Victoria Falls Anti-Poaching Unit August 2025 Update
August has seen the return of the heat, temperatures gradually climbing into the mid 30’s. Winter is officially over, and the tough dry months lie ahead.
From a poaching front, this is traditionally when things start to get busy. As the last of the natural water dries out, and the scorching sun bakes the earth, animals congregate around the little available resources. This trend certainly seems to be the case this month, with our Rangers reacting to multiple incursions in a bid to protect our animals.
It’s been a busy period, with the Unit teaming up with the Wildlife Authorities in multiple joint operations deeper in the Park as well as monitoring an increasing number of animals venturing into town in search of fresh food.
This time of year brings with it the threat of bush fires, with our Rangers assisting to extinguish two already. Besides the fires destroying vital grazing necessary in the months ahead, they are often intentionally set by poachers. They do this to open up the bush for better hunting success, but also to draw animals in when the ashen ground turns to a green flush.
Once again, the growth of our intelligence and informer networks are reaping excellent rewards. Our two major arrests this month have been thanks to information gathered.
Whilst it is never nice to lose and animal, it is incredibly satisfying catching a poacher red handed. It’s about as real as our job can get, and often leads to much stiffer sentences.
STATISTICS FOR THE MONTH
The increase in the poaching threat reported on last month has certainly continued into August with multiple incursions seen and several arrests made.
The frustrations of July where we ambushed several different snare lines was alleviated this month with the successful arrest of two poachers. Suspects we believe to have been responsible for the snare lines discovered last month.
Almost half of the snares recovered in the statistic above have not come from the bush, but rather from successful raids of suspects’ houses. This is always the best way to recover a snare, before it is deployed and could potentially cause harm to our animals.
Whilst we have had some great wins in August, there is certainly an increase in the threat towards our animals. We expect this to continue in the months to come as the bush gets more challenging, and the animals venture closer to people.
Whilst we report yet another nil stat this month on the animal rescue front we have received reports of animals with snares on them in need of rescue. These have all been spotted by various good Samaritans deep in the Park and outside of our primary operational area.
We appeal to all who venture into the wild to immediately report any animal you encounter in distress and in need of rescuing. We will continue searching of those that we know of and hope to relieve them from their suffering soon.
Whilst not necessarily rescues, our Rangers have been kept very busy this month with the influx of animals into town. Elephant, Buffalo and Hippo have been the primary candidates, and we expect these numbers to increase and the vegetation in the bush continues to wilt.
This may not be considered anti-poaching, but we definitely see it as animal protection. Wildlife will always take second place to people, and should an incident occur where someone gets injured, the animal will ultimately suffer. Our role is to simply monitor and ensure that the animals are given the respect they deserve and if the opportunity arises, to safely escort them back into the bush.
Natural causes of death are part of life in the bush, and whilst it is never nice to encounter dead animals, this is nature and it does happen.
However, the carcasses discovered where the cause of death is poaching are always a bitter pill to swallow. We discovered 3 such carcasses this month, and all caused by the same poachers.
The kudu was freshly killed, and what led to the arrest of the suspects. During a routine search of their houses, the skins of a serval and a side stripped jackal were also found. Whilst these were several months old, they still represent innocent animals that have lost their lives to the greed of humans.
Causes of Death:
2 Kudu, 1 Bushbuck and 1 Buffalo killed by predators
1 Waterbuck died of natural causes
1 Kudu, 1Serval and 1 Side Stripped Jackal killed by Poachers.
Besides the endless firewood poaching arrests made, we managed to apprehend a further four individuals in two separate operations for the illegal trade in bush meat, and snaring.
In both of these operations,intelligence and informers led us to the success. The more eyes and ears we have in support of our work, the harder it is for poachers to get away with their crimes.
We are exceptionally grateful to those brave souls who go out of their way to alert us to situations where our wildlife is being persecuted.
The first arrest was made after a tip off of two individuals selling dried bush meat at a local market. Immediately our teams went undercover and managed to catch both culprits red handed.Unfortunately they had already sold a large portion of the meat, and upon arrest only had about 18kgs rolled up into individual bundles. Regardless, they were arrested and charged.
The biggest win for us was the arrest of two individuals for snaring. Unfortunately a kudu lost its life to these criminals, but the evidence gathered strengthened the case and we are very pleased to say that each culprit is currently serving 2 years behind bars for their crime.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE MONTH
The highlight of the month for me is the shear tenacity and never give up attitude of the Rangers. Leading the successful arrest of two notorious poachers after 12 hours of operation.
It all started at 2pm one afternoon when we received information that a team of poachers were currently in the bush harvesting meat from a recently killed animal. With not much to go on other than a general area, we immediately set up ambushes on the known routes between the bush and the town. At the same time another unit began sweeping the area in the hope of catching the poachers red handed.
Night fell and we still had not had any success, however, this did not stop the team.
Fearing that the poachers had slipped past our ambushes, further information was gathered about a house where they may be processing the meat. A raid was conducted with the relevant authorities and sure enough, the butchered remains of a female kudu were discovered. But no poachers.
Further pressing of the neighbor led us to a second house and as we approached the two poachers fled. A foot race ensued with both suspects being apprehended by our fleet footed Rangers.
Whilst one was successfully restrained in handcuffs, the second made good his escape after attempting to bite the ranger trying to restrain him. With one cuff on around his wrist, he managed to evade our attempts to catch him.
Abandoning the chase to focus on the secure suspect, the rangers returned to the house to conduct a thorough search.Much to our dismay, the team recovered significant poaching evidence. Besides the butchered remains of the kudu, a serval skin and a jackal skin where also recovered as well as almost 20 wire snares, knives, spears and machetes. All tools of the poachers trade.
Luck was on our side that night, and reward for the persistent attitude of the Rangers. Whilst at the police station processing the evidence and taking statements, we received a tip off that the suspect who had evaded us was attempting to board a bus. We immediately rushed to the known bus stops in the City, and being 2am in the morning there were no ta lot of people around. The suspect was quickly identified and arrested.
The following morning found the team back in the bush with the poachers. Determined to find the scene of the crime and do a thorough sweep of the area. The poachers led the rangers directly to where they had slaughtered the kudu. To our horror, the team recovered a further 12 snares, set up and poised to inflict untold harm to our animals.
Of great concern was the discovery of a snare set across the entrance to a well used burrow. Further to this, the skin of the kudu had been stuffed down the hole to act as bait. This is a targeted attempt on our predators with hyena or wild dog being the most likely candidates.
This was a massive win for conservation in the area. Given the evidence recovered, it is clear that these are seasoned poachers who have been responsible for the death of many animals.Justice has been served, and they will both spend the next 24 months behind bars.
