The slaughter of our rhinos continues, and every year the death toll continues to increase, in 2007, 13 rhinos were killed in poaching incidents.

2010 the death of 333 rhinos by poachers was recorded, in 2011 the figure for the year was recorded at 443.

By the 10^th of January 2012, 11 rhino carcasses were found, at this rate of relentless killing by poachers these fantastic creatures will be extinct if non-existent in a few years.

Despite the deployment of soldiers in the Kruger National Park early in 2011 to patrol the parks borders with Mozambique and tighten up security, the Kruger Park lost 244 rhinos in poaching incidents in 2011.

Dr David Mabunda, CEO of SANS Parks was explicit in pointing a finger at Mozambicans saying that “in 95% of the cases- no even more are involved with the poaching” many are sent home in body bags but this does not deter them, they know the risk by now but the gangs keep multiplying and just keep coming.

The poachers enter the parks with rifles and assault weapons and it has become a war leaving 21 poachers dead and a number of the 78 who were arrested wounded, this is the value been put on the RHINO HORN.

The improved security operations at the Kruger National Park has caused these criminals to switch their attention to private game reserves and game farms, as the recent spate of killings around the country has shown.

Unfortunately there are still too many people who think of the target as just a rhino and therefore of such killings as simply another wildlife crime.

It is in fact Organized crime at its best and should get treated in the same way as drug dealing, armed robbery, heists and hijacking.

The syndicates involved with rhino horn smuggling are involved in all the above and more, with cut out points at each level of the syndicate.

It is a complex criminal network which tragically extends into wildlife-protection organisations and veterinary circles as recent arrests have once more shown.

Out of the 433 case dockets there were only about 10 convictions.

We are a great organization which has a networking capability second to none, many of us have dealt with such Syndicates and sent a large number of these criminals to prison for a very long period of time, and therefore I assume we have the expertise to take on any given syndicate at any given time, but we choose to be “boardroom warriors” who are very quick to criticize and blame those people doing the job.

Instead of taking on the Barry Trigwell 15 year old murder case at no cost and to no avail, we should get actively involved in assisting Ken Maggs who heads the National Wildlife Crime Reaction Unit and his people in any way we can.

Ken Maggs is a dynamic and fantastic person who has the right strategy to combat this smuggling scourge from all angles.

I would recommend you read the article ‘THE RHINO WAR CAN BE WON’ which was written by Leon Marshall and featured in the Star Newspaper on December 30^th 2011, (I have placed the article on the office notice board and have sent you all copies via email.)

Remember “for evil to succeed, all that’s needed is that good men do nothing”

Let’s see if you approve this posting for our website or not, I guess if it’s not posted by tomorrow morning one could say I chose a funny way to resign.