About 200 rhino have reportedly been killed by poachers in Zimbabwe over the last three years, and wildlife officials warn that international and regional poaching syndicates are benefiting from local cooperation.

Disappointing news: Zimbabwe may have lost a quarter of its rhino population in just three years, due to the increasing strength of organized poaching syndicates and a network of local support.

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After a gun battle in Charara National park near Sanyati Gorge, park rangers shot and killed an elephant poacher, arrested three accomplices - and recovered an AK-47 rifle.

While out on patrol, two rangers stationed at Charara Safari Area and Tashinga National Parks came across the carcass of an elephant, who appeared to have been recently killed. As their regular rounds did not turn up any suspects, they decided to wait in ambush near the elephant’s carcass.

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From the proposed bill to protect the North American black bear to the resurgence of elephant poaching in Kenya - and the skinning of a tiger inside an Indonesian zoo - the issues are not over yet.

Lions and tigers and bears … and elephants, whales, and rhino: Here are a few updates - as of today - on nine of my wildlife conservation posts. Four zoo posts are included, as zoos are (ideally) intended to be facilities for protecting precious wildlife.

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In an intense international rescue and anti-poaching operation, 46 black rhino have been moved to safer areas - and eight poachers have been killed - in Zimbabwe.

Thanks to coverage by international media, public support, and international pressure from CITES, the International Rhino Foundation’s (IRF) Crisis Zimbabwe awareness campaign has reportedly raised more than $120,000 in emergency funds to rescue 46 black rhino from vulnerable areas in Zimbabwe. And since May, eight poachers have been killed during armed confrontations with police, compared to seven known rhino poaching losses in the Lowveld.

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A shocking undercover journey reveals that a poaching cartel known as ‘The Crocodile Gang’, led by Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa, is slaughtering rhinos and elephants to fulfill ‘requests’ for horn and ivory.

Dubbed the Crocodile Gang, this cartel - whose existence can be revealed by the Mail today - is behind the ‘industrial-scale slaughter’ of black rhinos, prompting warnings that the species will be hunted to extinction in the region within two years.

And the “godfather” of the poaching cartel is said to be Emmerson Mnangagwa - known by locals now as “The Crocodile.” Also referred to as “The Butcher of Matabeleland”, he is the architect of Zimbabwe’s terrifying state security apparatus, creator of Zimbabwe’s Central Intelligence Office (CIO) - and rumored to be next in line for president after Mugabe.

Probably risking his life, Andrew Malone, a writer for The UK’s Daily Mail, reports that he went undercover, posing as an overseas buyer of illegal rhino horn to dig deeper into the widespread rhino massacre that stands to wipe out an entire species. What he reveals is an appalling world of cruelty, corruption, death threats - and the consequences suffered by those who have tried to speak out.

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Between 16 and 18 November 2009, a World Summit to consider issues of food security will take place at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Rome.

The Summit has three interlinked aims:

• To reverse the downward trend of investments in agriculture by returning them to the  17% of Official Development Assistance (ODA) achieved in 1980
• To insure this investment works to remove hunger which is now considered to be a daily experience for more than one billion people
• To double food production for a world population set to reach nine billion in 2050.

Food in crisis, food as conflict

In addition to Summit meetings on these issues, there will be roundtables and break-out meetings on the relationship between financial and economic crises and food security (especially in light of the current global economic downturn), the governance of food security on an international and global scale (an increasingly troubling subject, especially for Africa where the relationship between richer and poorer nations can become strained at borders where ‘food migrants’ cross, particularly, at present, in the case of Zimbabwe) and establishing an early reaction fund for food security.

Invited guests will include Heads of State and Government as well as many FAO and UN dignitaries and representatives of advocacy and third sector groups, and the costs of the summit, which are estimated to be around $2.5 million, will be met by Saudi Arabia.  

FAO Director General, Jacque Diouf said, “I am very grateful to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah, for his generous offer to fund this important meeting …There are more than a billion hungry people in the world today and Saudi Arabia continues to be at the forefront of the fight against hunger and poverty.”

African child with kwashiorkor, a hunger related condition, courtesy of venetia joubert at Flickr under a creative commons licence

4. Kenya Fears Link Between Elephant Killings and Chinese Construction Projects

Summary:
The Kenya Wildlife Service suspects it is more than a coincidence that a large number of elephant killings have occurred in areas where Chinese crews have recently arrived for massive construction projects.

Update:
Despite the growing list of suspicious “coincidences”, it is no surprise that the Chinese government officially denied links to elephant poaching in Kenya. Major media outlets did the same by syndicating one article that referred to poaching in the title, but leaving the information about China out of the content altogether.

Later, most sources altered the title of the article and removed the word “poaching” - although a search will reveal the original title in some of the syndicated pages.

The response by China appears to be a little more than the flexing of newly-acquired PR muscles, which the country quickly attempted to develop during the Uighur riots earlier this year. There is more at China Denies Links to Elephant Poaching in Kenya

5. Tiger Killed, Skinned Inside Indonesian Zoo

Summary:
Sheila the tiger was poisoned and then skinned in her enclosure at Jambi’s Rimbo Zoo in Indonesia.

Wildlife authorities fear this crime is a shocking new development in the illegal wildlife trade: The tiger’s skin, along with body parts in demand for traditional Asian “remedies”, were taken from the tiger’s enclosure.

Update:
There has been one arrest in the Indonesian zoo tiger killing. Sadly, it appears that this is only one link in a chain of an organized effort to meet the demands of China’s flourishing illegal trade in tiger skin and body parts.

6. Tiger Poaching Scandal? Goa Forest Official Says Remains ‘Not a Tiger’

Summary:
Suspicion is growing around the investigation of a Goa tiger poaching incident earlier this year which allegedly involved an employee of the home guard department - and now it appears a senior forest official is trying to cover it up.

Chief Conservator of Forests Goa, Shashi Kumar, claims that the Wildlife Institute of India’s investigation shows the slaughtered animal was “not a tiger.” Such a claim is dubious, especially considering eyewitness accounts and published photographs of physical evidence at the location where the tiger was killed.

Update:
It looks like Kumar has changed his tune once again, according to a Thaindian News report on the “official flip flop”:

After initially claiming that a “preliminary” forensic report had ruled out poaching of a tiger in a Goa wildlife sanctuary, the state’s top forest official has now said that he has not seen the forensic report yet. Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) Shashi Kumar now maintains that he had made the statement only on the basis of a letter faxed to him by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

Oh, really?

7. 20 Animals Dead This Year at Dhaka Zoo in Bangladesh

Summary:
Negligence, inadequate care, inexperience, and poor living conditions the Dhaka Zoo are to blame for the reported deaths of 20 animals so far this year.

Update:
Just two days after the original post, one of Dhaka zoo’s Bengal tigers, Garjan, died.

There are now apparently ten tigers left at this facility. A photo shows a tiger in a cement enclosure.

Despite the suspension of the zoo’s curator and deputy director, Dhaka Zoo is preparing to welcome holiday visitors, according to an online Bangladesh news source.

The zoo publicity officer, Saiful Islam, said the authorities are taking all measures to entertain the visitors.

By all means, since entertaining the visitors seems to be working great - just great.

8. 14 Deer Dead in One Night at Kanpur Zoo

Summary:
A disturbing discovery at the Kanpur Zoo revealed that thirteen chital (Axis axis) and one swamp deer (Cervus duvauceli) had died overnight. Coincidentally, five black bucks died last at Kanpur Zoo last year within one hour around this same time of year.

Seven employees were suspended.

Update:
Last Wednesday, PETA India held a demonstration in front of the Central Zoo Authority calling for the closure of all zoos, citing this incident as the latest in the rising death toll of animals in India’s zoos.

And last Thursday, an official inspection by a four-member team was conducted at the Kanpur Zoological Park.

During their stay, the team members inspected the enclosures of various animals and observed the cleanliness. They went to the site where the deer were found dead. Kanpur zoo, director, K Praveen Rao was asked to provide documents on the zoo management.

The inspection team is expected to submit a report within 15 days.

9. Tiger Cub Dies at Zoo — To Attract More Tourists

Summary:
A white tiger cub has died at India’s Indore Zoo after zoo authorities decided to keep a litter of sick cubs on display to attract more tourists.

Wildlife experts believe that putting the cubs on display prematurely made them ill in the first place - and zoo authorities knew the cubs had been suffering from bacterial gastroenteritis since late August. A zoo employee reportedly said the cubs were dehydrated and had diarrhea, but were kept in the enclosure anyway so tourists would come and see them.

Update:
It turns out the tragic death of the tiger cub wasn’t the first animal death at the Indore Zoo.

Apparently, three animals - a deer and two male black bucks - died the week before from internal injuries inflicted during a “clash” in their enclosure. And in July, 20 rabbits reportedly died from an infection.

However, it appears that action is being taken in this matter.

Stung by a series of deaths in the Indore zoo, including that of a white tiger cub, the civic agency has removed more than 25 employees, including the superintendent and the zoo in-charge, for negligence of duty, officials said Tuesday.

One of the surviving tiger cubs is still undergoing medical treatment.

Not over yet

At times, it looks as if the world is somehow conspiring against the survival of its wildlife treasures.

The struggle to protect endangered species from poachers and habitat loss - or to provide proper care to zoo inhabitants - seems at times to be a difficult and lonely one. Many believe the battle to save endangered species from extinction is already lost.

Yet, thanks to the dedicated efforts of organizations such as Cook Inletkeeper, Wildlife Direct, International Rhino Foundation (and many more) along with countless, caring individuals, hope for wildlife remains.

And where there is hope for wildlife … perhaps there is hope for humans, too.

Image source: istock.com

Zimbabwe is currently home to the world’s fourth largest population of critically endangered Black Rhino. Although rhino killings in Zimbabwe have more than doubled in the past year, poachers continue to walk away without punishment for their crimes.

In a recent IRF press release, rhino conservation experts called upon international agencies and the Zimbabwe government to take immediate action against poaching of endangered species and to crack down on trade in wildlife products.

Tackling the situation in Zimbabwe is especially challenging because the rhino poaching in this area is planned and carried out by organized gangs. The attacks have become increasingly brazen - not only are rhinos being slaughtered, but the criminals have begun firing at the people protecting them.

Earlier this year, Raoul du Toit warned that Zimbabwe’s rhino poachers were not villagers desperate for food, but organized criminal gangs - people with “cars, cell phones, and expensive lawyers.”

And when poachers are apprehended, they are not punished.

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Ngorongoro World Heritage Site Under Threat

Thirty years after being listed as a World Heritage Sites the Ngorongoro Conservation area is in danger of being ‘deleted’ from the prestigious listing. This legendary wildlife-filled crater, is a  8,300 square kilometer part of Tanzania’s Serengeti.

The United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has set the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority very tight goals which must be met if Ngorongoro is to retain its World Heritage Sites listing.

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You might think Zimbabwe had problems enough, with out of control inflation, an uneasy power-sharing government and a collapsed agricultural economy, but there is always room for things to get worse, or, more accurately, there’s plenty of room, but everybody and everything want to be in the same places.

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What is it about India that made me realise this, you might ask. Visiting the sacred temples and sampling the aromatic food was breath-taking. And losing myself within the crowds of anonymous people released me from all of the responsibility I have to shoulder in my ‘real’ existence everyday. But ultimately, I could not really turn to any one of those well-meaning people and look at any of them with a twinge of painful familiarity and say, “We’ve come a long way.”

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Mopane worms are the caterpillar stage of the Emperor Moth, Gonimbrasia belina, which feed almost exclusively on the mopane tree Colophospermum mopane. The mopane worm harvest in South Africa is estimated at $40 million a year, of which approximately 40 percent goes to producers who are primarily poor rural women. In addition to the income generated dried mopane worms can contribute significantly to rural household nutrition mainly through their 53.3 percent dry weight digestible protein content.

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Faced with skyrocketing inflation, a tanking economy, and incredible political instability, the government of Zimbabwe is turning to elephant meat in a desperate attempt to feed hungry soldiers.

A senior officer in the Zimbabwe Defence Forces told ZimOnline that Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority struck a deal resulting in the slaughter of elephants to feed soldiers at army barracks across the country. The officer, who remained anonymous, said there were six elephant carcasses delivered to military barracks last week and that the delivery was a welcome relief.

The ZDF has been instrumental in keeping embattled President Robert Mugabe in power, despite his having lost in a general election to the main opposition party of Morgan Tsvangirai in April of 2008. But the economic turmoil in Zimbabwe is putting considerable strain on a government that had little money to effectively govern in the first place.

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If you’ve ever seen a termite mound you should still be impressed by these built by African termites in Zimbabwe. The termites build mounds reaching multiple feet in order to farm a fungus that feeds them. The finicky fungus must live at exactly 87 degrees F. While temperatures outside the mound walls vary by about 70 degrees F, they had a problem to solve. “The termites achieve this remarkable feat by constantly opening and closing a series of heating and cooling vents throughout the mound over the course of the day. With a system of carefully adjusted convection currents, air is sucked in at the lower part of the mound, down into enclosures with muddy walls, and up through a channel to the peak of the termite mound. The industrious termites constantly dig new vents and plug up old ones in order to regulate the temperature,” describes Abigail of Inhabitat.

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