'Rhino poachers blatant'
Lost cause
Rhino poachers no longer only strike during the full moon and at night, they even poach during daylight. They are becoming blatant.This is according to a despondent farmer in the Okahandja district who caught two men red-handed on his farm last Tuesday with rhino horns in their possession.
He says that in the past three weeks, rhino poachers have struck at three locations in the central region, poaching and injuring rhinos.
In addition to his white rhino(s) that were poached, according to him, one white rhino was poached and two rhinos were injured in the Kalkfeld area at the end of October, as well as two white rhinos that were poached in the Windhoek area this past weekend.
According to him, one of the suspects on the Okahandja farmer’s farm is notorious for wreaking havoc in the Etosha National Park.
“One of the suspects we have caught has been released on bail in connection with three rhino poaching cases,” the farmer said.
The farm is still searching for the rhino carcass(es), but during the arrest, the suspects were found with fresh horns and various poaching equipment.
Confiscated cellphone
“My son confiscated the poachers’ cellphones, which contained important messages from the driver of the vehicle that was supposed to pick them up,” says the farmer.
The rhino carcass being searched for is believed to be that of a white rhino cow.
His son flies a gyrocopter over the farm every day and dogs are also being used to help stem the poaching
One set of horns was confiscated from the suspects, of which the longest horn is 15 cm in length, according to the farmer.
“We dehorned our rhinos last year and we suspect it is the horn of a white rhino cow.”
No praise is given to the Namibian authorities, with the farmer claiming that there is a lack of urgency in the matter. “We caught the suspects. The inspector of the Blue Rhino task force did not even answer his cellphone. We called the task force at 17:00 and they only arrived at the farm at 20:00.”
According to Deputy Commissioner Barry de Klerk, the head of the Blue Rhino task force, the incident was reported to him at 17:44 and he sent a team from Windhoek that arrived at the farm between 19:00 and 20:00.
The farmer says that in the meantime, the driver of the poachers’ vehicle was presumably warned and got a sniff of it. The accused’s case has been postponed until 5 February 2025 and they remain in custody.
Lack of urgency
“Rhinoceros owners are watching with interest how this case will be handled by relevant authorities,” the farmer says.
He believes that there is no urgency or cooperation from the government – not from the Namibian police, the environment ministry or even the courts to prevent or tackle rhino poaching.
“We have a case from 2017 where we caught the suspects and the gun was positively identified with the rhinos that were shot. At that stage, more than a dozen black and white rhinos were shot at us.”
He says these suspects are still free on bail. “We are now moving to two dozen rhinos that were shot and injured.”
The farmer says he is throwing in the towel on rhino farming and his participation in the rhino conservation project (custodianship).
“We have produced many black rhinos since 2000. We did not benefit from it, but it was my contribution to rhino conservation.”
He says that in addition to the growing number of poaching syndicates that are becoming more professional and cunning, the drought is a major issue. In addition, rhinos have to be dehorned, which is a huge expense along with anti-poaching units.
“Whether rhinos are dehorned or not, they are being poached – not just during the full moon, but in broad daylight. If this continues, we are done. We draw a line. The state can then come and get their rhinos. If this continues, we will only see rhinos in the zoo,” the farmer concluded. – [email protected]