ZimConservation

Efforts by the government of Botswana to free three wildlife officers who were arrested in Zimbabwe last week have not been successful. This has forced the Botswana Government to engage legal representation for the said officers. Since the arrest, both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Botswana Embassy in Harare have tried all the diplomatic channels to gain freedom of those arrested. More online at The Botswana Gazette…

A diplomatic row could erupt between Zimbabwe and neighboring Botswana after three armed officers from the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) were arrested for straying into Zimbabwe. The three armed scouts were nabbed last week in Kazungula close to Victoria Falls after they crossed into Zimbabwe by “mistake while tracking lions that had killed two cows in Lesoma village along the border”. By this morning, they were still locked up at Victoria Falls police station. The Botswana High Commissioner in Harare, Gladys Kokorwe said her office has been notified of the arrest and that she is working ’flat out to secure their release”. A defence lawyer to represent the scouts was being sought this morning. More online at Afrik.com…

BRITAIN will vote against the proposed sale of stockpiled ivory from Tanzania and Zambia, which conservationists fear would lead to further slaughter of African elephants, the Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said last night. After a day in which opposition spokesmen called for an explicit statement on Britain’s position, Benn made it unequivocally clear that the UK would oppose the proposed sale, which will be voted on at the next meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Qatar in March. More online at The Post Online…

Kenya Minister for Wildlife and Forestry, Dr. Noah Wekesa, launched a scathing remark here Tuesday against Tanzania and Zambia, accusing them of breaching a nine-year moratorium on elephant conservation. Wekesa said the two elephant range states’ latest push for down-listing their elephant herds from the category of species threatened with extinction to enable them dispose of their illegal ivory stocks is likely to escalate poaching in the region. Consequently, Kenya, backed by Mali, has launched an aggressive campaign for support of the European Union (EU) to retain the African elephant species in CITES a ppendix I ” the list of floral and faunal species threatened with extinction. UN came up with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of wild fauna and flora to protect organisms that were endangered by human encroachment. More online at Afrique en ligne…

Kenya has secured the support of 16 African governments in its battle with neighbouring Tanzania over a proposal to allow for controlled trade in ivory. At least two thirds of the 23 member African Elephants Coalition are backing Kenya’s proposal to replace the nine-year moratorium on ivory trade, which ends in 2019 with a 20-year moratorium. More online at Business Daily Africa…

Three officers from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) are still detained in Zimbabwe after they crossed into the country by mistake last week. The armed Botswana officers, travelling in a government vehicle, were tracking lions that had killed two cows in Lesoma village along the border between the two countries. The Botswana High Commissioner in Zimbabwe, Gladys Kokorwe said yesterday that the matter has been reported to her office and that the officers were supposed to appear in court for mention yesterday afternoon. More online at Mmegi Online…

KASANE – Three Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DNWP) game scouts based in Kasane have been detained in Zimbabwe for trespassing and having fire arms.
Kazungula Police Station Commander, Assistant Superintendent Chakalisa Nkoni said that the three men were caught along Kazungula/ Lesoma road on Tuesday. Ass. Sup. Nkoni explained that the men aged between 27 and 34 were on duty tracking down lions which had earlier killed two cows at Lesoma. He said the three were driving a government vehicle and had with them two government firearms. The men are reported to have got lost on their hunt and were caught by Zimbabwean police. More online at BOPA Daily News…

Despite opposition from neighbours Kenya and Rw anda, the Tanzanian government said Monday it was seeking permission from the UN panel overseeing the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to auction 90 tonnes of ivory piled up in its storage buildings. Trade in ivory has been banned or restricted in many countries due to the rapid decline in elephant populations around the world. More online at African Manager…

Britain urged to oppose demands from Tanzania and Zambia to lift ban on tusk sales / Conservationists fear the move would intensify slaughter of elephants

Two African countries are trying to open a new breach in the worldwide ivory trade ban, which conservationists fear could lead to more African elephants being slaughtered by poachers. Environmental campaigners called on Britain to take a clear lead in opposing the proposals by Tanzania and Zambia to sell their ivory stocks, which will be voted on at the next meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Qatar in March. More online at The Independent…

A top member of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF) visits Kariba and is shocked to discover how drunk and ill-behaved youngsters are being allowed to trash one of the country’s most important game conservancies – all for the love of cash. (Pictured: Buffalo – Only 65 of these left at Charara from the 96 that were recorded last year). In this account the ZCTF members also gives details of reported cases of illegal hunting to show how Zimbabwe’s wildlife is being laid to waste by a few but very powerful individuals motivated by greedy: On the 21st of December, we went to Kariba and stayed at Nzou Lodges, close to the NAU Charara site where the infamous party takes place. We never take a radio or a TV there because it seems almost sacrilegious to disturb the peacefulness and natural silence of the bush with music. Until the 29th of December, there were very few people there and it was wonderful to sit quietly listening to the beautiful sounds of nature. We were very lucky because there was a herd of 11 bull elephants in the vicinity for the duration of our stay and every night, we were treated to a visit from one or two of these majestic beasts, walking right past our cottage. more online at The Zimbabwean…

For centuries the Chimanimani passes have served as trade routes between Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Recently Sean Christie and photographer Lisa King joined the arduous trail in search of intrepid gold seekers. “The gold panners call the place Musanditera,” said Ben (surname withheld). “It means ‘don’t follow me’, and this was always the message of the panners to their families when departing for the mountain rivers, because, you see, the decision to go panning on the other side of Chimanimani Mountains, in Mozambique so far away from home, is often the last decision a person makes.” More online at the Mail & Guardian Online…

Scott Ramsey, in his blog www.zimtravel.blogspot.com, writes about his recent meeting with Charles Brightman who heads up the Victoria Falls anti-poaching unit. Charles is a professional safari and wildlife guide, running his own business called Discover Safaris, a personalised and small-group wildlife enthusiast operation. The 45 year-old Zimbo has been a top licensed wildlife guide in the area for 23 years, and is a passionate wildlife lover and Zimbabwe parks fan. He started the anti-poaching unit in 1999 with the approval and assistance of the national park warden, after he noticed an alarming rise in poaching while taking clients around the park. Poaching, like anywhere in Africa, is an ongoing social and economic problem. During the last 10 years in Zimbabwe the situation has deteriorated dramatically. Charles believes that it is the worst he’s ever seen in Vic Falls National Park, a direct result of a dramatic drop in tourism numbers because of the political situation. It’s an understandable, yet tragic, scenario. People have lost their jobs, they have no money to buy food…yet the community of 25 000 people live within the Vic Falls national park – and the wild animals and people mingle freely through the unfenced park. If I was hungry, I’d also probably set a snare to feed my children. More online at The Zimbabwean…

Harare — VILLAGERS in Chikomba West constituency have called on the Ministry of Environment and Tourism together with the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority to assess potential tourist resorts in the area that could add diversity to Zimbabwe’s tourism package. Speaking during the presentation of 400 000 jatropha seedlings ready for transplant in Chikomba West, Industry and Trade Deputy Minister Mike Bimha, who is also the constituency’s Member of the House of Assembly, said efforts to engage the relevant authorities to boost tourism in the area had already begun. More online at AllAfrica.com…

Reports from Zimbabwe on Wednesday revealed war veterans in the south-east of the country were poisoning rhinos at drinking holes and then tracking them down to steal their horns. Conservationists said poachers were using cunning ways to kill rhinos to avoid attracting anti-poaching teams. The poachers are supplying horns to dealers mostly in South Africa. More online at Eyewitness News…

The silent wars involving Kenya and Rwanda on one side against their East African partner Tanzania over trade in ivory heads to Brussels from January 22. Kenya and Mali will be co-chairing a six-day meeting that brings together 27 countries which are members of the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species (Cites). They will be aiming at forging a united front against Tanzania and Zambia’s proposal for permission for a one-off sale of ivory. The meeting in Brussels comes less than two months before the 15th Cites Conference of the Parties (COP15) between March 13 and 25 in Doha, Qatar. More online at the Daily Nation…

Cape Town – Zimbabwean war veterans are said to be spreading their baleful influence over the rhino population of the country, by turning poacher and feeding them poisoned cabbages near water holes, in a game reserve in the Chiredzi district. According to the Simply Green website, the veterans are working as poaching agents for South African based rhino horn dealers. When the animals come for water they will also eat the cabbages. They will then track them until they die, then take off the horns. More online at News24…

ZIMBABWE could be losing millions of dollars in revenue to a syndicate involving International Police Organisation (Interpol) officials working in cahoots with Zimbabwean poachers which is smuggling zebra skins to South Africa en-route to lucrative Italian markets, Sunday News can reveal. An impeccable source within the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority revealed to this newspaper that some officials in Interpol were working hand in glove with poachers in facilitating the smuggling of zebra skins through the Plumtree border post to South Africa where they were processed and shipped to Italy. More online at Sunday News…

Elise Pinners who lives and works in Kenya has found that even with all the literature that is available, many people, including scientist do not understand the technology nor do they apply it correctly. Most frequent misapplications include planting too far apart within the line and planting on existing terrace ridges, the latter completely misses the point that a vetiver hedgerow acts as a permeable buffer, spreader of rainfall run off, and a trapper of soil. Elise has created a very useful comparative table showing the differences between a vetiver hedgerow and a constructed terrace, in her case Kenya’s “Fanya Juu” system of conservation. One aspect of vetiver that people either don’t know about or disregard is that it is very different from other conservation plants and grasses in its root development. I know of no other grass that develops new roots from the culm and branches as sediment gets trapped behind it. More online at The Vertiver Network (International)…

There has been a massive surge in illegal ivory trading, researchers warned last week. They have found that more than 14,000 products made from the tusks and other body parts of elephants were seized in 2009, an increase of more than 2,000 on their previous analysis in 2007. Details of this disturbing rise have been revealed on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the world ivory trading ban. Implemented on 18 January 1990, it was at first credited with halting the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of elephants. More online at The Guardian…

EIGHT fish poachers have been killed by crocodiles at Harare’s Lake Chivero in the past two weeks while a ninth person was attacked and seriously injured yesterday. Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesperson Ms Caroline Washaya-Moyo confirmed the attacks, saying the victims included both men and women. ‘These people did not have licences that gave them the permission to fish in the lake. In the past two weeks alone, we have had eight people attacked and killed by crocodiles and all but two bodies were recovered.’ More online at The Sunday Mail…