In late June 2004 Afrikeye paid a visit to Victoria Falls to discuss the operational requirements and effectiveness of the Victoria Falls Anti-poaching Unit (VFAPU).

The visit started with a visit to the guest hide at the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge located close beside the hotel's artificial waterhole and overlooked by many of the bedrooms and recreation areas. It had been intended to be a gentle welcome with a chat to Richard, one of the volunteers, about Barrett's intended itinerary over a few snacks while checking out the local wildlife activity using the local knowledge of the Lodge resident guide. After some time in the hide the little party were surrounded by a herd of around forty buffalo coming to take their evening drink. Richard noticed that one of the buffalo looked a little odd and Barrett confirmed, through binoculars, that the cow was carrying a snare that had become deeply embedded in her neck. Not only was she encumbered by the open wound which was being aggravated by a number of oxpeckers but she had a calf in attendance and was, probably, still lactating. Richard informed VFAPU scouts of the siting over the radio and Barrett resolved to track through the way in which VFAPU addresses the problem of snaring within only a couple of kilometres from one of the natural wonders of the world.

The following morning Barrett joined Charles Brightman, the Operations Manager of VFAPU and a number of scouts in search of the buffalo herd. They had moved away from the water hole and it was not until the following evening that they returned and the cow was observed by a VFAPU scout.

In the meantime Charles outlined to Barrett the variety of problems that poaching brings to the area. The area is unique in that not only is animal snaring extensive but hardwoods are routinely chopped down taken from the National Park in order to make carvings that are later exported to other countries for sale to naive or uncaring tourists. With Zimbabwe's own tourist economy at a low ebb it is not as though there is even a local market for such goods and the profits are minimal.

The influx of unemployed people to the area in search of work in the tourist market over the last few years has further exacerbated the problem of individuals seeking incomes from a declining economic base. Thus VFAPU have the double problem of trying to protect the environment while trying to find alternative sources of income for those individuals forced into illegal activity by economic circumstances.

Sadly, however, there remains a hard core of professional commercial poachers in the area as was discovered the following day when a snare line was discovered by scouts in the rough scrub between two fairways on the prestigious Elephant Hills golf course nearby. The line of snares was placed on a game path regularly used by impala and had taken two victims overnight. What was particularly annoying for the scouts, Linesman Mathe, Benzine Sibanda and Norman Moyo, was they had had patrolled the area the evening before and there had been no snares there indicating that an informed poacher had placed the wires after the patrol team had departed. Another impala, a female this time, had been spotted several times grazing on the course with a snare round her neck. Fortunately she was more fortunate and was located and kept under observation while Roger Parry, a qualified wildlife anaesthetist, was called in to dart her and remove the snare.

A call came in, even as Parry was working, that the buffalo cow had been spotted again and the team moved quickly to the new herd location. The only way to approach a herd of buffalo without frightening them is on horseback and so Parry mounted up on a borrowed horse and rode into the herd. The cow was easy to spot by the number of oxpeckers flapping around the gaping wound in her neck and Parry was able to dart her quite quickly. The team then brought in the Land Rover to gently encourage the herd away and with slow and careful manoeuvres managed to move them to a safe distance from the injured cow.

With a couple of scouts posted to observe the main herd Parry could move in and remove the snare while the support team cleaned and disinfected the wound. This completed, Parry administered the antidote and everybody waited for the buffalo to recover.

After some time she groggily rose to her feet and slowly moved back towards the herd where she was later seen back with her calf.

Another small step in conserving the wildlife and environment around Victoria Falls and a very illuminating trip for the editor. VFAPU work within extremely limited resources and though Afrikeye has committed some assistance in the short term they need more support for a sustainable future. If you feel able to support the unit in any way please make contact through the feedback page.

© Afrikeye 1999 - 2007 (certain items under permission of original copyright owner)

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