Relocate rhinos from vulnerable Delta, gov't urged :: Mmegi Online

The good rains in the Okavango Delta region have become a curse for rhinos, as the denser thickets provide cover for poachers, who are picking off their targets almost at leisure. While anti-poaching rangers and their vehicles struggle for access, heavily armed poachers are spending months surveying their prey while using plastic mattresses to navigate the waters. Staff Writer MBONGENI MGUNI writes

One night recently, a suspected Zambian poacher was nabbed while four others escaped after law enforcement in Namibia caught them crossing into the Okavango Delta in Botswana to carry out their illegal activities.

According to reports of the incident, the group had two hunting rifles, five inflatable mattresses to cross the waterways, handsaws to hack off rhino horns and elephant tusks, knives, axes, solar panels, torches and their personal effects.

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