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Poaching in Zimbabwe
Organized syndicates of poachers are killing wildlife in Zimbabwe’s animal parks. Commercial poachers mainly target elephants and rhinos for their horns, and giraffe and zebra for their skins. Poor subsistence poachers who are mostly locals use wire snares to capture plains game for meat. Areas hardest hit by rhino poachers are Lake Chivero, near Harare, and parks in the central, western and south-eastern parts of the country. Rhino horns and elephant tusks are smuggled to South Africa, Europe and China, while zebra and giraffe skins are sold in South Africa. Morris Mtsambiwa, the director general of Zimbabwe’s Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, recently said “Rhino poaching has put Zimbabwe in the spotlight within the framework of Cites; rhino poaching is now becoming a very serious problem for us.” The International Rhino Federation, a conservation group based in Florida, said eight poachers had been killed this year. Raoul du Toit, the director of Zimbabwe’s Lowveld Rhino Trust, told the International Rhino Foundation website recently: “In the Midlands Conservancy, for example, the black rhino population has declined from 45 a few years ago to about five animals now.
Organized syndicates of poachers are killing wildlife in Zimbabwe’s animal parks. Commercial poachers mainly target elephants and rhinos for their horns, and giraffe and zebra for their skins. Poor subsistence poachers who are mostly locals use wire snares to capture plains game for meat. Areas hardest hit by rhino poachers are Lake Chivero, near Harare, and parks in the central, western and south-eastern parts of the country. Rhino horns and elephant tusks are smuggled to South Africa, Europe and China, while zebra and giraffe skins are sold in South Africa. Morris Mtsambiwa, the director general of Zimbabwe’s Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, recently said “Rhino poaching has put Zimbabwe in the spotlight within the framework of Cites; rhino poaching is now becoming a very serious problem for us.” The International Rhino Federation, a conservation group based in Florida, said eight poachers had been killed this year. Raoul du Toit, the director of Zimbabwe’s Lowveld Rhino Trust, told the International Rhino Foundation website recently: “In the Midlands Conservancy, for example, the black rhino population has declined from 45 a few years ago to about five animals now.
