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One poacher caught after a shootout, in which one of his accomplices died, was jailed for 77 years last week. Kruger park rangers have arrested 69 poachers so far this year. The people who are arrested in the park are caught by rangers," said Phaahla. "The rangers are still our most valuable asset. It's a job that requires alertness at the highest level and bush survival skills, where every spoor is inspected to detect the presence of invaders.įile picture shows members of the South African defence force deploying in a mock anti-poaching operation in Kruger National Park
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Midzi leads a team of 16 rangers in charge of 90,000 hectares in the southern section of the park, where he says most rhino poaching occurs. Rhino poaching jumped from 13 animals killed in 2007 to the slaughter of 1,004 last year mostly in the Kruger park, which is roughly the size of Wales. The horns are mistakenly believed to have medicinal properties. "Our primary task is to protect all the animals and the ecosystem of the park, but the rhino is facing the biggest threat," he told AFP. Midzi is one of nearly 350 rangers who traverse the two million hectare (nearly five million acre) park on foot, checking for any signs of unusual activity. "They are prepared to kill, and some are armed with AK 47 rifles." "Our lives are also at risk, because we stand in the way of what the poachers want," said veteran ranger Stephen Midzi.
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The vast park had been free of elephant poaching for more than a decade before the first one was shot and had its tusks hacked off in May.Įlephant tusks and rhino horns can fetch high prices, especially in Asia, and poachers are ready to battle to get them. Rhino are their usual prey-they have killed 380 this year-but in an ominous sign of more trouble ahead the park announced Thursday that a second elephant had been killed for its tusks. He faces threats not only from lions and elephants but from humans as well-heavily-armed poachers who stalk the park's wilderness day and night.