The Sunday News
Roberta Katunga, Senior Business Reporter
Zimbabwe is planning on dehorning about 800 rhinos to curb poaching activities which have seen more than five percent of the rhino animal population illegally killed in South Africa last year.
The country has black rhinos which are smaller and a rare specie as compared to the white rhino.
Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority board member Cephas Mudenda said the organisation was working with two private organisations to complete the programme with 60 rhinos having been dehorned so far.
“Our strategy is to try and save the rhino, if the poachers know that the rhino at National Park here does not have horns, they are unlikely to come here and kill it,” said Mudenda.
According to NatParks, their intention is to cover the whole country by year end in both national parks and privately owned land so as to defer poachers.
So far the exercise has covered Chipinge, Lake Kyle in Masvingo, and Lake Chivero in Harare and Matopos in Bulawayo.
“However, dehorning alone isn’t a solution as more needs to be done,” he said.
According to the Parks, dehorning one animal costs about $1 200 with Mudenda saying, “this is a lot of money for us and we cannot do it alone hence we need more partners.”
The rhino stockpile in Zimbabwe is currently 5 tonnes.
