By BRIAN HATYOKA –

IN BULAWAYO, ZIMBABWE
A WILDLIFE expert has called for increased educational campaigns on the preservation of Rhinos to save the animals from extinction.
Andy Trivella, a chief tour guide working for Black Rhino Safaris in Zimbabwe’s Bulawayo city, said there was need to intensify educational campaigns on the conservation of Rhinos as the animals were the most sought-after by poachers.
Sensitisation campaigns should be targeted at both children and adults to achieve significant results.
He was speaking in Matobo National Park in Bulawayo in Zimbabwe when a delegation of foreign tour operators and journalists conducted a walk with untamed White Rhinos in the Park.
The delegation, which has been sponsored by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), also visited a grave where Cecil Rhodes was buried and another site where Bushmen conducted rock paintings thousands of years ago within the same National Park.
The recent revelation by some officials in Vietnam that Rhino horns could cure cancer had prompted poachers to kill many Rhinos with South Africa losing more than 800 animals this year alone.
“Here in Zimbabwe, we are trying different things to preserve the Rhinos and one of the things we are doing is to dehorn them so that poachers don’t kill them to get the most sought-after horns
However, some poachers still shoot these animals and hence we need to intensify educational campaigns,” he said.
Mr Trivella noted that other countries had started putting poison in Rhino horns so that the chemical bring misery to people who kill and eat the animals as a way of preserving the beasts.
“We are using camera traps in the National Parks to preserve the Rhinos. So far, we have seen Safari operators stealing fire wood from other people’s property while others were caught having sex using the same cameras,” Mr Trivella said.
He also called for the empowerment of people living near national parks and other game management areas.