Contraceptives for jumbos shelved

Contraceptives for jumbos shelvedBy Vincent GonoTHE proposed use of contraceptives to control the ever-swelling elephant population in Zimbabwe's parks — has been permanently shelved after reports that the contraceptive injection arouses insatiable sexual appetites for the jumbos leading to rapid multiplication, Sunday News can reveal.Wildlife experts disclosed to Sunday News last week that the contraceptive injection was going to paradoxically increase the jumbo population in Zimbabwe to alarming levels — leading to overstretching of the available resources to feed them.In an interview last Thursday, the director general of the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, Dr Morris Mutsambiwa, said the use of the contraceptives to control the elephant population that was tried in South Africa proved unworkable in Zimbabwe after reports that the injection increased the elephants’ sexual appetite.Dr Mutsambiawa could not disclose the name of the contraceptive.“The idea was proposed and tried in South Africa to try and control the elephant population, but we decided to shelve it here after it was reported that the contraceptive injection actually increases the sexual appetite of the jumbos. They make them more sexually aggressive besides it being a very expensive exercise,’’ said Dr Mutsambiwa.He added that they were therefore left without an option, but to use curling as a control measure to control jumbos population in the country’s parks.Dr Mutsambiwa said Zimbabwe had an elephant population of more than 100 000, stressing out that the country had a maximum holding capacity of only 50 000.He said that there was little that they could do to control the elephants that he said were still increasing in population despite the curling exercise that they sometime do.Curling, however, is not recommended to endangered species such as the elephants, leaving the Government with limited options.Fears are however that the destructive nature of the animals to the environment and human life will increase since there is no other control mechanism that can be employed to control the jumbo population.The huge animals always leave a trail of destruction whenever they are allowed to roam freely and worse still if their number is left unchecked.Dr Mutsambiwa lamented the increase in the activities of poaching that he said were rampant in the parks that were strewn all over the country.He said it was unfortunate that some of the cases were committed by employees who had all the knowledge and with whom they invested all their trust adding that that made it difficult to control the problem.“It’s a sad situation we cannot conceal anymore. Poaching is an enemy of growth in the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and we have three or four cases where our own employees engaged in poaching and the law has to take its course,’’ said Dr Mutsambiwa.He said a Masvingo businessman whose wife was doing her internship with the Parks was recently nabbed by the police after he was found engaging in poaching activities.He urged the communities to appreciate the value of the natural resources and to have a shared collective responsibility towards their preservation. He reiterated that the wildlife resources were not the sole responsibility of the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority to maintain but the responsibility of all the communities to look after.

Hunting trip goes badly wrong

http://www.namibian.com.na/new...ip-goes-badly-wrong/


Full Story
30.04.09
Hunting trip goes badly wrong
By: DENVER ISAACS

AN encounter with an aggressive leopard almost cost a South African hunter his life on Friday, when he was accidentally shot in the stomach with a hunting rifle.
Punki Swelinao (41) is being treated in the Intensive Care Unit of the Windhoek Central Hospital after a bullet accidentally fired by an American tourist reportedly grazed his appendix.
The incident happened at around 09h35 at the farm Fahlwater in the Karibib area.
The skirmish also resulted in injuries to seven hunting dogs that accompanied the party and fell foul of the leopard. Corne Kruger of Omujeve Safaris Namibia, the company that hosted the hunt, told The Namibian that this was unprecedented in his experience.
According to Kruger, the group of hunters, accompanied by the hounds and guides, found the leopard’s tracks early in the morning and set off on its trail.
However, while previous experience dictated that the dogs would chase the leopard up a tree, Kruger said this time things worked out differently.
Instead of fleeing, the leopard turned on the hounds before retreating into the tall grass and later surprising the group by pouncing on Swelinao, wrestling him to the ground.
One of the tourists on the trip, Brittany Boddington, apparently fired at the cat, but hit Swelinao in the abdomen instead.
The leopard was shot and killed immediately afterwards by one of the professional hunters accompanying them. A total of three shots were fired.
Swelinao was rushed to the State hospital at Okahandja, where he was said to have needed six litres of blood.
The incident was reported to the Okahandja Police and transferred to the Karibib Police station, which took statements from everyone involved.
The Police recorded a routine investigation of attempted murder charge but Boddington was not arrested, and has since returned to the US pending further investigation by the authorities.