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With such dread and disappointment I read the latets Statistics issued by SANparks on Rhino poaching. Despite all the efforts and enthusiasm shown by the public, the field rangers themselves, the administration and the environmental protection agencies, the poachers are still wreaking havoc among our rhino population.

To think that 405 rhino have been poached out of our parks this year and we have managed to arrest 210 suspects. One cannot question the abilities of the field rangers but one does have to look seriously at the skills employed by the poachers. What do we need to do to ensure that our rangers are better equipped than the poachers? We need to put even more effort into ensuring that the rangers and their support teams have THE most sophisticated equipment at their disposal.

Read more: Rhino poaching not slowing down... Latest Shocking Statistics

Having just updated the statistics on the rhino poaching figures around the country leaves me with a sick-to-the-stomach feeling.

How are we ever going to combat this slaughter of the rhino in our beautiful country? Statistics are mere numbers and it is easy to simply see them as such and forget that each of these numbers represents a magnificent rhino who no longer roams the African Bush. Our initiative focuses on combatting the poaching within SANParks, which is no doubt where the highest number of poachings do occur. In partnership with the Honorary Rangers we are pulling out all the stops to get more funding to the rangers to fight on our behalf. When the official numbers are released and I updated the spreadsheet, it was nauseating that there was an increase of 27 in the Kruger Park alone in the last 30 days!!!! KZN parks and Limpopo were also under severe attack and the private reserves were not left alone either. Officially on 1st November the number stands at 362. This is not just a number...can you imagine these 362 rhinos grouped together in one place...this would be an incredible sight to see so many in one place simultaneously... now imagine gunning that number down, one or more a day, every day..... this is what the poachers are doing to our rhino population. To lose 1 rhino each day off this planet is simply unacceptable.

Read more: Frightening Poaching Statistics

Roger The Field Ranger..yes, that really is his name... was delighted to see what was being supplied to the men at grass roots level, to face the poachers. What an incredible experience to see all the equipment laid out to be distributed to the various sections of the Kruger National Park... 400 x tents, 400 x rucksacks, 400 x first aid kits, 400 x headlights, 400 x rainjackets... you get the jist of this.

The SANParks Honorary Rangers (all volunteers) did an amazing job in determining what was on the wish list for the Rangers, acquiring the kit at the best price and of a reasonable quality, since the kit is really going to be used under

Read more: The first real steps...

Imagine walking through the bush on a blistering summer's day... sounds idyllic to some...

Now lets keep walking all day, expecting behind any shrub a poacher waiting to attack our precious rhino. Their aim is to incapacitate the rhino as quickly as possible by whatever means and to hack out the horn. A SANParks Field Ranger is simply a barrier to navigate and if necessary eliminate in the quest to extract the precious rhino horn.

Suddenly the bush does not sound quite as idyllic, the heat not so appealing, security seems far away and home comforts are sadly lacking...

Read more: Equipping our warriors...

Where to from here....

The public outrage relating to rhino poaching is encouraging and we need to ensure that there is continued pressure to reduce the incidence.

On Rhino day 2011, the thrust was to educate people that rhino horn is not medicinal...sadly though we are not reaching the actual consumers...

How do you change a culture that is ages old when you do not have the ear of the people you are trying to influence?

Read more: Where to from here...