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Tourism and Environment

As poachers poison wildlife, Zimbabwe finds an antidote in tougher laws

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BY RYAN TRUSCOTT

Nearly a decade ago, poachers used cyanide to slaughter more than 135 elephants for their ivory in and around Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park.

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In the wake of these poisonings, the Southern African country tightened its laws to prevent similar deadly attacks on its wildlife.

new study shows that, even as international demand for ivory fuels poaching across the continent, this pivotal change to Zimbabwe’s Environmental Management Act in 2018 — combined with efforts to stop poaching before it happens through the improved use of informers — is helping to cut elephant poaching in the country.

Under the revised law, it’s no longer essential for prosecutors to establish that an exact concentration of cyanide was used in a wildlife poaching case.

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“Now you can prosecute people on the basis of intent to use poison maliciously,” says Richard Hoare, a Harare-based conservation consultant and lead author of the study published in the African Journal of Wildlife Research.

“Previously, if prosecutors weren’t able to produce evidence of a dead animal, the magistrates would just convict people of illegal possession of a dangerous chemical without a permit,” Hoare says.

That allowed suspects to get off lightly, with just a fine or community service.

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An accessible weapon

Cyanide is used in Zimbabwe’s mining industry, and its distribution is supposed to be tightly restricted.

But small tablets can be obtained fairly easily by civilians planning to poach.

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“Small amounts of cyanide powder easily go missing from the large stocks held in some mines and enter the illegal supply chain for wildlife poisoning,” the study notes.

“Even some steep price inflation along this chain is offset by the potentially large financial rewards gained from ivory poaching.”

The chemical is a highly effective weapon in the hands of a poacher, who doesn’t need a firearm, the skill to use one, or even the backing of a powerful poaching syndicate.

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Poisoned bait, such as salt mixed with cyanide, can be laid at a waterhole where herds of elephants gather, or along regular routes that they use to get there, and the elephants that eat it die quickly within a few meters of the trap.

Other wildlife, including critically endangered vultures, also fall victim to cyanide poisonings, so the tightened legislation also benefits them.

The 2013 Hwange poisonings led to 219 vulture deaths.

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While the vultures were collateral damage in Hwange, elsewhere they have become the main target.

In August this year, 108 critically endangered white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) were killed by poachers who laced a buffalo carcass with poison in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.

The poachers were after vulture body parts to sell as charms on the illegal fetish market.

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Secret informers

In Zimbabwe, proactive steps to prevent poison from being deployed in the first place is playing an increasingly important part in curbing wildlife crimes.

These include schemes to secretly pay informers.

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“These schemes have got to really be under the radar. And that money has to be kept very quiet, because the people providing the information are taking big risks themselves,” Hoare tells Mongabay.

“My impression is that the use of intelligence has been massively increased. That’s what’s keeping poaching down at the moment.”

This is corroborated by Trevor Lane, one of the co-founders of the Bhejane Trust, a conservation nonprofit.

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The group works closely with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) and the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to conserve wildlife and combat poaching in Victoria Falls National Park and the Sinamatella area of Hwange National Park.

“Good intelligence is absolutely critical,” Lane tells Mongabay.

He says the National Parks Intelligence Unit in Hwange has been very successful in recent years on the back of better intelligence.

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This has resulted in a dramatic drop in poaching.

“I pay out the informer rewards so am very up to date on what is happening, and the Parks Intelligence Unit and the Minerals Flora and Fauna Unit of the ZRP are still producing great results,” he says.

“Commercial poaching in Zimbabwe is at an all-time low.”

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ZimParks spokesman Tinashe Farawo says this year is the third in a row with no cases of elephant poaching around Hwange National Park.

He attributes the decline to the existence of tougher laws like the amended environmental management act, as well as mandatory nine-year jail terms for ivory poaching, all of which act as deterrents.

Communities living close to wildlife are the “first line of defense” in anti-poaching work, he says.

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“They are now assisting us in a big way.”

While there have been no recorded elephant poaching cases since 2020, authorities continue to arrest would-be poachers outside of the park, recording 19 arrests in 2020 and 16 in 2021 according to figures viewed by Mongabay.

But while the study authors say that Zimbabwe’s comprehensive laws against illegal wildlife killing are adequate, there are still gaps in enforcing them.

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Few understand this better than Ever Chinoda.

A former state prosecutor who has also worked as a legal officer for the state wildlife authority, Chinoda is the founder and director of Speak Out for Animals (SOFA), a Zimbabwean NGO.

In 2019, SOFA received funding from the U.K.’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to work with Zimbabwean police, national parks, prosecutors and magistrates to build watertight cases and pursue deterrent sentences for the perpetrators of wildlife crime.

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“Before we started doing case monitoring and training in wildlife law, magistrates and prosecutors had an attitude towards wildlife cases,” Chinoda says.

“A magistrate and a prosecutor would rather adjudicate a case involving shoplifting of a lollipop in a supermarket than to prioritize [illegal] possession of an animal.”

In the last three years, however, Chinoda says she and her team have witnessed progress, which she attributes to tougher laws as well as increased public awareness about the value of wildlife.

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Before SOFA’s intervention, it would take up to a year for a court to conclude a straightforward case involving, for instance, the poaching of a warthog, which is an abundant species.

Those timelines have now been reduced to just three months.

Magistrates are also regularly handing down mandatory nine-year jail terms against poachers who kill any of Zimbabwe’s nine specially protected animals, which include black and white rhinos, cheetahs, and wild dogs.

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Critically, the impact of tighter regulations against wildlife poisoning is also evident.

Chinonda says that poisoning cases, which were once common, appear to have declined dramatically since the law was changed in 2018.

Neither Chinoda nor study co-author Divine Chakombera have records of prosecutions under the new law, which Chinonda says can be seen as a sign that it’s working.

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“When people know that this particular crime attracts a heavy sentence,” she says, “it would definitely deter people from committing the offense.” – Mongabay

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Tourism and Environment

Met Office Warns Of Heavy Rains Across The Country

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI 

The Meteorological Services Department (MSD) has warned about the strong rainfalls throughout the country, which will be accompanied by lightning and strong winds from today until next week. 

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MSD in a statement said the main watershed will cut across major towns from Mutare to Harare, Harare to Bulawayo, Bulawayo to Plumtree and Harare to Masvingo.

“The ITCZ [InterTropical Convergence Zone] which has been active over the northern parts of the country is expected to combine with a cloud band which is moving from the west to the east covering the whole country and as a result the combined effect of the two should result in precipitation amounts in excess of 50mm in areas along the main watershed,” the MSD rains alert said. 

Additionally, hail storms and lighting might be experienced  in some parts of the country which might lead to destruction of infrastructure, the department said.

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According to the Civil Protection Unit director, Nathan Nkomo, lighting has killed almost 50 people in the country since October last year. 

“Lightning strikes remain a threat to humans and livestock, as well as property. Heavy rains may reduce visibility, especially at night.

“Rivers and wetlands may be flooded, even by rains from upstream. Excessive moisture may cause poorly constructed buildings to collapse, please reinforce some structures of questionable stability,” the MSD said.

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The department also called on people to avoid crossing flooded rivers, swollen streams, areas where flash flooding has occurred or where flowing water is above ankle height.

“Noting that, a 30cm depth of flowing water may sweep away large vehicles, waiting for the water to subside before attempting to cross, even though flooding is caused by heavy rains that occurred somewhere.

“Do not hide under trees or in isolated sheds during thunderstorms as these are prone to lightning strike.” 

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Tourism and Environment

The well-heeled mini state that is bucking the trend in Zimbabwe

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BY DOUGLAS ROGERS

One writer returns to the country of his birth to discover how a ‘Wonder of the World’ is transforming tourism in troubled times.

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It was 4pm in Zambezi National Park, a few miles from the majestic Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, and the watering hole was quiet. A fireball sun dipped over the borderlands to the west. From our timber-built hide, my son Whitaker, aged 12, panned his binoculars across the landscape and saw a cloud of dust on the horizon. “There’s something coming,” he said.

Steve Taylor, our Zimbabwe-born guide, took a look. “Good spot, Whitaker,” he said. “Buffalo. Hundreds of them!” He checked his watch. “They’ll be here in 45 minutes. Anyone fancy a sundowner?”

Sure enough, exactly 45 minutes later, 300 Cape buffalo stood drinking at the pan and, like a post-work stampede for happy hour, other animals began to appear – antelope, warthog, a dozen elephants, a lone giraffe. Somewhere nearby, hyenas howled.

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“Ten years ago, you wouldn’t have seen game like this here,” said Taylor, founder and owner of Askari Safari, who splits his time between the United States and a new home in Victoria Falls. “The area was in trouble, and there were few animals because of poaching and mismanagement. Now, all that is changing.”

The reason is the establishment, in 2011, of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (Kaza), or Five Nations Peace Park. Kaza is the joining together of 36 national parks and three World Heritage Sites on the borders of five countries – Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe – making it the largest transboundary wildlife system in the world. The size of France, and home to half of Africa’s elephants, Kaza has shown how cross-border cooperation on wildlife management, anti-poaching and community conservation can transform animal populations

Tourism is making a comeback, too, and Victoria Falls – Zimbabwe’s spray- drenched colonial river town, a Wonder of the World within Kaza – is booming. Helicopters buzz the cataracts, white-water rafters and luxury river boats ply the Zambezi and people like Taylor, who left Zimbabwe in the bad old days, are buying property there or moving back permanently.

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This was my first post-Covid trip to the country of my birth, from my home in the United States. Part of the reason was to attend a memorial service for my late father in eastern Zimbabwe, where I grew up, but it was also a chance to spend a week’s holiday with my extended family in the Falls, on the opposite side of the country.

I love coming “home”, but Zim is a mess. Inflation is rampant, prices are exorbitant, roads and other infrastructure are crumbling. The exception is Victoria Falls, which might as well be another country. My first glimpse of it was at the impressive airport built by the Chinese in 2015. International flights arrive from seven countries and the energy and excitement at arrivals far exceeds what you feel when landing in Harare, the capital. “We have a saying here: ‘Turn left for Victoria Falls, turn right for Zimbabwe’,” said our transfer driver as he turned left out of the airport on to a smooth, newly built road towards the regenerated town.We had booked a thatched four-bedroom Airbnb named Acacia, in a leafy suburb, and that afternoon did what every self-respecting visitor to the Falls does: have high tea at the Victoria Falls Hotel. I confess, I was braced for disappointment. Built in 1904, the grandest of southern Africa’s grandes dames offers spectacular views of the steel railway bridge across the Zambezi Gorge, but my last visit there 15 years ago had been a complete disaster. With political turmoil and hyper-inflation at their height, there was no electricity, my room was full of cobwebs and I paid my bill with a backpack full of Zimbabwean dollars.

This time around, much to my surprise, the hotel was undergoing a multi-million-dollar renovation – and it looked immaculate. We were swiftly ushered to the Stanley Terrace, fronting lush green lawns where cucumber sandwiches, scones and a dozen types of cake were being delivered in style on three-tiered silver platters.

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Far from rejecting its colonial past, the hotel honours it with an entire hallway of framed photographs of British Royalty. All around us, well-heeled Americans and Europeans were enjoying their afternoon teas and quaffing their pink gins.

But it isn’t just tourists who are coming back to this trend-bucking corner of Zim. An estimated five million Zimbabweans have fled the country since 2000, and most of them continue to live abroad. Of those returning, many choose to settle in the Falls. To get a glimpse of this local scene, Stephen Taylor suggested I visit Loretta’s Coffee Caravan, just around the corner from our Airbnb.Five years ago, the cafe’s owner “TK” Musungwa was running a driving school in Stockport, England, his family having fled Zimbabwe for Manchester in the early 2000s. On a visit to Harare, he met his now wife Loretta – a barista – and on a trip to the Falls, they discovered that they couldn’t find a decent cup of coffee anywhere. TK said farewell to England and Loretta’s Coffee Caravan was born, serving a chocolate-rich blend of Zimbabwean, Rwandan and Tanzanian beans as well as fruit smoothies.

“Vic Falls feels like an island far removed from the madness of Zim,” TK told me, “a small town where people can reinvent themselves. England is an easier place [to live], but this is the home I love.”

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I certainly loved Loretta’s – a bustling coffee shop with tables set under a mahogany tree, frequented not by commuters seeking their caffeine fix but by khaki-clad game guides, armed park rangers, dashing river rafters and real-estate agents cashing in on the property boom.

On our third day, we hit the rapids. The Zambezi below the Falls arguably offers the greatest white-water rafting in the world, so I booked a trip with local outfit Shockwave.Its river outings are not for the faint-hearted. First comes an hour-long trek into the boiling belly of the gorge with the unsettling knowledge that an even steeper climb (up) awaits you down river. Tackling Grade 5 rapids with names such as Jaws of Death and Washing Machine is both terrifying and exhilarating. We were lucky to have as our guide Pilani Moyo, the owner of Shockwave and the first black Zimbabwean to own a rafting business on the Zambezi. He spends the off-season guiding on the greatest rivers in the world and has a home in Colorado, in the United States.

More sedate by far was the four-hour dinner cruise we took on the lush upper reaches of the river, a mile or two upstream from the Falls. I recall taking a “booze cruise” here years ago – on a rusty junk of a vessel filled with rowdy passengers drinking warm beer. This was very different. Our boat, Pure Africa’s Zambezi Explorer, was a sumptuous three-deck vessel with designer sofas, hand-woven Ndebele-patterned chairs and a staff of mixologists, waiters and chefs in addition to the boat captain.Dinner was served at sunset as we cruised past long-tusked elephants grazing on the riverbanks, with hippos snorting in the shallows and a fiery sun setting over towering palm trees upriver. To our immediate right was Zambia, with Botswana, Namibia and Angola beyond. My all-American children were wide-eyed with wonder, and I thought of all the fellow Zimbabweans I had met who had opted to return home. As I write this, I am looking at properties online and thinking seriously about following them. Something must come up.

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Essentials

Douglas Rogers was a guest of Askari Safari (askarisafari.com), which offers a five-night Victoria Falls tour taking in Zambezi National Park from £4,000pp. It includes a guided visit to the Falls, three adrenaline activities, a river cruise plus all breakfasts and dinners, but not flights. In 2025, he and Askari’s owner, Steve Taylor, will lead Storyteller 2025 – a two-week literary safari with talks by game guides, writers and artists.

Five reasons to visit Victoria Falls

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  1. Wildlife wonders

The Falls themselves are wild – but the resurgent animal population is another reason to visit. The region comprises two national parks and is on the edge of the great Hwange game reserve. For the best viewing close to town, take a guided or self-drive trip to Chamabonda Vlei, a narrow plain dotted with watering holes within Zambezi National Park. While you are in town, book a visit to the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust (vicfallswildlifetrust.org), a non-profit organisation that rescues animals wounded by poachers.

  1. Luxurious lodgings

The refurbished Victoria Falls Hotel offers the ultimate in Edwardian era refinement (victoriafallshotel.com; doubles from £420 per night). Ilala, with its gardens and thatched roofs, has a timeless, classic safari lodge feel (ilalalodge.com; doubles from £380). Newly opened Drift Inn is a budget nine-room B&B offering great breakfasts, artisanal coffee, a swimming pool and a yoga, massage and reflexology studio (driftinnvicfalls.com; doubles from £75).

  1. Glorious food

Chef, restaurateur and cookbook author Sarah Lilford serves up Zimbabwe’s most exciting culinary offering at Dusty Road (dustyroad.africa). The daughter of white farmers who lost their land in the early 2000s, she set up her restaurant in working-class Chinotimba township offering authentic Zim dishes – beef stew, chicken in peanut butter, grilled bream – cooked on wood fires. Enjoy them on the veranda or under trees in the backyard. Don’t miss the dried mopani worm snack or the vodka cocktail made with baobab powder. In town, the Three Monkeys (3monkeyszw.com) serves a great tomahawk steak. Next morning, order a flat white at Loretta’s Coffee and Smoothie Caravan on Reynard Road.

4. Thrills and spills

Victoria Falls is Africa’s adventure sports capital. Shockwave (shockwavevictoriafalls.com) offers exhilarating white-water rafting trips, while Wild Horizons (wildhorizons.co.za) operates the heart-in-mouth gorge swing and zip-line right in front of its uber-stylish Lookout Café (thelookoutcafe.com). Shearwater (shearwaterbungee.com) pioneered bungee jumping off the Vic Falls bridge. For more leisurely river adventures, Pure Africa (pure.africa/experiences) offers elegant sunrise, sunset and dinner cruises on the Zambezi in a fleet of luxury vessels.

  1. Art and history

Renowned artist and conservationist Larry Norton has a gallery at the Victoria Falls Hotel (larrynorton.co.za), showcasing his giant, hyper-realistic wildlife paintings. The hotel’s open-air Stone Dynamics Gallery (stonedynamicsgallery.com) displays and sells the work of some of Zimbabwe’s leading sculptors, including Dominic Benhura. Meanwhile, historian Chris Worden from Footsteps of Livingstone (footstepsoflivingstone.com) gives a mesmerising one-hour talk on the life of David Livingstone that could almost be a one-man play in London’s West End. The Telegraph 

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Tourism and Environment

African Sun Hotels donates US$21K to a conservation organisation in Victoria Falls

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI 

The African Sun Hotels group has donated US$21 000 to The Victoria Falls Anti- Poaching Unit, a non-profit wildlife organisation to cover salaries and medical aid for game scouts.

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During the handover ceremony held in Victoria Falls today, African Sun Hotels’ head Marketing, Public Relations and Innovation Charleen Mtezo said this is part of their Corporate Social Responsibility in order to fulfill and meaningfully impact the communities in which they operate, as well as contribute towards the achievement of the United Nations agenda 2030 for strategic development goals.

“The town of Victoria Falls is located in one of the most beautiful environments,” she said.

“However, the beauty of the location comes with some heavy burden of human and wildlife conflict. The Victoria Falls Anti Poaching Unit tries to ease some of the burdens by protecting the wildlife and habitat from poachers, as well as rescuing and rehabilitating injured animals.

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Additionally, they train ex- poachers in new skills so they find alternative avenues of revenue creation to give them a sustainable income without doing harm to flora and fauna. It is against this background that the African Sun Limited, we saw fit for us to assist the Victoria Falls Anti Poaching Unit, so that they are able to carry out the challenging tasks at hand.”

She said the donation of will cover salaries, medical aid for scouts for a period of 12 months.

“l wish to invite other corporations to join us safeguard our precious environment and transform the lives of our communities. Lastly, I applaud those who are already on the ground doing the same.”

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