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PROTRACK ANTI POACHING UNIT Denvinlee Wildlife Management CC trading as Protrack Anti Poaching Unit (Protrack) was established in Hoedspruit in 1993, it was the first, and is now the leading Private Anti-Poaching Unit in the country, today. It started in 1987 on a part time basis, whereby patrols where done over weekends in the then Eastern Transvaal. Now the unit covers Anti Poaching and Security needs all over the Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces.
PROTRACK ANTI POACHING UNIT From meagre beginnings, boasting two employees the company has grown to employ in the region of well over a hundred full time employees. In the beginning the focus was exclusively on Anti-Poaching, but over the years, other avenues of crime prevention and law enforcement were implemented with great success. Security work was eventually incorporated in the services that Protrack offers. Not only did this widen the scope of services, it also provided the income to improve technology, in the form of weapons, radio’s and other advanced gadgetry.
PROTRACK ANTI POACHING UNIT Protrack is a security company registered with PSIRA that serves its clients with a wide variety of security needs. Initially solely an Anti-Poaching Unit it broadened its range of expertise to include many forms of security services. At first, as stated above the focus was for a small team to patrol a large area in a rural setting, usually, a game farm, to control crimes such as trespassing and poaching. Not long thereafter the enterprise expanded to include crop protection, residential town patrols and securing commercial premises.
PROTRACK ANTI POACHING UNIT Protrack soon made a name for itself in Hoedspruit as the arrest made by Protrack started to fill the police cells. The security services became much sought after and the scope of business further expanded to include gate guards, lodge guards and the use of tracker dogs, which included a range of functions associated with these roles. Today Protrack is the leader in both Anti-Poaching and Security disciplines in the Hoedspruit Area. The company has expanded to service areas in White River, Hazyview, Tzaneen and Gravelotte.
TRAINING Protrack is registered with PSIRA as a Training Service Provider, including its own accredited training centre. Protrack offers a number of in-house training modules. These relate to either or both the Anti-Poaching and Security disciplines. Common to the two is the Grade E as prescribed by PSIRA as a minimum standard in the Security Industry.
TRAINING (Continued) Fitness is a large component of the initial training as employment in the bush is arduous and is both physically and mentally challenging. The Anti-Poaching sphere boasts an exciting and colourful range of study fields, which the trainee is gradually exposed to as he progresses. External courses, such as firearm training and first aid are offered, using outside specialists.
TRAINING (Continued) On the security side similar training is provided with greater emphasis on public relations and observation, along with legal aspects as described above. Refresher courses are offered from time to time. Promotions are considered on merit, dedication and commitment. Self discipline is required to maintain a positive attitude and will be rewarded in the long run.
Game is a valuable resource with substantial monetary value. Wildlife serves as an attraction to both tourists and hunters from all over the world. The revenue generated from Eco-tourism serves to improve tourist attractions by upgrading facilities and optimally stocking game farms and thereby creating employment. Poaching with snares is a devastatingly destructive force, which decimates game stocks leading to substantial loss of income and therefore hinders job creation and development in all sectors of the community. THE POACHING TRAGEDY
THE POACHING TRAGEDY A zebra mare that had been snared around the foot suffered weeks of pain and deterioration and finally had to be destroyed. An old wire snare that could not effectively hold the animal snared the animal. The snare dug deeply into her flesh, before the wire snapped. This animal burdened with virtually no hope for survival was infested with maggots and awaited a slow agonising death. A young giraffe bull also snared by an old wire noose, that no poacher would return to, also died in vain. On the very same farm a prime male warthog quietly was strangled to death in a pocket of snares long left by poachers.
THE POACHING TRAGEDY In all the above cases these animals would never feed the mouths they were intended for. The snares in these cases were not even intended for these types of animals. Snares are indiscriminate and as shown in the above snared animals can cause great devastation and loss long after they have been set and in most cases will not be collected by the poachers. The only solution for poaching is for the people to become aware of the futility and sufferings involved and condemn the guilty sections within the community.
THE POACHING TRAGEDY Working in the field, It becomes evident how harsh, beautiful and sometimes cruel nature can be. For any living creature to survive in the wild it must defy formidable odds stacked up against it. These may take the form of seasonal changes, competition, predation and last and probably the most hazardous, human interference. The latter comes in many shapes and sizes, poaching, habitat destruction, hunting etc. are but a few.
THE POACHING TRAGEDY There was an old civet spending its last hours next to a water hole. It was badly injured with what appeared to be bite marks, possibly by another civet or predator. The old animal, obviously way past its prime gathered its last strength and dragged itself to the nearest water and waited for the inevitable. It died of its wounds, but sad as it may seem it led a full life and died the way any wild animal probably wants to, naturally.
ONE MAN’S STORYByAnonymous I am 42 years old I have been unemployed for several months now. I have a wife and a child of 12 years. My daughter goes to school and I pay for her school fees. My wife is also unemployed and I support all of us. I lost my job, because I stabbed somebody and the police arrested me. That was when I lost my job. I was in prison for 2 months and when I came out I asked for my old job back, but my employer did not even want to talk to me. I sat without money at home. I tried to get work in Phalaborwa, but could not find a job. I could also not afford to go into town everyday, because I didn’t have enough money for transport and food.
ONE MAN’S STORYByAnonymous (Continued) A man working on a game farm once approached me. He claimed that he is not making enough money working on the farm. He asked me to find people in similar predicaments to my own to help him poach game on the farm he works on. He supplied myself and another man with 20 snares to set and if we caught we would sell the meat and share the earnings. The snares we set caught one impala. We sold the impala for R300 and split the money three ways. After another three days we checked the snares again and found that we caught a waterbuck, because of the size of the animal we found another man to help us carry the meat. We sold the meat for R600 and split it four ways.
ONE MAN’S STORYByAnonymous (Continued) From June onwards we have set more than 70 snares and caught and sold 7 impala, about 15 warthogs and 2 waterbuck on only that one farm. The man who works on the farm, I poached on, went on leave and when he returned demanded his share of the money. I explained to him that it had already been spent. The next day he called me and told me that he had a snared Kudu. And that he wanted me to collect the meat. I went there to collect the meat, but he waited for me there and arrested me.
POACHING WITH SNARES One of the reasons why poaching with snares is considered to be one of the most traumatic forms of poaching, is because it is so indiscriminant. The poachers tie the snares to the trees with various materials. One of the most common materials used is bark from the trees, which is pleaded into strips to tie the snares to the branches. These snares are set up in this position, with a loop of the wire positioned in such a way that if the animal walks on the game path, it will get its head caught in the loop, which tightens as it is pulled.
POACHING WITH SNARES(Continued) Older snares often fall to the ground, but still pose great risks as it may ensnare an animal by the foot. In this case it may take the victim some time to die. The poacher set snares at different levels and sizes depending on the size animal and species which he wishes to catch, however there are many cases in which various species of animals can be caught in these snares, especially once the snare has fallen to the ground, it lays on the game path and can snare anything from as small as Steenbok to an animal as large as a Giraffe. Even our primary predators such as Lions are often caught in these lethal snares.
THE IMPALA This antelope, a common sight throughout South Africa is far too swift and nimble to be brought down by the ordinary dog poacher, but commonly falls prey to the poacher with snares. They are commonly targeted by subsistence and syndicate poachers alike. Their predictable habits and group structures cause them to be extremely vulnerable to snares set in their path. It is this and the fact that they are of a size and weight that can be carried by a single person that makes them sought after by poachers.
OTHER SPECIES Various other animals regularly fall victim to snaring. Some are targeted and others are simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. In order to specifically snare your larger game a stronger snare is required, but a smaller and weaker wire snares can also kill larger animals, but often the snared animal tears the snare off its anchor and death follows prolonged pain and suffering as result of infection and shock. Such animals bearing a snare are often kicked out of their social grouping and left to die alone.
OTHER SPECIES Larger species such as giraffe require large snares, which are pretty unique to them. In this instance there is no doubt that this is syndicate or commercial poaching as opposed to hunting for the pot.
OTHER SPECIES(Continued) Some species are poached for reasons other than food. Crocodiles as an example may be poached for “muthi” where body parts are used by witch doctors for medicinal purposes or “magic”. The stomach of crocodiles contains small pebbles that are ingested, to aid in digestion. These pebbles are highly sought after in the muthi trade.
OTHER SPECIES(Continued) Vultures are believed to have the power of seeing into the future or the past and by ingesting the brain of a vulture these powers will be bestowed onto a human being. Pangolin scales are still used in circumcision rituals with which the foreskin of an adolescent is removed with the scale. This signifies the transition to manhood in some cultures.
OTHER SPECIES(Continued) There are numerous other examples of parts of plants or animals with medicinal properties that cause them to be utilized in the muthi trade. In some cases such plants or animals are protected or endangered. This would make the harvesting of such organisms illegal without the applicable permits.
POACHING WITH DOGS This is a very successful method of poaching. This form of poaching is very difficult to monitor. Poachers do tend to make use of the full moon whilst hunting with dogs, however they have been known to infiltrate farms at all times of the month. These poachers are very difficult to catch, they are very experienced hunters. They hunt in groups of up to 4 poachers with as many as 15 dogs, a group of poachers have been known to remove up to 8 warthogs in one night. They often build fires in the entrance to the Warthog holes to smoke the animals out and then the dogs are trained to bring the Warthog to the ground. These poachers’ dogs are underestimated by many; they are actually very well trained, moving silently and obediently through the bush.
THE WARTHOG These comical creatures are often seen kneeling on front knees with the snout grubbing in the soil for food. Hardly the major drawing cards like lions and other large game. No game fence can contain them and their fate is often to be culled, hunted or poached. As is the case with any other animal they have a well deserved niche within the ecosystem. They are by no means endangered yet ecologists may tell you that their numbers are amongst the first to decline if the veldt is under stress.
THE WARTHOG(Continued) By culling or hunting their numbers are kept in check by using calculated formulas on carrying capacity and farm management guidelines, but in some farms they are mercilessly poached. Warthogs make the ideal target for the syndicate poacher. It has predictable habits in that it is diurnal and reverses into its burrow at night where it becomes an easy target for man and dog. From that position there is but one way out, straight into a spear after it has been driven into frenzy by smoke filling its hole. The options are few, suffocate or face an almost certain death dealt by man and dog.
THE WARTHOG(Continued) The wire or cable snare is far less discriminate. Like a landmine, void of emotion, it lies in wait to spring its trap. Someone may return to claim the meat of the animal or else the carcass will rot and waste. The poacher will rarely set one snare and hope to catch. The risks are too high. By setting a large pocket, success is more likely and less time is required to check and collect the meat. Once an animal is removed, the remaining snares are all too often abandoned and cause a significant number of unclaimed fatalities.
THE WARTHOG(Continued) To the average game farmer, the poaching threat is not aimed at a rhino or expensive antelope, but rather at this humble pig. The warthog is often one of the sole targets of the uninvited night prowler. These pictures are a few examples of scenes where poachers have hunted warthogs with dogs or snares. The poacher often cuts the carcass in half to share the load between them. Often the carcass is gutted so that a smaller carcass can be carried in the chest cavity. Bark is often used to tie the carcasses together or to make slings or handles for easy carrying
SERVICES OFFEREDAnti-Poaching Exploratory Sweep Establish the presence and severity of problems Multi Team Sweep Finding and Removing of Snares Visible Patrols By creating a presence visibly to reduce poaching Clandestine Patrols Focus on the apprehension of poachers Ambushing Focus on the return of a poacher to a specific location
SERVICES OFFEREDSecurity Security: Crop Protection Farm Protection Home Protection Gate Guards Executive Lodge Guards Business Premise Guards Vehicle Patrols Town Patrols Dog Patrols Reactions Armed Response Reactions with Tracker Dogs Payout Security Follow up
