Poaching Issues and Solutions (5-minute Video)

Poaching is a significant challenge, with the primary issue being the bush meat trade, as Mark Haldane explains.

Meat poaching is common, but they rarely encounter elephant poaching. Zambeze Delta Safaris anti-poaching unit has been successful in reducing poaching to a great extent, with the help of helicopters and silent electric bikes. Poachers use cable snares and gin traps to catch game, and sometimes even dogs.

The latter is a new challenge that they are dealing with, but night patrols have helped reduce it.

Illegal charcoal production and logging have been major environmental challenges in the region.

While charcoal production has been eliminated within Coutada 11, it continues to be a problem in neighboring areas. Similarly, illegal logging has been a concern in the past but has been largely eliminated with the help of government regulation.

They use helicopters and motorbikes for daily and extended patrols to combat poaching activities. The helicopters enable them to deploy people to remote areas, while the motorbikes are highly effective in working with the helicopter. Zambeze Delta Safaris also conducts foot patrols to keep ahead of poachers who are constantly evolving their techniques to avoid detection. Their rangers never know how long they will be out on patrol to prevent predictability.