THE POACHING WARS
2017 Congo-2804___serialized1
2017 Congo-2835___serialized3
2016 Malawi Liwonde-012825
2014 Kenya-017925 COLOUR
BIG TUSKER IN THE RAIN, TSAVO, KENYA 2015-6908
2015 Ranger Night Patrol-2513-2
WHITE RHINO, OL PEJETA, KENYA
2016 Malawi Liwonde-012833
2016 Malawi Liwonde-1398
2016 Malawi Liwonde-012809
2016 Malawi Thuma-012613
2016 Malawi Thuma-1092
2016 Malawi Thuma-1231
2014 USA carved ivory-0831
2014 USA carved ivory-0834
2014 USA carved ivory-0835
2015 Tanzania-011198
ELEPHANT CALF II, SAMBURU, KENYA
BLACK RHINO & TWO RANGERS, ZIMBABWE
2016 Malawi Liwonde-012942
2017 Congo-013245
2017 Congo-2917
2017 Congo-2489
2017 Congo-2607
2017 Congo-2537
2017 Congo-2860
2017 Congo-3664
2018 Mozambique-6789
2018 Mozambique-7491
2018 Mozambique-7876
2018 Mozambique-7071
2018 Mozambique-7075
2018 Mozambique-7183
2018 Mozambique-7191
2018 Mozambique-6952
2018 Mozambique-6883
2008 Zimbabwe-292
2008 Zimbabwe-124
2018 Mozambique-6816
2013 Zimbabwe-0989
2013 Zimbabwe-0988
2013 Zimbabwe-0987-2
2015 Kenya Ol Pejeta-0656
2012 Kenya OP-1867
2022 Zimbabwe-3879
2022 Zimbabwe-4631
2022 Zimbabwe-4855
2022 Zimbabwe-4201
2022 Zimbabwe-4147
2013 Zimbabwe-014645
ELEPHANT BULL DRINKING, ZIMBABWE
BLACK RHINO FEMALE & CALF, ZIMBABWE

THE

POACHING

WARS


In parts of sub-Saharan Africa, small numbers of wildlife rangers risk their lives, often with little training and old surplus equipment, trying to save the last rhinos and the shrinking elephant herds.


According to traditional Chinese medicine, rhino horn is believed to cure severe fevers and arthritis, and slow the growth of cancer tumours. It's value fluctuates, but at times powdered rhino horn has been worth more than twice the price of gold on the black market in Vietnam and China. Carved elephant ivory is a pure luxury item, purchased and displayed by the newly rich in China and other countries.


There were once millions of rhinos spread over the African continent. Today there are only 16,803 white rhinos and 6,487 black rhinos left alive in all of Africa. A single country, South Africa, holds roughly 80% of the entire world's rhino population in private and public reserves.


Elephants are an equally serious conservation issue. In the early 20th century, 3 - 5 million elephants roamed all over Africa. According to the WWF, this population has declined to approximately 415,000. While the continent-wide ivory poaching crisis seems to have abated, several critical poaching hotspots remain. In addition, climate change and a steadily increasing human population are growing threats to the long-term survival of Africa's elephants.


Encounters between rangers and poachers in the bush sometimes turn into firefights, and unprovoked attacks on ranger patrols have resulted in several fatalities. Central Africa is of particular concern, with ongoing conflicts that make wildlife conservation very dangerous. 


Organized poaching can only be stopped by ending demand in the end-market countries and by involving local communities in Africa in conservation. But these are long-term solutions to a very immediate problem. In the short term, the rangers on the frontline, the 'boots on the ground', urgently need our support.