Rhino poachers target farm for the fourth time in 2 months
Reportedly intended to poison animals with oranges
A farm in the Gobabis district has been targeted multiple times, with six white rhinos poached there since 2020.
Three would-be rhino poachers are reportedly believed to have intended to poison rhinos with oranges.
According to the owner of a farm in the Gobabis district, which has repeatedly been targeted by rhino poachers, the three would-be poachers allegedly confessed that they had planned to poison the rhinos with oranges.
The rhino owner said he has heard of cases in South Africa where rhinos were poisoned with cabbage heads, but he has never heard of oranges being used before.
“I don’t believe the rhinos would eat the oranges," he noted.
The alleged poachers were arrested on Saturday morning on the farm after an anti-poaching unit from Nyime spotted them using night-vision equipment.
“The unit managed to catch them quickly before they could poach the rhinos. The team tracked them for about 25 km overnight and caught all three of them,” the farmer, who preferred not to be named, told Namibian Sun's sister publication, Republikein.
“We’ve had a lot of support from local farmers, police reservists and the protected resources unit," the farmer added.
The three suspects were also reportedly arrested in possession of machetes, knives, gloves and masks.
A search was conducted on the farm for firearms, which were believed to have been discarded, but so far, the weapons and cell phones have not been found.
Multiple poaching incidents
The farmer said this is the fourth time in two months that a gang of poachers entered his farm.
“The first two times it was just two people, probably the ‘scouts.’ The third time it was a group of five and now three.”
Since 2020, six white rhinos have been poached on his farm.
According to the environment ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda, by 11 November, 76 rhinos had been poached nationwide.
Eleven of these were white rhinos poached on private farms, as well as 13 black rhinos that were part of the rhino custodianship programme.
- [email protected]
According to the owner of a farm in the Gobabis district, which has repeatedly been targeted by rhino poachers, the three would-be poachers allegedly confessed that they had planned to poison the rhinos with oranges.
The rhino owner said he has heard of cases in South Africa where rhinos were poisoned with cabbage heads, but he has never heard of oranges being used before.
“I don’t believe the rhinos would eat the oranges," he noted.
The alleged poachers were arrested on Saturday morning on the farm after an anti-poaching unit from Nyime spotted them using night-vision equipment.
“The unit managed to catch them quickly before they could poach the rhinos. The team tracked them for about 25 km overnight and caught all three of them,” the farmer, who preferred not to be named, told Namibian Sun's sister publication, Republikein.
“We’ve had a lot of support from local farmers, police reservists and the protected resources unit," the farmer added.
The three suspects were also reportedly arrested in possession of machetes, knives, gloves and masks.
A search was conducted on the farm for firearms, which were believed to have been discarded, but so far, the weapons and cell phones have not been found.
Multiple poaching incidents
The farmer said this is the fourth time in two months that a gang of poachers entered his farm.
“The first two times it was just two people, probably the ‘scouts.’ The third time it was a group of five and now three.”
Since 2020, six white rhinos have been poached on his farm.
According to the environment ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda, by 11 November, 76 rhinos had been poached nationwide.
Eleven of these were white rhinos poached on private farms, as well as 13 black rhinos that were part of the rhino custodianship programme.
- [email protected]
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article