UPDATE: Accused in Mbombela rhino horn bust identified. They made their first appearance in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on Thursday afternoon. The two men who were arrested for the illegal possession and selling of rhino horns on Wednesday appeared in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on Thursday afternoon. They are Schalk Abraham Steyn (48), better known to Lowvelders as AB, and Limpopo game farmer, Dawid Groenewald (52). The case was postponed to Friday for a formal bail application. They will remain in custody until then. It is not yet clear in which court the case will be heard. According to…
Author: Longhunter
The farmer went by the name “Boats.” I never learned his family name and his Christian name kept me baffled, but that wasn’t important.
As far as the eye could see, in their thousands and tens of thousands, the wildebeest came. Stringing down from the smooth yellow hills like ants in a single file, they stopped and waited at on the bank of the Mara river in their uncounted masses. Below, the ancient crocodiles were waiting in the swift brown water, faces set in a sardonic, reptilian grin. They were ready. The great mass milled about, nervously watching the far bank. None wanted to be the first to go. They had no choice. And still, the multitudes kept streaming down from the low hills,…
Call me a hopeless romantic. Before leaving on safari I write my wife letters on white paper with a red pen, dated for each day I am away– time permitting. I have been slipping up of late due to my busy schedule but have promised myself and my wife to keep this special tradition alive. In one of these notes, dated October 2013, I wrote: ‘Children white sand’. This was the first bucket list item I checked on my list in 2019 – bidding and winning the Mahango National Park hunting concession on the Okavango River. There are not many…
Elephant populations in Serengeti National Park have increased from 6,000 in 2014 to more than 7,000 in 2020, according to the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI). Dr Robert Fyumagwa, a senior researcher from TAWIRI revealed this in an interview with the ‘Daily News’ in Serengeti recently. He said the measures imposed by the government in recent years aimed at protecting elephants against poaching for ivory business. “Elephant poaching for ivory is no longer a problem at this time but there is a problem, Dr. Fyumagwa who is also the Director of Serengeti Wildlife Research Centre (SWRC) said. He said modern…
Masvingo — Zimbabwe’s elephant population has shot up to over 100 000 over the last decade with the situation now on verge of creating an environmental disaster. The jumbo population in both private and national sanctuaries has been increasing at a rate of around 5000 annually, which is way ahead of the carrying capacity. Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesperson Mr. Tinashe Farawo says there is a need for an urgent intervention to reverse the burgeoning elephant population. Mr. Farawo said the growing jumbo population threatened to cause an imposition within the elephant habitat with negative ripple effects on communities…
A man identified as Brighton Gandawa from Chitungwiza township in Kariba was early Sunday morning trampled to death by an elephant while returning home from a beer outing. According to residents who spoke to NewZimbabwe.com, Gandawa, who was a fisherman, was walking back home to Nyamhunga township from a beer binge when he met his fate. His friends reportedly managed to escape from the yet-to-be-identified rogue jumbo. The scene of the unfortunate incident, which highlights the prevalence of human-wildlife conflict in the prime resort town, was early this morning abuzz with residents viewing the body before police arrived around mid-morning.…
Ever so slowly I inch my way through the scrub, closing in purposefully on the result of what was possibly my life’s crowning achievement. I keep low and don’t yet have him visual, though I hear him shuffling about and know he is close. The wind is in my face and of no concern, but rhinos have acute hearing and I watch my step. Ten yards ahead and slightly to the right is a conveniently placed anthill and I make for it, using it as approach cover. Then I cautiously ascend the mound on hands and knees and peep over…
I have a very dear aunt who lives in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Every time she sends me a text message, email or word of mouth message, her missive ends in the following words; “Please tell him that I still pray for him, every day.” She directs these sincere thoughts towards my husband, of course. I always smile about this a little, but I take it to heart and appreciate her prayers. You see: she reckons he has a very hard life with me. But please allow me to make a small defence on behalf of myself:…