The role of KNP volunteers, formally known as Honorary Rangers, has reportedly played a significant role in the endeavour to keep poaching activities at bay.
Pic: Some of the collected snares
One of the volunteers, Ronald Mastnaki, said their role is to assist SANParks(South African National Parks)to locate and clear snares in the bush. He said they work closely with an armed KNP Section Ranger who is familiar with different areas within the KNP.
Pic: Ranger showing some of the snares
According to Mastnaki, a lot of the volunteers come from the Lowveld region and some from as far as Johannesburg in Gauteng Province. He added that Buffalo often fall prey to the snares and die as the poachers normally don’t come back to collect the meat.
Pic: One of the volunteers demonstrates how they remove snares
“ Our job is to walk the area in groups very slowly and form a line to cover every bush. We record our job on a system about the date, time and exact location where we found the snares. We do our job at least twice a month.
“ We’ve come across areas whereby three to four Buffalo have died from the snares. The animals manage to break loose from triggered snares and we are so happy when that happens because we remove the balance of the snares,” said Mastnaki.
