via Hwange poaching on the rise – Southern Eye 1 January 2014
THE poaching of key species of animals within Hwange National Park increased to 329 cases [in 2013] from 315 witnessed in 2012, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) spokesperson Caroline Washaya-Moyo has said.
The animals targeted for poaching were elephants, white and black rhinos, buffaloes and zebras, with jumbos topping the least at 240 up from 223 in 2011 and 212 in 2012.
White and black rhino poaching decreased from nine to five and then slightly up to six within the three-year period while the number of buffaloes killed in 2011 decreased from 68 to 46 and then 47.
“The poaching of both the black and white rhino species has remained low within the Parks Estate. However, there has been an increase outside the Parks Estate,” Washaya-Moyo said.
She said the recent use of cyanide at Hwange National Park in poaching activities contributed to the increase in the number of elephants that were illegally harvested in 2013.
She attributed the demand for ivory and its products, particularly in Asian countries, as the major push for the poaching activities, but exonerated Chinese nationals flooding the country.
“This high demand is not necessarily linked to the presence of Chinese nationals in the country as we do not have evidence to this effect,” she said.
Washaya-Moyo added that the authority had scaled up efforts to combat poaching activities across the country through resource mobilisation and pushing for deterrent court sentences on wildlife crimes.
Organised wildlife poaching in the country, particularly of elephants and rhinoceros whose tusks and horns were lucrative on the black market, has escalated to disastrous levels after the poisoning of about 90 elephants through cyanide by poachers last month.
COMMENTS
We have got soldiers , policemen , game park security , doing the job to protect these aninals how come they have failed to do the protection job .
This is all corruption , ZANU PF are the poachers , they are making money out of this , they are involved , no protection to these animals , this people hired to protect the animals are inturn used and paid by ZANU PF to do the poaching , Chinese are in the country and thats the market for ZANU PF top memebers to sell the ivory . Moyo wake up , Chinese are Chinese don’t exonerate them .
most people are becming greedy and greedier by the day.vana vedu vachatokura vasingazivi the big 5 due to its extinction by these money hgungry fools
hahaha chinese are not involved,in which part are u staying Moyo.. u righly say these elephant tusks demanded in Asian countries ….either u are not reading the papers…or are reading btwn the lines..one chanese guy was caught at Harare international airport with over 100 tusks headed to to East smell the coffee…the locals who mostly are poor and unemployed are used to go and kill these elephants,otherwise the Big fish at the top benefit most…