Sorry, I've been blog lazy, but I'm back to SHOUT about POACHING!!

Dear Reader!

I am a sista' from the 'hood now living in Namibia, with an attitude on this issue of poaching. If we don't get a handle on this now, our children will know rhinos, lions and elephants only from photos and movies and not in the wild anymore.  That cannot be; it cannot be allowed to happen quietly...we must rage and scream about this until we move the mountain, even just a little bit.  We cannot destroy nature in this way and not expect a negative backlash that destroys a part of our own humanity.

We hear a lot about Rhino horn and elephant tusks, but it's wider than that, including the poaching of the big cats, crocs, snakes, birds, and other animals.

Since the end of 2014 and through June 2015, there have been over 60 Rhino carcasses found in Etosha National Park in Namibia.  From 2012, when poaching seems to have relatively speaking, exploded in Namibia (including all species, not just rhino), Namibia has been waking up slowly, but waking up to implementing preventative measure, organizing and mobilizing all parts of the society, and taking judicial as well as painful punitive actions on-the-ground when people are caught red-handed.  

Photo taken by my friends, Scott and Judy Hurd, WHK, Namibia
These guys were enjoying a sunset in Etosha National Park

Poaching of any animal is a horrendous crime against Nature and the people of Namibia to whom all wildlife within its sovereign borders belong.  It is an outrage and a rape of Namibian Natural Resources and must be handled as a crime of the highest degree.  Right now (as of June 2015), there are four Chinese nationals under arrest in Namibia, one of whom is accused of being a 'kingpin' of the cartel responsible for the export of the poached rhino and elephant horns and tusks to the Asian markets.   These guys actually put rhino horns and a lion skin in their luggage and attempted to just walk through the security check-in areas with their carry-on luggage and easily catch a plane and leave the country!  What arrogant gall; they did it so blatantly and carelessly that one could speculate that they (and their criminal colleagues) have done it before many times and gotten away with it, so no subterfuge was needed.

Needless to say, these particular criminals' disdain for the professionalism of Namibian airport and customs officials led to their immediate arrest and incarceration in the horrid jail cells and prisons with nasty conditions, here in Namibia.  The slow turning of the wheels of justice in Namibia mean that their trials will take years to finalize and these accused (caught red-handed!) will stay in jail until the process is complete.  No bail has been granted and the Chinese Embassy in Namibia is helping Namibian officials in the handling of this open-and-shut case against its nationals.  I don't advocate poor prison conditions and I believe that anyone arrested and accused must be innocent until proven guilty, but I make no apologies for my hypocrisy in this case.

Recently, a South African newspaper reported that the amount paid for a Rhino horn is as much as USD$600,000 PER POUND!  With the exchange rate currently somewhere around 12 to 1 (USD to South African Rand), this is serious money.  This level of money flowing from this illicit trade and that of other animal species around the world, means that poaching, like the international drug trade, will never end - too many people at too many levels are making too much money and getting away with it.

HOWEVER, the risk and cost of poaching can be raised to such a level that it is highly discouraged with high casualties on the ground, frequent incarceration of those caught, confiscation of assets and belongings of those convicted, international sanctions against countries with shops selling products of poaching, and other innovative and painful prods.

photo from Save the Rhino website, 2013

I did an article for Insight Magazine last year on poaching and there is an interview I just did with the Minister of Environment and Tourism (MET) in Namibia, Hon. Pohamba Shifeta, where we talked of various topics, including this major one.  Google Insight Magazine, Namibia and take a look at these pieces for more information.

I've been doing tourism stuff in Namibia for 10 years now.  People making money by destroying something glorious, beautiful and irreplaceable that belongs to everyone, are the most selfish and mean-spirited people in the world from my point of view.  I cast my anger on the entire illegal poaching food chain, from the small, ignorant Namibian who is assisting the poaching cartels, to the big fish making tons of money selling the ground horn internationally to the gullible people buying the product who think it is a Viagra-cancer cure-magic medicine and including all customs, shipping and other officials everywhere colluding with this illicit trade.

http://www.allposters.com/-sp/White-Square-Lipped-Rhino-Namibia-Posters_i3676635_.htm

Now is the time to come to Namibia and SUPPORT our world class efforts for conservation and wildlife management.

Namibia is one of the top 10 best destinations in the world for vacation and holiday travel.  Go to the Namibia Tourism Board's website for the listing of all of our awards and accolades.  Our communal conservancies and community based tourism programs have received honors for a reason:  We are smokin' good on conservation issues in Namibia.  Are we perfect?  Of course not, who is?  But, we've got it goin' on here and you need to plan your Namibian holiday NOW... to check us out!

The piece below is done by my friends at Wilderness Safaris and the Save the Rhino Trust here in Namibia.  Read and learn some great stuff. Contact Tarryn at Wilderness for more info:

TARRYN GIBSON

WILDERNESS SAFARIS

P O Box 5219, Rivonia, 2128, South Africa

373 Rivonia Boulevard, Rivonia, South Africa

T + 27 (0)11 257 5241 (Direct) 

T + 27 (0)11 807 1800 

*By the way... Wilderness leads the way in conservation friendly tours and safaris all over Africa and in Namibia.  I've worked with them for years and recommend them HIGHLY!!!  

Desert Rhino Camp Secures a Future for Critically-Endangered Black Rhino in Namibia

May 2015 – Wilderness Safaris’ Desert Rhino Camp, situated within the 580 000-hectare (1.4 million-acre) Palmwag Concession in Namibia’s remote and rugged north-west Kunene Region, remains a prime example of how the private sector, NGOs and local communities can work together to ensure a future for Africa’s most threatened wildlife.

  Tracking black rhino on foot with experienced Save the Rhino Trust guides from Desert Rhino Camp.

The camp, which opened in 2003, is a joint venture between Africa’s leading ecotourism company, Wilderness Safaris; conservation NGO, Save the Rhino Trust (SRT) Namibia; and the local conservancies of Torra, Sesfontein and Anabeb. Here, guests have the opportunity of not only tracking rhino on foot or by vehicle with SRT trackers, but also of playing a meaningful role in the ongoing preservation of this Critically-Endangered species. A portion of guests’ nightly rates directly funds black rhino monitoring and various other conservation activities in the region.

--Until next time,  Jackie