August, 2022: One of a series of memos from MHHF co-founder Lee Vogel regarding his trip this last summer to Africa.
Tonight, somewhere in the wilderness of Zambia, Africa, two men dressed in camouflage fatigues and combat boots carrying AK-47 fully automatic machine guns are within view of five white rhinoceros. The AKs are not to protect the men from these fearsome beasts. They are to shoot to kill, on sight, any humans they encounter. That is their order.
At the end of an eight-hour shift two more men, identically clad and equipped, will take over the watch. Eight hours later a third set. And so it goes every day. There is no end date for this activity.
Why?
The severed horn from these animals will bring a starting price of $250,000 on the Asian black market. It is for this reason these mostly social animals are being poached to the point of extinction.
Through our guide, my wife and I were allowed to visit these rhinos. Radio communication provided the coordinates and approval of our visit. When we rendezvoused with the rangers we were introduced but their names were not provided. They instructed us to walk quietly, single file and to speak sparingly in whispers.
One ranger was in the lead. The other followed us.
We didn’t have to walk far before they appeared. The distance between them and us was no more than 25 yards. If I was hunting with a bow, we were well within my effective range. Today, I was shooting with a camera. The mighty beasts munched on vegetation without giving much notice to us but they knew we were there. Their ears were always pivoting, like a spinning radar cup.
When the clicking of my camera’s shutter quit, the ranger looked and nodded as if to ask “Enough?”
I nodded and, without speaking, we quietly retraced our steps to the vehicles that brought us.
Before we left I looked into the eyes of our heavily armed hosts and said “Thank you. And thank you for what you are doing.” It was hard to get the last words out. I was near tears.
451 rhinos were poached in South Africa in 2021.* At the beginning of the 20th century, 500,000 rhinos roamed Africa and Asia. Today, around 27,000 rhinos remain in the wild. **
In 1998, black rhinos in Zambia were classified as extinct. Because of conservation efforts like this, and in other portions of South Africa, rhinos are gaining numbers within captivity, although they are still considered “critically endangered”.
Going afar often brings a degree of clarity to what we have at home. For me it reinforced the value of what MHHF is doing as an organization and what others in Missouri are doing to preserve Missouri’s wildlife. The Missouri hunter education curriculum covers the role of hunters as conservationists, hunting ethics, and the achievements of our Missouri Department of Conservation in bringing back endangered species.
As hunters, we know how important it is to have the cooperation of biologists, law enforcement and local judges to assure the healthy survival of a species. We’ve seen, firsthand, amazing successes with white tail deer and eastern wild turkey. For Missourians, these wildlife conservation victories is something we should celebrate and cherish. As role models for conservation across the globe, our efforts in this area should be a great source of pride for all of us.
*downtoearth.org
**Worldwildlife.org
Photo by the author.