Zimbabwe Patrols Kill 18 Poachers

Patrols have killed 18 poachers in shootouts along the country’s northern border with Zambia during a two-year-old “save the rhino” anti-poaching campaign, a national parks officer said here Tuesday.

Fifteen more poachers--with automatic rifles, military camouflage uniforms and large quantities of ammunition--were captured in operations centered in the rugged bushlands of the Zambezi River Valley running through Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique. The bulk of Zimbabwe’s estimated 1,500 black rhinoceroses, one-third of the entire African population, are in the section of the valley that belongs to Zimbabwe.

Glen Tatham, the provincial parks warden in charge of the anti-poaching campaign, said the poaching gangs are becoming better organized. During a recent four-week period, a single gang killed 22 of the animals. About 120 rhinos have been killed in the last two years.

“We are dealing with gangs organized by people with military training and access to military hardware,” Tatham said.