WRSA commissioned the North West University to conduct extensive research to serve as basis for the development of a strategic document for the game-ranching industry.Absa bank sponsors the research. The research will be published in mid-2014 and will serve as basis for the WRSA’s interaction and partnering with government to enhance the economic viability and growth of the industry.
It has been reported that the Tanzanian President, Jakaya Kikwete announced the re-activation of the country’s Operation Tokomeza anti-poaching campaign launched in September. The campaign was temporarily suspended on 1 November when claims of human rights abuses were raised against it. The President said that the government would investigate the complaints of abuses during the campaign. The report quotes President Kikwete as having said to the Tanzanian Parliament that: ‘We are going to rectify such mistakes and take to task culprits, and later continue with the mission to fight poachers and protect elephants from imminent extinction’. Kikwete apparently also said that abandoning the operation would be tantamount to letting the poachers win, and that the efforts should continue as animals were being slaughtered at alarming rates.
Tanzanian officials recently impounded 89 elephant tusks with a street value of almost US$ 700,000 at a roadblock near the Masasi township. The Tanzanian Natural Resources and Tourism Minister, Ambassador Khamis Kagasheki, requested that his ministry be afforded some time before it exposes all the perpetrators.
Three suspects of Chinese origin were arrested shortly after the government suspended Operation Tokomeza following complaints of victimization. The men were arrested at Mikocheni with 706 pieces of tusks, the value of which still has to be determined.
The possessors of cyanide used to poison elephants in the Tsholotsho region of Zimbabwe had dumped cyanide on a path near Pelandaba Primary School. The dumping occurred a week after the government deadline for its surrender. Since our report last month, some controversy surrounding the number of elephants that had been poisoned has arisen, with figures between 100 and 300 being bandied about. It is reported that the Zimbabwe Police have already arrested nine suspects in this matter.
At the recent Indaba on the value of economic biodiversity, PHASA CEO Adri Kitshoff estimated the cost of rhino poaching over the past five years at R1,1 billion. The estimation was based only on the estimated value that would have been paid by hunters to have hunted the poached animals. The average price for rhino between 2008 and 2013 was R550 000 each. The estimate did not include the additional income derived from daily expenditure by visiting hunters, nor the impact of 400 000 hectares formerly used for rhino management now taken out of the conservation land pool.
We spoke to some active outfitters in Mozambique regarding the renewal of hostilities. They informed us that after the devastating 20-odd-year internal war between the Frelimo and the Renamo movements, it took the wildlife in the country a long time to recover, especially in the areas where most of the fighting occurred.
Rampant poaching has also been an issue, and many concession owners have a hard time controlling the poachers, and some sources claim that it is because some poachers seem to be tied to local authorities who benefit from the ivory, fishing and bushmeat trade.
The inability of the government to attend to the CITES requirements for elephant management, resulted in the USA halting any ivory trophy imports from Mozambique, and which prompted CITES to suspend all hippo permits at the beginning of 2013 until further notice. There is also increasing talk of the EU also entering the fray and forbidding trophy ivory imports.
Despite these challenges, Mozambique has been growing as a hunting destination, and hunting companies have put a lot of effort into building infrastructure and increasing the herd count and diversity. Unfortunately the resurgence in hostilities is being viewed in a negative light by potential trophy-hunting clients, and outfitters are being inundated with concerned patrons. If there is a rash of cancellations, this will not bode well for the game. Hunters on the ground play a very effective role, with their presence in many instances a deterrent to poachers.
Lack of clients can also play havoc with the financial viability of hunting areas that are just beginning to recover, and Mozambique can lose a lot of the ground that has been gained.