Victoria Falls Anti-Poaching Unit February 2026 Update February has shown the dark side of living side by side with animals. Victoria Falls has been devistated by the death of two individuals due to the wildlife that we share our home with. Our deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the victims, our Thoughts and Prayers are with you. The co-existence we have in our beloved City is something we can always be proud of. But we have maintained that it is not perfect. Our day to day job focuses on the human conflict on the environment, namely poaching. However, the element of animals conflicting with humans is very real. Every wildlife incursion into our streets has the potential of turning nasty. Fortunately, our City embraces its wild nature, and the vast majority of encounters are peaceful and without incident. From a conservation point of view, there are no winners in a conflict situation. Human life and livelihoods are lost, resulting in a lower tolerance for the animals and increased persecution. With an active conservation effort and a growing human population, we must be constantly evolving our conflict mitigation methods to maintain our strong co-existence. STATISTICS 13 of these snares were recovered during a raid on a house and were not active. Of concern was the discovery of 2 warthog traps and a heavy-duty cable wrapped around a log. Designed to be placed over the entrance of the burrow whilst the poachers attempt to extract the warthog from their hole. As they bolt out, the first one snares the snare, and runs off dragging a large forked log. This very quickly gets stuck in surrounding bushes and restrains the poor animal whilst the poachers rush in to dispatch it with a spear. We ambushed two such traps hidden in trees for over 2 weeks, but unfortunately the suspects did not return and we recovered them. We are always pleased when this statistic is low. The more animals in need of rescue, the higher the poaching threat. This statistic echoes our low snare recovery and further supports a low-pressure period. We have however seen a marked increase in the number of animal incursions into the City. This has primarily been elephants, with almost nightly reports. This is not uncommon for this time of year. The smorgasbord of delicacies on offer at the moment is irresistible to these intelligent creatures. Fruit trees are laden with ripe delights, and almost every vacant piece of land within the City is abundant with maize and a variety of other vegetables. Sadly, due to recent tragedies, there is a heightened sense of fear with these animals around making our reaction and monitoring of these incursions that much more important. Carcasses Discovered: 5 Cause of Death:          1 Impala and 1 bushbuck killed by predators 1 Giraffe electrocuted. 2 Elephants euthanized due to Human/Animal Conflict. Whilst no loss of animals life due to poaching was discovered, there was still loss of animal life found. The leopard activity within the wildlife corridor continues to be prevelant with 2 kill sites discovered over the month. Sightings are difficult with the bush so thick, but sign on the ground suggest the regular presence of at least 1 male and 1 female. Sadly, the inevitable euthanasia of the conflict elephants also took place this month. As mentioned above, there are no winners in a conflict situation with this month recording significant loss of life. The very unfortunate one for us was the discovery of an adult giraffe. Killed by electrocution. With all the rain and the moist ground, a pole partially collapsed in a more remote area. Before it could be discovered and rectified, a giraffe fell victim to the low hanging live cable. A sad and unnecessary loss. With the thick bush, and the enhanced fear we have seen a reduction in the number of firewood poaching contacts. There was one firewood incursion in the month that triggered a substantial reaction from several players in the protection space. Late afternoon we received a report of 5-6 people seen jumping across a road and entering the bush. Firewood poachers are not known for their anti-tracking efforts, and the description received suggested a larger poaching threat. An extensive team was quickly mobilized including National Parks Rangers, Take Action K9’s and VFAPU Rangers. We quickly picked up on the trail where signs on the ground showed that these people were trying to cover their tracks. With the aid of the dog we were able to catch up quite quickly to the suspects. It turned out to be 6 ladies who were gathering firewood. The reaction far outweighed the threat as we suspected to come across a bush meat syndicate, either trapping animals or harvesting already caught prey. Needless to say, the shocked looks on their faces at the extensive team come in to apprehend them told a story, and we hope that word has got out a bit! Our big arrest for the month was an extensive operation and aptly our highlight for the period. HIGHLIGHT OF THE MONTH We are extremely pleased to report a very successful operation resulting in the arrest of 2 individuals for various crimes. Working with the ZRP Minerals Flora and Fauna Unit, as well as the National Parks Investigations Team this success is another feather in the cap for our intelligence work. Information was received of an individual intending to sell Pangolin scales. An extensive sting operation was initiated which involved a full day of survellience work. Once we were confident that the suspect had the product in hand, we pounced and successfully arrested him. This individual, a Zambian National, has since been charged and sentenced to the mandatory 9 year prison sentence for his crime. Further investigation into this case led to a second operation which saw us raid a house near Dete town on the outskirts of Hwange National Park. A team of VFAPU Rangers and Police left Vic Falls at 1am, collecting