Rhino corps set to fight fire with fire

Chopper pilot Brad Grafton spotted a group of hostiles as he hovered overhead. Instantly, he knew he was in danger.

The airman had been trained by the military and also flown for the police, so could recognise the threat he and his crew faced.

Moments later the helicopter came under fire. He and his crew had to return fire as they executed evasive manoeuvres.

This scene could have played out on the battlefields of Iraq or Afghanistan, but  happened in the Kruger National Park late in 2015. And, according to rangers and security personnel  in the reserve, that exchange of fire and other encounters show the  level the fight to save the country’s wildlife has reached.

Soon the Kruger pilots will  wear R75,000 body armour  in the cockpit. The aircraft will also  be protected by R750,000 ceramic bulletproof plates fixed to the undersides.

Game rangers are now armed and wear bulletproof vests as the war on poaching becomes increasingly violent.

The rangers are putting their lives on the line in the battle against the poachers. For many, it  was not the job they had signed up for.

Grafton said the danger of their missions could not be overstated.

“We saw the guy on the ground and they started bailing out from under a tree. I knew he was going to shoot. We had started to orbit and we heard the shot go off. We returned some suppressive fire and he ran.

“We put ourselves in dangerous situations because we go into a hover, we are low and slow and become exposed targets because we use minimum force,” Grafton said.

“These guys are not timid; if they are going to come in and do this, they are going to be aggressive.”

Grafton said the reality of what could have happened if the gunman had found his mark only dawned on him later.

He admitted that these kinds of attacks were nothing compared with  the danger field rangers faced on the ground  almost every day.

Figures provided by SA National Parks showed rangers were involved in gun battles at least every second day.

In 2015 and 2016 there were 325 shootouts in the Kruger Park between rangers and poachers.

This year there were 17 attacks in the first eight weeks.

“The rangers are the thin line that protects our natural assets,” said SANParks spokesman Isaac Phaahla.

There have been nearly 5,700 incursions into the park by poachers since the start of 2015.

This violent scenario has forced the game rangers to do jobs they were not trained to do.

“You are not up against a subsistence poacher armed with the muzzle-loader,” said Andrew Campbell, head of the Game Rangers’ Association of Southern Africa.

“You are up against well-equipped syndicates who are not afraid to take life.”

Kruger National Park chief ranger Nicholus Funda said that conservation efforts had almost fallen by the wayside as 90% of all efforts in the park were directed towards anti-poaching.

“You must know it is not only the bullets of the poachers we must worry about, but they operate in a place with dangerous game that is everywhere,” he said.

The psychological toll was also a concern, Funda said.

“We have taken special care to ensure that we have psychological services available, so that they don’t take this trauma home to their families.”

One ranger — who was shot in the arm by a poacher in March last year — told the Sunday Times that the situation had changed significantly since he started 12 years ago.

The man asked not to be identified because of fear that poachers in his home village outside the Kruger Park would target him.

“Poachers can be found anywhere these days,” the man said. “We live with them ... and they can target [you] or attempt to involve you in their activities because they know you work in the park.”

He said that although poachers were dangerous, “I have courage and am passionate about what I do”.

The ranger was on patrol with four colleagues on March 6 2016, when a wounded rhino ran past.

They moved in the direction the rhino came from and found three poachers, one of whom was armed.

“A fire-fight ensued and the armed suspect shot at us, injuring me in the lower arm. In the process, one of the suspects was fatally injured, while the other two escaped,” he said.

The ranger was  taken to hospital and has since recovered.

“For now I get assigned to do light duties at the ranger section, but I cannot wait for the day I can fully execute my normal duties in the bush again,” he said.

wicksj@sundaytimes.co.za, savidesm@sundaytimes.co.za