The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe - may peace, truth and justice prevail. |
WILDLIFE NOTICE BOARD –
"Lending a voice for the voiceless"First Issue – 12 June 2002
It is estimated that more than 50% of wildlife from both single game farms and game ranches have been slaughtered to date since land invasions started.
Endangered species
Black Rhino
It is estimated that Zimbabwe had a population of approximately 300 Black Rhino, to date, 48 black rhino have been poached. We have also received reports that recently there has been an influx into the orient of Rhino products.. The source appears to be the Zimbabwe area.
Gourlays Farm - National parks have been allowed to pump water again for the rhino. We have been unable to get any further reports.
Tashinga – two rhino have been poisoned, but survived and a third one was poached.
Anti poaching reports :-
Save Valley Conservancy
Police, army and National Parks have been patrolling in the area, which has resulted in a number of arrests.
Nyamandhlovu
Police and National Parks have been patrolling a number of properties in the area, which has also resulted in a number of arrests and a large number of snares uplifted.
Poaching Statistics received thus far :-
Banket/Raffingora area – On one property – 66 impala and 1 Tsessebee.
Victory Block (between Raffingora and Mvurwi) a pregnant sable cow was driven into a dam by a group of settlers and 17 dogs. The animal was eventually killed. A report was made to the police.
On another property in a five day period 38 bird snares were uplifted.Over the last two years approximately 60 large snares have been found. 30 Eland, approximately 60 kudu and about 30 impala have been poached.
Save Valley Conservancy
Figures from
01 August 2001 to 30 May 2002 –Animals poached – 966 this includes 13 endangered animals (4) species.
Number of snares recovered – 12 915
Number of arrests – 356
It must be noted that there are five properties in this area that are "no go" area’s so we are unable to get any statistics.
Fountain Ranch
Figures from 24 July 2000 to 02 June 2002 –
Animals poached – 894
Snares found - 1907
There are no go areas on this property.
Moreson Farm
In the last week 3 animals poached and 20 snares recovered.
Bubani Ranch & Kayansee Ranch
Since invaded 750 animals poached, per ranch.
Malungudzi Ranch & Kayalami Ranch
500 animals poached since being invaded, per ranch.
Bea Ranch & Safari Ranch
500 animals poached since being invaded, per ranch.
Chipizi Ranch
Figures from January 2002 to April 2002 –
50%of the animals poached and 3447 snares found.
Barberton Ranch
Figures from May 2000 to April 2002
16 cows have been poached
237 animals poached
4 black rhinos poached
22 buildings torched
approximately 22 000 trees destroyed
2966 snares recovered
Mambo Ranch
26 May 2002
Vehicle number 686-753T was seen leaving the property with two Kudu, three impala and one duiker.
Organised hunting is taking place on a weekly basis, with an average of 6 animals being taken per weekend. 37 animals were shot over 6 days.
Inyathi Area
Figures for the last 6 months.
Guinea Fowl – 1200
Animals poached – 991
Bar G Farm
250 Animals have been poached since the farm was invaded.
Bothasrus Farm
150 animals have been poached.
Swanscoe Farm
200 animals have been poached.
Lesanth and Kleinbegin Farms
2000 animals per farm have been poached.
South Matopos
146 animals poached.
Chiredzi River Conservancy
July 2000 to December 2000 -
413 Snares , 38 animals poached.January 2001 to December 2001 –
1115 snares, 231 animals poached.This only represents about 65.88% of the conservancy.
Quiet Waters
May 2002 -
20 snares found and 7 animals poached and numerous birds.December 2001 –
2 animals from cyanide poison.Edenvale Ranch
800 cattle poached and all his game.
Marakanga Ranch
3 Workers killed.
884 animals poached.
Report from Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force
Midlands Conservancy – A Mr Trevor Nickel is doing hunts for War Vets and settlers in the area. Be aware.
Midlands - Four of the game ranchers in the area have lost 80% of their wildlife. The others that have the original owners, that have maintained some sort of control have lost between 40 to 50% of the wildlife. They are uplifting an average of 223 snares on one ranch per fortnight. It is believed to be on the increase and the actual land that is fast tracked there is zero game left. They understand that the police from Mvuma and the senior War Vets are behind the poaching. We have evidence were one of the ladies in the area was approached to skin and cut up the game that was shot.. She enquired where the meat was coming from and was told to keep quiet.. She turned the offer down. The meat from this area in being sold in Bulawayo. This game is being shot not snared.. well organised poaching.
In the Kariba area alone, since the elections 33 Elephants have been poached (shot).
65 anti personal mines have also been uplifted that were placed on game paths.
We forwarded documents to the Canadian Prime Minister and here is a copy of his reply:-
Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2002 8:16 PM
Subject: Conservation on Wildlife in
Zimbabwe
Dear Mr. Rodrigues:
On behalf of the Right Honourable
Jean Chrétien, I would like to thank you
for your e-mail, in which you raised
an issue which falls within the
portfolio of the Honourable Bill Graham,
Minister of Foreign Affairs. The
Prime Minister always appreciates receiving
mail on subjects of importance
to Canadians.
Please be assured that
the statements you made have been carefully reviewed.
I have taken the
liberty of forwarding your e-mail to Minister Graham so
that he too may be
made aware of your comments. I am certain that the
Minister will give your
views every consideration.
T. Robbins
Executive Correspondence
Officer
Letter from the WPA (Wildlife Producers Association)
The WPA continues to liase with all and sundry to high light the poaching and loss of wildlife and habitat. We are in constant touch with Zimbabwe Conservation Trust and other bodies in this regard. To this effect we have had a delegation of National Parks in all provinces to asses the damage done to the Wildlife population. I believe they are taking the situation seriously, and we can only hope that they will increase the patrols through out the country.
Safaris have started but operators have found it extremely difficult to book plains game hunts on ranches. It seems as though we are in for a lean year. Very few translocation permits have been issued and no exports will be allowed this year. IMire Game Park is due to have an auction later this year and we wait to see what reaction there will be to this.
Our AGM id due to be held on 13th June, 2002 and a resolution calling for the closure of the association is being tabled. It has become necessary because of the down turn in tourism and hunting and thus the lack of finance to run the association.
Wally Herbst
CONSERVANCIES
- The conservancies are now threatened with a massive deforestation of prime habitats and an intensive poaching programme as invaders illegally occupy the land. Snaring and hunting with dogs is constantly on the increase and arrested poachers have revealed that meat is moved out to external markets. The anti-poaching personnel are continuously intimidated and their effectiveness is negligible. Properties have been burnt out, trees cut down, tourists forced out of safari camps by irate war veterans, ranch scouts disarmed, intimidated, severely assaulted and even killed as they have attempted to perform their duties.
- On Bubiana, 200 animals have been recovered from the snares out of an estimated 30,000 killed in the past 18 months. Most of the animals found have died from starvation, thirst, infected wounds, or strangulation. Many have had only their limbs cut off for the poacher's pot leaving the rest of the carcass to wastefully rot. Zimbabwe has 410 species of birds and 386 have been sighted in Bubiana.
WILDDOG/PAINTED HUNTING DOGS
Today there are only three viable breeding populations left of the African Wild Dog – lycaon pictus. Altogether there are thought to be less than 5,000 individuals living mainly in South Africa's Kruger Park, Tanzania's Selous Game Reserve, and in Northern Botswana.
Zimbabwe had been slowly building up their populations in the conservancies and are thought to have about 250 individuals (accounting for 7% of the world total), but now, indiscriminate poaching is threatening their future in Zimbabwe.
POLICE REACTIONS
VARIOUS
A snap membership survey by the Wildlife Producers Association showed the following trends: -
1) Poaching - severe 43%; moderate 49%; none 8%
2) Ability to manage Wildlife - not at all 49%; partially 33%; yes 18%
3) Environment damage - severe 30%; moderate 52%; none 18%
4) 2002 Hunting Foreign Client - yes 19%; partially 20%; no 61%
- Wildlife, especially in Matabeleland and Masvingo Provinces, has been under threat. Reports of an increase in poaching activities in these areas has been received with wildlife worth nearly $100 million having been lost from June to December 2001. The country's second largest conservancy, Bubiana, has experienced rampant poaching by settlers. Bubiana, which covers 15 farms in Masvingo and Matabeleland South, is home to the largest concentration of black rhino in Zimbabwe. By October last year, three rhino had been lost to poachers and at least half a dozen had been injured by wire snares. The conservancy was losing at least 100 animals per month.
OPINIONS & views
REMINDER
PLEASE ALL OUT THERE – KEEP THE REPORTS COMING IN. KEEP TAKING PICTURES (WE WILL HAVE THE FILM DEVELOPED). PLEASE KEEP US INFORMED SO THAT WE CAN WORK FOR YOU..
An article in The Herald says Brian Donnelly is suspected of meddling in political affairs and is being watched by security agents in the capital, Harare.
The allegations in the Zimbabwe press are baseless |
British Foreign Office |
The UK Foreign Office has denied the allegations, insisting that Mr Donnelly has not taken part in any such activities.
Relations between Britain and Zimbabwe have never been worse, with President Mugabe frequently accusing its former colonial ruler of interfering in domestic matters.
Civil rights
In its report The Herald said: "Authoritative government sources said (to) the Herald that Mr Donnelly was under open surveillance in the wake of revelations that he was meddling in Zimbabwean politics.
"The high commissioner, said the sources, is also involved in activities to undermine the legitimate government of President Mugabe."
The newspaper claims the decision to place Mr Donnelly under surveillance was made after two lawyers were arrested on 3 June and accused of trying to "subvert a constitutional government".
It said the men, Sternford Moyo and Wilbert Mapombere, contacted Mr Donnelly to thank him for his support for their campaign to restore civil rights to Zimbabwe.
The Herald says that Mr Donnelly is widely believed to be an intelligence officer and was posted to Zimbabwe at the height of a British campaign to remove President Mugabe.
'Baseless'
Denying the allegations made against Mr Donnelly, who is currently on holiday in Britain, the British Foreign Office said: "The British High Commissioner is not involved, and has never been, in this kind of activity.
"The allegations in the Zimbabwe press are baseless."
Relations between the two countries have been strained by Zimbabwe's claims that Britain has supported white farmers, whom Mr Mugabe believes are determined to remove him from power.
Britain accuses Mr Mugabe of using violence, intimidation and vote-rigging to secure his re-election as president.
June 15 2002 at 12:02PM |
Washington - The International Monetary Fund on Friday said that it had
decided to suspend technical assistance to Zimbabwe because of the African
nation's failure to reimburse its debts to the Washington-based lender.
The IMF said that Zimbabwe first fell behind in its loan repayments in
February of last year, which led the fund to freeze its Poverty Reduction and
Growth Facility resources in September.
Zimbabwe's obligations to the
IMF totalled $132-million (about R1,32-billion), the fund said.
Technical assistance programs consist of the IMF providing expert
support to local governments in areas of policy and economics.
'Set policies that would ensure the resumption of economic and financial stability' |
AP | |
Children collect water from main in Harare, Zimbabwe |
Six countries are most severely affected. Of the 13 million people worst off, almost half are in Zimbabwe, a quarter in Malawi, with the rest in Mozambique, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zambia.
Even as the international community responds, critics are drawing attention to what they call disastrous government policies making the situation worse. The focus Thursday was squarely on Zimbabwe.
AP | |
USAID Administrator, Andrew Natsios |
Those two confirmed reports came from a private voluntary organization, Danish Physicians for Human Rights, and from the United Nations World Food Program, WFP.
In two recent meetings with President Mugabe, WFP Executive Director James Morris says he repeated that warning. "I made it very clear to him that we needed his cooperation to make it easy for us to do business in the country, both for the WFP and our NGO partners," he said. "I made it very clear to him that we would tolerate no political interference as to where we would do our work, that we would have access to the entire country. Third, I made it very clear to him that in our judgment there is no chance to solve the problem unless he is willing to let free market grain traders come in and provide part of the resources needed."
Mr. Morris believes he got his message across to the Zimbabwean leader. Earlier this week, the WFP chief said Mr. Mugabe had given assurances there would be no political favoritism.
USAID director Natsios says so far, none of the food mis-used for political purposes involved the 236,000 metric tons of U.S. grain that will have been shipped by July.
Mr. Natsios says there have been no similar problems in the other countries concerned. But he says if the problem in Zimbabwe continues, he intends to raise the stakes by drawing more public attention to the problem.
At Thursday's hearing, U.S. lawmakers expressed exasperation with the situation in southern Africa, which is made worse by HIV-AIDS. Here is the chairman of the House Africa subcommittee, Congressman Ed Royce:
AP | |
Congressman Ed Royce |
Several African-American lawmakers cautioned against what they said was an effort to shift the focus of the hearing from economic causes of drought to political issues. Here is California Democrat Congresswoman Maxine Waters. "I am hopeful that we will not allow babies and children to die because we are concerned, or disagree with, and opposed to the policies of Mugabe in Zimbabwe," she said.
In response, Republican Congressman Chris Smith heatedly denied that any food aid would be held up because of the policies of President Mugabe. "Everyone is working to ensure that the suffering people have their needs met, notwithstanding what is one of the primary reasons for their suffering, and that is Mr. Mugabe in Zimbabwe," he said.
AP | |
Hungry child in Malawi |
Lawmakers also expressed concern Thursday about Angola, which was the subject of a separate hearing on Capitol Hill.
The French aid group Doctors Without Borders said this week nearly half-a-million Angolans are threatened by starvation. The group accused the Angolan government and the United Nations of moving too slowly. A U.N. coordinator in Luanda called that inaccurate and misleading.