“Today we are hunting down the rhinos to get to their horns before the poachers can.”
“A big male has been hit with a tranquilizer dart and we have got to reach him quickly to make sure he doesnot do damage to himself or us.”
(Anti-poaching team of men struggling to contain the darted rhino)
“Blindfold, blindfold.”
“… ready to get away, he rolls…”
“okay blindfold him (the rhino to calm him) BLINDFOLD!”
Image: helping to stabilize the rhino, after it was tranquilized, before removing the rhino’s horns to protect it from poachers, Full Copyright Belongs to 60 Minutes Australia
Liam Bartlett: “This is the cause of the problem” (host bent down and stroking the rhino horn of the now sedated rhino) “and perversely to keep this magnificent animal alive it has got to come off. Because the poachers are desperate to get their hands on this to sell it into the Asian black market.”
“A horn of this size is worth more than $100,000 (Australian dollars) and that is the only reason that there is only two and a half thousand of these black rhinos left in the world today. It has come to this to try to save it.”
(Men use chainsaw to remove the rhino’s horn)
“Like a giant fingernail the horn consists of keratin and the rhino feels no pain. Poachers take no such care killing every rhino they find. The horn will slowly grow back but right now this is one rhino that is worthless to them.”
Image: removing the rhino’s horns to protect it from poachers, Full Copyright Belongs to 60 Minutes Australia
‘That is a fair bit of weight in there. (Host, holding the rhino horn, speaking to Damien)
Damien Mander (taking hold of the rhino horn to estimate the weight) : “Yeah, about four… four kilo. So, yeah 100 Grand.”
Liam Bartlett: “You can understand with that sort of money the motivation is enormous isn’t it?”
Damien Mander: “Mate, it is, and it is… it is like sitting on a bloody reserve bank here with not enough guards. It is… it is quite stressful, mate. This is the prize, mate. This is what they are after. This is what causes me sleepless nights.”
Image: Liam Bartlett (L) & Damien Mander holding the rhino horn, Full Copyright Belongs to 60 Minutes Australia
Liam Bartlett: “The illegal trafficking of wildlife is now the third biggest criminal industry in the world.”
(anti-poaching team heard in background attending to rhino) “Let’s get this here…”
Liam Bartlett: “And although its value as a medicine and aphrodisiac has been proven false demand for rhino horn is so insatiable, so deadly, even the calves must lose their horns. The size of that horn…
Damien Manda:”Yeah”
Liam Bartlett: as tiny as it is…
Damien Manda:”Yeah”
Liam Bartlett: on this 15 month old still has to come off.”
Damien Mander: Yeah, mate, the stuff is worth more than gold so they have got no hesitation killing an animal this young and this small just to cut that small stub off the front there. That is that is the mentality we are dealing with on a day-to-day basis.”
Liam Bartlett: “Just like the other four rhinos dehorned today this calf is quickly back on its feet. But for Damien and his team these small victories are bittersweet. To protect these rhinos they must disfigure the very feature that defines them.”
Charlene Hewitt: “It is just so unnatural. I mean we have to… it comes to this to save our wildlife. Well it is better this than than lying in a pool of blood, eh. Yeah it is sad…
Damien Mander (hugging Charlene Hewitt) : “She is upset. I am upset. I am angry. Filthy…
Liam Bartlett: Trouble is… it is… know it is… desperate measures…”
Charlene Hewitt: “Yeah, and that…
Liam Bartlett: to save a desperate situation.
Charlene Hewitt: and that is what it is come to now, unfortunately, and yeah, we are prepared to do it, I think. Yeah, there is a group of us that have come together and we are going to take action. (Charlene turns to Damien) Aren’t we?”
To be continued: The Man in the Making: Leader in Africa’s Anti-Poaching Campaign Featured in an Early Look at His Determined Efforts to Save Endangered Wildlife: Part 3
Images and transcribed from: cc video “’Conservation Rambo’ takes on poachers to protect Africa’s animals | 60 Minutes Australia”, Full Copyright Belongs to 60 Minutes Australia
Sources:
(1) ‘Conservation Rambo’ takes on poachers to protect Africa’s animals | 60 Minutes Australia https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Conservation+Rambo+takes+on+poachers+to+protect+Africa%27s+animals+++Creative+Commons
(2) https://www.akashinga.org/about-us/our-story
(3) https://www.instagram.com/brianaevigan/reel/DAvMc91Of-k/
(4) https://www.akashinga.org/about-us/akashinga-rangers
(5) https://www.akashinga.org/akashinga-leadership-members/damien
(6) https://karmacommunity.karmagroup.com/experience-karma/step-up-star-weds-at-karma-kandara/
(7) https://www.africanelephantjournal.com/anti-poaching-activist-has-saved-huge-populations-of-elephants-and-rhinos-from-being-slaughtered/
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Image: Damien Mander & Charlene Hewitt, Full Copyright Belongs to 60 Minutes Australia
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