Rangers face death every day in war against poachers

09 August 2015 - 02:00 By JAN BORNMAN

Two shots rang through Kruger National Park. It was around midnight on Friday last week when a group of South African National Parks rangers realised there had been another hit. A reaction team was sent to the area near Malelane where the park borders the N4 highway to Mozambique. Expertly, those first on the scene combed it for fresh tracks, for clues to help them catch the ever-growing band of poachers who now practically live in the park. As they followed the tracks, they spotted the poachers. One of them was shot dead. His accomplices escaped with the horn just hacked off a three-year-old black rhino.This is just another incident that explains why SAN Parks rangers have had to assume a paramilitary role to battle poachers, who killed 1215 rhinos last year .story_article_left1"We used to carry guns to protect ourselves if we stumble upon an animal. But now we are facing a war with the poachers. Some of them carry handguns, but others even come with AK47s," said a ranger.By the end of April this year, nearly 400 rhinos had been killed in South Africa, a staggering 290 of those in Kruger .On Tuesday, a police detective and a member of SANParks's environmental crime investigating unit were back at the scene of last Friday's killing.They collected DNA samples and bullet casings as part of forensic evidence in the hope of linking the poachers to other incidents.At any given time there are up to 15 armed poachers working their way through Kruger .SANParks, the police and the defence force have created a joint command centre, known as the Foxhole, from where they co-ordinate their efforts in the park.The command centre has allowed for swift action when suspicious activity is picked up, but when it comes down to the hunt for the culprits, most credit goes the K9 unit, responsible for up to 80% of arrests.One ranger, who asked not be named, said it was a "dangerous job".full_story_image_hleft1He has arrested people from his own village nearby, which has ostracised him.He now describes himself as just a "general worker" in the park, not wanting them to know that he may have had a hand in the arrest or killing of a neighbour.Ken Maggs, chief of staff for special projects at the Foxhole, said it was "inevitable" that a ranger could be killed when engaging poachers in the park.He said the poachers feared nothing and were becoming more aggressive towards the rangers.Roughly 4300 poachers were operating in Kruger National Park last year, Maggs said...

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