What power water has!!! I have been rivited by the power and destruction of the floods in the Kruger Park in the last 2 days. One cannot but be in awe at those raging torrents and the way it simply finds the shortest path through an obstruction. It does though seem that all the parks in the area have managed to sort out the humans and that there fortunately does not appear to be any loss of life.
What about the animals? One shudders to think what these raging waters have done to the animals. It is always said that animals have an instinct where they seem to know what is coming and mostly manage to get out of the way of these disasters, but there is no doubt there will be many animals that will have suffered with all these rivers in flood.
How poignant is this cartoon?
There is so much talk about the rhino poaching and what can and should be done to get to the poachers.
At last our Government has stepped up to the plate and are taking some direct action. Let us hope that the additional rangers, the re-instatement of the Mozambique fence as well as the negotiations with the various “consumer” country governments will have some effect.
150 Additional Rangers for Kruger National Park
Pretoria – 15/01/2012 SAPA report
An additional 150 rangers will be deployed to the Kruger National Park this year in a bid to combat rhino poaching, Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said on Sunday.
Molewa, addressing a National Press Club briefing in Pretoria, said that would add to the existing 500 rangers currently employed in the park.
Molewa's announcement follows the killing of 11 rhino in the country this year so far.
Two poachers have been killed and another two have been arrested in connection with the rhinos poaching in the Kruger National Park this year.
In 2011, 448 rhino were killed in South Africa.
"This on going poaching of our rhino population is a great source of concern to the government."
About 232 people had been arrested for rhino poaching, Molewa said.
We all hailed the New Year with enthusiasm and determination to make this year a memorable one.
What a devastating start to the year with the discovery of the rhino carcasses in the Kruger National Park as well as some of the private reserves. It seems the poachers did enormous damage during the festive season. If one has to look for any good that comes out of such a horrific tragedy in our conservation, it is that this news has galvanised the public into making a stance and wanting to make a difference. How sad that we have to be horrified into action.
As 2011 draws to a close, we reflect on the year that has been... 2011 has been a devastating year for the rhino population in our country.
The numbers are around 435 +. This is a staggering amount of the most incredibly majestic creatures, slaughtered to feed a ever increasing demand from Vietnam, China and Yemen.
Whether a National Park or a Private Reserve, the devastating effect of the rhino slaughter has been thrust at us with cruel reality. For the nature loving South Africans who prefer not to dwell on the harshnes of nature, even they have been assaulted with the reality of the cruelness and brutality of the rhino poaching. The images we have been exposed to have been gut-wrenching and one cannot ignore the reality of the situation. As parents, we wish to shelter our children from these images, but our children are non-plussed that there is such cruelty that we just dont seem to be able to control.