S. Africa deploys high-tech plane for rhino poaching fight

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S. Africa deploys high-tech plane for rhino poaching fight

By Peroshni Govender | Reuters – 3 hrs ago

KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, South Africa (Reuters) - South Africa has taken its war against rhino poaching to the skies by deploying a high-tech, low-speed reconnaissance aircraft to detect illegal hunters before they strike.

More here

(Just wondering if Fez has anything to say on this?)

[Fez]

S. Africa deploys high-tech plane for rhino poaching fight

By Peroshni Govender | Reuters – 3 hrs ago

KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, South Africa (Reuters) - South Africa has taken its war against rhino poaching to the skies by deploying a high-tech, low-speed reconnaissance aircraft to detect illegal hunters before they strike.

More here

(Just wondering if Fez has anything to say on this?)

We are fighting a war against Vietnamese crime gangs Neb, and lives are at risk every day, today we had a meeting looking at highly specialized cameras with Forward looking radar, infra red and other capabilities. As an example this is from my organisations newsletter sent out last week. The incidents are pretty close to where South and I live, and dead center of where I work every day.

"Acting swiftly on information, a combined operation between iSimangaliso’s (my organization, it means miracle in Zulu) contracted Nyathi Anti-Poaching and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife set up an interception point in the Ozabeni (I work here out in the field by myself on a daily basis) section of the Park where two rhino were poached earlier this year. Two armed suspects walked into the interception point at 23h45 and were instructed to drop their rifles. One suspect took his rifle off his shoulder and prepared to fire at the law enforcement staff. A ranger fired at him and he was wounded in the arm, dropping his rifle. He was then secured and given first aid, while the SAPS (South African Police Service and the ambulance service were called. The other suspect fled into the night.

Upon inspection, the rifle was identified as a heavy calibre .458 Mag hunting rifle, with a live round loaded in the chamber. This calibre rifle is not commonly used for poaching, other than rhino and elephant poaching.

In a second operation earlier this month a suspect was arrested in the uMkhuze section of iSimangaliso. This arrest was the result of a sting operation jointly carried out by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, Durban Organised Crime Unit, the SAP National Intervention Unit and Durban South Dog Unit, with helicopter assistance provided through Project Rhino. The interception occurred before a rhino was shot, and one suspect was arrested while others managed to escape unhurt. A .375 rifle with a silencer was recovered. The arrested suspect has also been implicated in several other rhino poaching incidents including one at Charters Creek in 2008/9 and there are unconfirmed links to others.

Investigations are ongoing and Warrant Officer JP Roux of Organised Crime, a stalwart in the fight against rhino poaching, said there was reason to believe that the accused and firearms will be linked to a large number of the rhino poaching incidents in Zululand over the last year

iSimangaliso is delighted about the recovery of these rifles, this will go a long way to reducing the immediate threat on the rhino population in the area. Says iSimangaliso CEO Andrew Zaloumis “Two more shooters and their firearms are out of circulation, and illegal hunts were thwarted before any rhino were murdered”. He thanked the teams for their dedication and the continuous support given to iSimangaliso through the pooling of resources and intelligence to offer stronger resistance against poaching.

This year, iSimangaliso has suffered the loss of eight rhino to poaching. Two of these were in the Ozabeni section, two on the Eastern Shores, three on the Western Shores and one in uMkhuze"..

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Wow - thanks for sharing.