UN official: Zimbabwe security forces poached 200 rhinos
Jeremy Hancemongabay.com
February 14, 2010
The revelation means that Zimbabwe will have to explain the poaching to CITES or lose their ability to trade ivory.
The minister of Environment and Natural Resources Management, Francis Nehma, says that the nation needs vehicles and helicopters to control the troubled nation's widespread poaching problem. Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai (in a power-sharing agreement with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe) said that security forces involved in poaching must be brought before the law and punished.
Rhinos have almost vanished from Zimbabwe due to a poaching epidemic.
The Critically Endangered black rhino continues to be threatened by poachers across Africa. Approximately 4,000 survive in the wild. Photo by: Rhett Butler.
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