ZimConservation

(http://www.radiovop.com) KAROI, August 29, 2009 – A suspected ring leader of poachers who was nursing gun wounds at Karoi hospital escaped under police guard before getting in a gate-away car last week in a matter that is now under investigations.

According to both Karoi police and hospital sources, the suspect who is believed to be the chief suspect in the well planned poaching errands within Zambezi basin, is believed to have been whisked way in a gate away car that was behind the hospital fence after he scaled down the security fence.

The case is the second in a month following a similar escape of a robber from a Harare hospital, suspected to have been part of the robbers that robbed and beat the husband of Regional Intergration and International Co-operation Minister Priscillar Misihairabwi-Mushonga at his home in Mount Pleasant. Dr Chrisopher Mushonga later died as a result of the injuries he sustained during the beatings. The robber had asked nurses to go to the toilet and that was the last they saw of him. Continue Reading »

As we passed the first boom on our way to Chitake we saw trees filled with vultures and sure there must be something under there. We waited for Steve Pope and walked in, excited that hey we were going to see a kill, but instead we came across 4 poached elephants. It was awfull and my eyes filled with tears as I saw how brutal we, humans can be. One was just a young ele. WHY WHY WHY. It brought back memories of my first sighting of a poached black rhino in Mana Pools, where once they use to roam freely and today there are none.

One of the poachers was shot in the arm and caught but the other – well they had not been caught.

Mana Pools – Chitake is a wildlife paradise which needs support.

Environmentally yours,
Charlene Hewat
CEO
Environment Africa
Telephone 492143/7
eafrica@utande.co.zw

ZIMBABWE – HWANGE – Hwange Colliery Company will from next month double its coal output following the completion of repairs on its dragline, a move that is expected to ensure that the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) increases its thermal power production at Hwange by 33 percent.

The use of the dragline is expected to result in an adequate supply of the commodity to the thermal power stations in Bulawayo, Harare and Munyati as well as to industries and tobacco farmers. More online at the Zimbabwe Telegraph…

Here are the links to excellent programs on the BBC World Service. The second part has not been broadcast before:

Part 1: http://www.facebook.com/l/;www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003y44y
Part 2: http://www.facebook.com/l/;www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00409k9

Thanks to the Amboseli Trust for Elephants for sending this to us!

From George Maponga in MASVINGO

A lion escaped from its cage at Kyle Recreational Park near Lake Mutirikwi in Masvingo, causing apprehension among villagers in the adjacent Chikwanda communal lands that the beast might prey on them and their livestock.

Initially, four lions escaped from their cages at Simply Wild — a lion breeding reserve — but Parks and Wildlife Management Authority rangers recaptured three. Continue Reading »

(http://www.radiovop.com) MASVINGO, August 26, 2009 – Eight of the 59 lions that were left unattended following the eviction of former white commercial farmer Ronnie Sparrow from his property by a top Zanu PF official have gone astray, leaving nearby villagers living in perpetual fear.

Sparrow went into hiding in March this year after the police were baying for his blood for failing to vacate his Quarter Parks Farm, which has since been taken over by former ZANU PF provincial chairman, retired army major Alex Mudavanhu.

Sparrow, who also had another conservancy, Simply Wild, was forced to leave 59 caged lions, 26 buffaloes, 18 antelopes, 15 horses, five giraffes as well as an unspecificied number of small animals from the conservancy.

Simply Wild Farm manager Mureriwa Ndumbi told Radio VOP that of the eight that escaped, four were re-captured, leaving the other four roaming in nearby areas, and sending shivers to the Chikwanda community.

“It is true that some lions escaped from their cages last week, but the Parks Department sent some officials who re-captured only four. The other four have not been captured and are said to be causing untold suffering to the Chikwanda villagers as well as other resettled farmers, so the government mulls shooting them,” Ndumbi said.

Parks Department public relations manager, Caroline-Washaya-Moyo confirmed the escape of the eight lions.

“The lions escaped last week and our professional hunters trekked them and managed to get only four. The other four are roaming around, and we will have no option except to shoot them,” Washaya-Moyo said.

Trevor Ganyani, of Ganyani farm bordering the Chikwanda community, said some villagers had lost four beasts to the lions. He said people were now afraid to walk alone-let alone in the dark-due to the fear of these animals.

Following Sparrow’s untimely departure from the country, into self exile in neighboring South Africa, the Parks Department, which had been invited to help in the upkeep of the animals, has been struggling to take care of the animals.

The lions need at least a tone of beef everyday, besides the medicines for their upkeep.

HARARE – In an intense international rescue and anti-poaching operation, 46 black rhino have been moved to safer areas – and eight poachers have been killed – in Zimbabwe.

zim NET radio heard that the International Rhino Foundation’s (IRF) Crisis Zimbabwe awareness campaign has reportedly raised more than US$120,000 in emergency funds to rescue 46 black rhino from vulnerable areas in Zimbabwe. More online at ZimNetRadio…

Harare — Farmers with limited tillage resources should consider conservation farming which is a cheaper way of producing high yields.

The technique code-named “Farming God’s Way” involves zero tillage and use of animal and compost manure. Foundations for Farming spokesperson Mrs Concilia Shayanewako said conservation tillage was an easy way of farming, which was not labour intensive. More online at AllAfrica.com…

Johannesburg – In what is considered the largest land claim in the history of South Africa, Mapungubwe – a world heritage site – as well as 56 farms in the far north of Limpopo, have been awarded to the Machete royal family.

The Machetes’ successful claim has, however, placed the future of Mapungubwe in doubt, as it is set to become part of a transfrontier park in the near future. More online at News24…

Rhinoceros poaching in African has resulted in the slow and brutally endemic slaughter of one of the few mammal relics of a bygone age, gruesomely performed over the last decades. This carnage has been committed to satisfy an insatiable demand for the horn of this near extinct beast. A boneless piece of fibrous material, keratin, protruding from the frontal nasal bone, remains in demand for both ornamental and medicinal use. It is a lump of protein, in simple terms, and has been the undoing of the rhino in Africa. More online at Zimeye.org…

In an intense international rescue and anti-poaching operation, 46 black rhino have been moved to safer areas – and eight poachers have been killed – in Zimbabwe.

Thanks to coverage by international media, public support, and international pressure from CITES, the International Rhino Foundation’s (IRF) Crisis Zimbabwe awareness campaign has reportedly raised more than $120,000 in emergency funds to rescue 46 black rhino from vulnerable areas in Zimbabwe. And since May, eight poachers have been killed during armed confrontations with police, compared to seven known rhino poaching losses in the Lowveld. More online at EcoWordly…

The outgoing World Wide Fund Director Dr. Harrison Kojwang has commended the government of Zimbabwe for the tremendous support it has given to his organisation and other wildlife and environment conservation agencies.

Speaking at the launch of the organisation’s new country’s office in Harare, Dr Harrison Kojwang said the enabling operating environment provided by the government has made them grow from strength to strength in wildlife and environment conservation. More online at ZBC News…

Harare — IMAGINE your veins being squeezed of the blood that flows to give life and the windpipe choking as the oxygen in your lungs slowly runs out.

Yours will be a slow but painful death.

In the meantime, your tormentor smiles all the way to the bank and cashes in on your misery. This scenario rings true of what is happening to our rivers in general across the country and to the Angwa River in particular, as gold panning threatens their very existence. More online at AllAfrica.com…

The highly acclaimed The Elephants and I by Sharon Pincott (published by Jacana Media, South Africa, in March 2009) has already been reprinted by popular demand.

It’s the story of how Sharon abandoned her high-flying life Down Under in 2001, to live and work amongst The Presidential Elephants of Zimbabwe, on land bordering Hwange National Park. In time, Sharon formed extraordinary relationships with wild elephants, having learned to know them intimately. She treasured escapades with friends, both human and animal, in spectacular remote places. But, as she soon discovered firsthand, the beauty of wonder of wild Zimbabwe had a dark foreboding side. Snaring of wildlife was rife, and when land invaders claimed the area where Sharon’s elephant friends roamed, she went into battle for their land and their lives – while fighting for her own wellbeing, in her homeland of choice.

The Elephants and I is available from bookshops throughout South Africa, and from various internet book-sites, including http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/ (which offers free worldwide delivery).

(http://www.radiovop.com) CHUNDU, August 13, 2009 – Confusion has gripped over 2 000 villagers in the remote area under Chief Chundu in Hurungwe, amid conflicting statements that they face eviction from their homes of nearly three decades to pave way for a game park.

The majority of the villagers here suffered the same fate in 1983 when they were evicted from Nyamakate when Government introduced resettlement scheme and were accommodated under Chief Chundu’s area. Continue Reading »

SAFARI operators have decided not to engage the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) over its demands on the 2 percent levy on trophy fees through the courts but to instead lobby Government to understand that the levy will expose clients to overpricing. More online at The Sunday Mail…

The Head of State and Government and Commander In-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, President Robert Mugabe, says the establishment and full implementation of transfrontier conservation areas within the Southern African Region proves beyond reasonable doubt that what unites Africa is stronger than the distractions which may seek to divide it. More online at ZBC News…

The former girlfriend of Prince Harry, Chelsy Davy, has denied allegations that her father is linked to rhino poaching in Zimbabwe, in her first public statement. Chelsy is Zimbabwean-born and her father, Charles, is one of the country’s biggest landowners. Her Zimbabwean background often provoked controversy during her relationship with the Prince of Wales’s second son. More online at IOL…

DUBAI, Aug 5 (Reuters) – State-owned conglomerate Dubai World said on Wednesday it has put on hold several of its projects in Africa, the latest delays from the firm as it restructures due to the global economic downturn. More online at Reuters…

Dubai World, the city’s global investment conglomerate, on Wednesday announced that it has suspended several of its planned projects … Dubai World said it would go ahead with only two of the eight projects planned for Rwanda, The New York Times reported. Earlier, it had planned to invest $230 million in Rwandan tourism and $100 million in Ethiopia. Other projects included a wildlife game reserve in Zimbabwe, and three others in South Africa. More online at Gulf News…