Rhinowars.docVIP

Gwin, Peter Rhino Wars. National Geographic 212(3): 106-125. The following web address will bring you to the photo gallery for this article: /2012/03/rhino-wars/stirton-photography Rhino Wars The rifle shot boomed through the darkening forest just as Damien Mander arrived at his campfire after a long day training game ranger recruits in western Zimbabwes Nakavango game reserve. His thoughts flew to Basta, a pregnant black rhinoceros, and her two-year-old calf. That afternoon one of his rangers had discovered human footprints following the pairs tracks as Basta sought cover in deep bush to deliver the newest member of her threatened species. Damien, a hard-muscled former Australian Special Forces sniper with an imposing menagerie of tattoos, including Seek Destroy in gothic lettering across his chest, swiveled his head, trying to place the direction of the shot. There, near the eastern boundary, he pointed into the blackness. Sounded like a .223, he said, identifying the position and caliber, a habit left over from 12 tours in Iraq. He and his rangers grabbed shotguns, radios, and medical kits and piled into two Land Cruisers. They roared into the night, hoping to cut off the shooter. The rangers rolled down their windows and listened for a second shot, which would likely signal Bastas calf was taken as well. It was an ideal poachers setup: half-moon, almost no wind. The human tracks were especially ominous. Poaching crews often pay trackers to find the rhinos, follow them until dusk, then radio their position to a shooter with a high-powered rifle. After the animal is down, the two horns on its snout are hacked off in minutes, and the massive carcass is left to hyenas and vultures. Nearly always the horns are fenced to an Asian buyer; an enterprising crew might also cut out Bastas fetus and the eyes of the mother and calf to sell to black magic or muti practitioners. If this gang was well organized, a group of heavily armed men would be covering the escape route,