not only bad for the Whiteou, it is extremely bad for the conservation of any wild animals in South Africa.
As I have said, the Rhino Wars has to be fought on many levels, the pathetic “ Shoot a Poacher” approach is and was never the solution.
If you doubt that there are many Blacks that think this way, you are either ignorant, or do not wish to see what is in front of your eyes.  If people with a mindset that thinks it is not only acceptable but a good thing to kill little human babies, the animals are doomed.

Take this information and put it into the Pro Trade/No Trade equation. The Pro Trade want to give the very people that think this way the power of dealing in rhino horn. For that statement I will get flak. Your argument no matter what it is; is invalid. The fact is that the government will be in charge, period. The fact is that the government is filled with people that hold the above views. The fact is the head of the government, Zuma, is one of the worst. This is undeniable. He is recorded on many occasions showing his contempt for the White man. He openly supports Mugabe who has just banned all “white” things in his country.  The list is endless. Pity the rhino if the Pro Trade is victorious, it will be a hollow victory for the poor mis-informed people that actually believe they are supporting a good cause.
Please remember, this blog is… Just One Man’s Opinion.


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Rhino Wars - The Accident

Short True Story

First shift: 6pm to 10pm. With summer on its way at least we got to see a bit of the park in the daylight. In that dying light we saw two rhino, I turned the bakkie down a side road in order to get a bit closer. My guys seldom saw the creatures they were here to protect. The team was in a good mood and all took photos with their cell phones. It gets dark quickly in Africa, well in real Africa, not in Cape Town. We set of to do the normal, boring and totally ineffective routine. At Mvubu Dam my trio of Fat Ladies were on the dam wall, looking at us approaching and completely blocking the way. I’ll be damned, pun intentional, if the did not do an about face and show us a Hippo Browneye! This caused another welcome delay in our routine. Once they had passed I took the short cut passed Dean’s house and headed for the fence and the Rooiberg road. The toads were also out because of the approaching spring so now I was playing not only dodge the rabbit but also dodge the toad.
It was a good shift, I dropped the guys at the OP’s and did a fence patrol, deciding to leave Majuma for the second shift. We had no idea of the disaster that awaited us, putting 3 of my men in hospital and totalling our APU vechicle.
Second Shift: 2am to 6am
France and I discussed just the day before what a waste of time and fuel going down the sand road that passes Majuma’s outer perimeter. We did the inside and to get all the way to that road was a pain in the butt and another one of Dean’s ideas that were designed to, not secure the rhino, but make him look good. The area was patrolled by an outside unit of the area and to double up in one small area when we were so thin on the ground was just plain stupid. The team all agreed to this, but for whatever reason, Charles decided that we should go, I reasoned with him but he pulled his usual stunt and said he would report me to Dean, again. As it was a sort of standing instruction from my “colonel” I had to give in, Dean already did not like me much, even though I had not contradicted or questioned his operation undiplomatically so far. I never mentioned that I thought his “special force colonel” shit was just that, shit. At this point I still thought I could change things from the inside once my three months probation was up. And people say I am a cynic?
I then changed my plan for the shift, I would go to the gate on the sand road, check the locks from the outside and then hit Rooiberg, which I believed is where the shit would happen, when it happened. I left Mabula through the main gate just after 2am and was at the gate by around 2:45am. I got out to check the gate, Charles also got off the vehicle and wondered about. France stood next to the bakkie and had a smoke. The other three just sat on the back of bakkie. One of the things that show this Rhino War is NOTHING like a real war, with REAL soldiers. First I had taught this anti-poaching boys about vehicle drills and what they should do when we stop, but could not order them to do so, Mabula is shit scared of all the labour laws and Political Correctness, I am the only white oke in this APU other than Dean, I have to watch my P’s and Q’s. I did tell the guys after one bad incident in which they did not listen and put me in jeopardy that from that point I will insure my safety first. If the shit hit the fan this Mexican is a ghost. I thought that this would happen sooner or later, but from enemy fire, not this!
The Opel bakkie came speeding along the road. I took cover on the right and Charles, give him his due, and took cover just in front of our vehicle, which was parked well off to the left, on the verge, facing the way we would leave. Even though APU’s have not been openly attacked as yet, discretion is the greater part of valour, and remember, these people send us out … unarmed.
The Opel was travelling at a hell of a speed on this very bad road, but so far in a straight line and in the left lane. The road is twice the width of the tar road it leads to. Then, about 8 meters from mu vehicle it not only changed lanes but went to the far right. I could not believe this shit was happening, it slammed dead square into my bakkie. I remember thinking, that this was a very dumb way to attack us, as it looked as if the driver did this intentionally. I left cover and approached the wreck, three men were in the Opel’s can, all bleeding from head wounds, the windscreen was shattered, the front of the bakkie mangled. As I put my head closer to the open window the smell of alcohol hit me. Amos, Johannes and Joseph were staggering around, holding their lower backs, young France and Charles were speaking to them in their language. I got Charles to get them to all lie down and stay still. Not very compassionate person, I told the shits that when we stop they should all get out. Too lazy. I tried to convince them it was a good idea then to get out and take cover if a vehicle is coming. That was not part of their work, apparently.
I phone Dean, and the bullshit starts. He asks if my lights and hazards were on. Special Force Colonel kiss my arse. Of course they were not. Dean calls the Head Ranger, Ryno, now he is in shit because he was suppose to take me a month back to get a copy of my driver’s licence as my card was stolen. Dean arrives first, he checks out the scene and sends France down the road a bit with a flashlight, so other cars do not hit us. He makes a big show of approaching the Opel, hand on his 9mm, telling me this might be a trap. I say nothing. There are actually 4 guys, one is lying in the back.
It is a full moon and my bakkie is white. Dean gets on my case about having all the guys on the bakkie at once. I point out to him that on his orders, when we leave Mabula property late at night, we have to have the full team together. He then gets back to the fact that I did not have my hazard lights on. I have fuck all to say about that. It would cause a fight. Ryno arrives, he immediately does what Dean did not, goes to check on the injured personnel, when the lady from the Mabula office arrives with all the injury on duty paper work, at 4am in the morning, I question his sympathy too. At least I am straight up about my lack of it, I do not pretend because of possible consequences. I must admit, my head space at this time is not too good, seeing your guys taken out, even if they are idiots, is not good for you.
The police get there, I become a ghost, I do not like policemen very much. I watch as first Dean plays the main man, obviously not to well as Ryno takes over and sends Dean to take over France’s job. Finally someone decides that maybe they should speak to the driver and team leader of the APU. I have to come out. I give my statement and the licence is an issue.
More people arrive. One guy is from a Game Lodge up the road, one of his guys was in the Opel. Turns out that the Opel was taken from the local panel beating shop, without permission. Ambulances begin to arrive, the day shift corporal and Isaac speed in, a total cluster fuck. Eventually Corporal Johannes and Isaac bend the fender of our vehicle off the flat front wheels, no acacia thorn will fix these two. We asked Dean to use his bakkie to tow us, Ryno tells us to open the Lion Gate and tow it into Majuma.

Guess who has to open the gate?


From Chronicle of The Mexican Horse Thief yet to be published.