The vast majority of snares recovered make up two snare lines.

The first, discovered just before Christmas were freshly set in the National Park, not far from the boundary with the City. The VFAPU-IMPI Horse Mounted Unit discovered them on a routine patrol.

 Immediately an operation was initiated and saw a rotation of teams take up ambush positions for a solid 96 hour period. The ambush was called off after day 4. Generally, poachers who set snare lines will check them well before 96 hours. The fact that he had not turned up meant we were either compromised, or he had abandoned them for one reason or another. The final sweep yielding 14 snares set to catch smaller antelope such as impala.

The second was an operation conducted deep within the National Park. With our close working relationship with the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust, we were alerted to the discovery of a lion collar, off the lion, with evidence of tampering. We deployed to the last known location of the collar to conduct a thorough sweep. Whilst we did not locate any evidence relating to the lion, we did come across a fresh poacher base, the remains of a poached kudu and impala as well as 9 active snares. The balance of the snares collected were bits and pieces from the landscape. One was a warthog trap, designed to catch these poor animals out of their nightly burrows.

 The design is simple, a heavy duty cable snare, tied securely to a large log. The log generally has a large V shape designed to hook onto bushes when the animal flees. Restraining it long enough for the poachers to dispatch it with a spear.

VFAPU Rangers assisted with the rescue of two animals during the period. Neither of them the traditional animal caught in a snare scenario.

 The first came after some prolonged, heavy rains. After a particularly large storm early in December, and crocodile had found its way into the swimming pool at the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. Initially thought to be quite small, this prehistoric reptile measured over 6 foot, and certainly not something you want to encounter on your morning swim. VFAPU teamed up with Victoria Falls Crocodiles and the Wildlife Authorities to remove this unique, but unwanted guest!

The second rescue was just as strange. A report came in of a buffalo calf on the side of the road opposite Palm River Hotel. Knowing the buffalo have been in the area, we reacted expecting to find the mother poached and the calf now looking for comfort. On arrival, we quickly realised that the calf was very young, a week old at most. It was not afraid of people, and was approaching vehicles with ease.

The team immediately began conducting a 360 degree sweep around the area where the buffalo was found, expecting to find a poaching scene. Instead, we found the buffalo herd less than 500m from the calf. After some consultation, it was agreed to try and integrate the calf back to the herd. Perhaps it was lost, and the mother just needed to find it again. A daring mission was initiated where VFAPU rangers attempted to walk the calf in as close to the herd as possible. Buffalo are renowned for defending their own against a threat, and with the calf’s bellowing, we feared that we would be the recipient of this defensive behaviour.

 We crept the calf in to about 50m of the resting herd and made our quick our retreat. The calf began to bellow when left alone. We returned 30 minutes later to find fresh adult spoor where we had left he calf, and no sign of the distressed baby. We continued to monitor the herd for 3 days after, and are confident that this youngster was successfully reunited with it’s mom. A win for the next generation of buffalo.

Was a tough period for the animals in December and January. Of the 9 mortalities we discovered, two were a result of predation, 1 caused by a vehicle collision on the Kazangula road, and 6 identified as poached.

The warthog mentioned above was the first discovery made where the cause was human related. The hyena death followed not long after. A tragic loss of a clan member who has taken up residence not far from the Kazangula road. This individual unlucky to be struck by the very present threat of vehicles.

The forey deep into the Park, and the discovery of freshly poached impala and kudu add to the number of poached animals. Their remains suggesting that all the meat had been harvested, leaving the worthless prices of skin and bone.

The final contribution was of 3 impala killed in a single day within the Big Tree wildlife corridor. Two killed by suspects who where later arrested, and one killed by a snare that was abandoned after we reacted and disturbed the poachers in the act.

Cause of Death:         

1 Kudu, 1 Impala killed by predators

1 Hyena killed by a vehicle  

4 Impala, 1 kudu, 1 warthog killed by poachers.

With a busier poacher period, so too are our arrest statistics up. The firewood culprits are a continual battle, however, emphasis has been put on those who are felling live trees. This is a serious offence, and causes significant damage to the ecosystem.

We also picked up two fishing poachers during the period, both notorious culprits who have ignored previous warnings.

Our intelligence work played a big part in apprehending 4 individuals, caught in possession of animal meat. All were apprehended and charged for their crime.

The big arrest for us came towards the end of January when a routine patrol bumped two individuals carrying the freshly killed carcass of an impala. After an athletic chase and quick maneuvering, the team apprehended one of the two individuals. A known poachers to us and someone we have been after for a while, caught red handed. The poachers were discovered as they were moving the carcass from the point of killing, to a secluded point close to the road. Private enough to butcher the carcass, and close enough to be uplifted by a vehicle.

A second carcass was discovered the next day, also stashed away, ready to be collected. This case is still in the courts, and we hope for the maximum sentence for this poacher.