So two weeks in Kruger have come and gone and it’s back to the office life for now. The trip has once again left me with a few unanswered questions or rather things to ponder. Everything seems to come with it’s pro’s and con’s and my situation is no different.
I was offered an opportunity I could not refuse, a full week in a wilderness area of Kruger National Park. In this time we would assist the field rangers where required or alternatively we would go out on long educational walks to gain encounters with the big five and talk through specific behaviors and circumstances. Of course we stopped for the small stuff too and spoke about the fauna, flora and topography of the region. Now most people pay big money to do what we did so I consider myself extremely privileged to be given this opportunity. It’s not often that one can be driving one minute, like the area that you are in and decide to rather walk it, out you hop and off you go. The area we were in is around 40 000 hectares in size, that’s bigger that the majority of private reserves in the country so once again I reiterate how lucky I am. Now for the flip side of this privilege.
Unfortunately this area is being heavily targeted by Rhino Poachers who are gaining in confidence heading deeper and deeper into the reserve. The anti poaching teams have had recent success but in all I visited 6 Carcasses of recently poached White Rhino’s. It is really something to see first hand how cruel people can be and this all for a bit of Keratin (The stuff our finger nails are made of). We witnessed one particularly brutal kill and the evidence was spread over a wide area. The poor Rhino was not yet dead when the Rhino Poachers began hacking off the horns, the rocks on which the poachers had laid it’s head were clear to see but one last struggle brought the Rhino to rest around 30 meters from where it had first fallen. The field rangers with their expert ability to read the signs painted a horrible picture of what had transpired, multiple shots ringing out at it’s final fight for life.
So I ask the question, am I still privileged to witness the aftermath of something as cruel and senseless as this? I suppose in truth the answer is yes, it gives me an opportunity to tell the story to many others and spread support for what the guys on the ground are doing. They work tirelessly for days and nights tracking, setting up ambushes, gathering evidence and risking their lives in apprehending these guys. Equipment is a problem and I will be talking to the Honorary Rangers and bringing certain things to their attention. I have no doubt that these are already on the radar but we need to somehow speed our internal processes up. The War on poaching is now, not in a few months or a year.
So I guess being privileged enough to have been allowed to enjoy this wilderness I cannot now turn a blind eye and state it is not my problem. We have a duty to protect our national heritage and the future of a species.
* As a footnote, The SANParks Honorary Rangers are a group of individuals who give up their personal time to raise funds for the South African National Parks in support of environmental initiatives, for more information please go to http://www.sanparks.org/groups/hr/ . Every bit helps! One last thing, if you see anything suspicious on the public roads of our parks, report it. Take as many details as possible and get them to the relevant authorities.
