Poaching in the Drakensberg

August 2016
Hike/Poaching Report in the Vergelegen Wilderness Area/Drakensberg Park:

If I had to give this report a heading it will be Vergelegen a Basotho Hunting Ground
Elaine and I have hiked the Drakensberg for many years, often up to twice per month. I have just looked at a quote which says “Where mighty mountains reach heavenward and tranquillity exists in every scenic corner – a world of timeless beauty, peace and natural abundance” well our latest hike to Vergelen was minus the tranquillity, peace and abundance!! We have hiked most of the Drakensberg and have run out of areas so because Vergelen is the area in which we have hiked the least, we decided to spend more time in this remote part of the Drakensberg. Also on the top of our list to see was the Evranda Rock Bridge. When we Googled Evranda Rock Bridge/Arch it only came up once and this was on a site called Vertical Endeavour. We realized this rock arch has been rarely visited and photographed so excitement was in our hearts. We planned a 4 day hike as the valleys in Vergelegen are very long and we needed time to photograph and enjoy an area we have not been to before.
Early on a Saturday morning we reached the Vergelegen Wildlife office where we met the ranger Thabo Ndlovu, filled in the mountain register and excitedly started our exploration journey. As we left then offices we noticed some Eland grazing nearby, they were very tame and were not too bothered about us...were they the signs of them not being persecuted or hunted? We walked up the Mlahlangubo valley towards The Hook as our plan was to get to the top of the eMahoshiya Plateau and walk along to Mlahangubo Pass viewing the Hlatimba valley on route. After climbing up the steeper part of The Hook we took a left turn along a well used path thinking we were on the right path only later to discover we had taken then wrong turn and this path was not on the map. This path took us up the Mlahlangubo Omkhulu valley so we continued up this valley as it would lead us to the bottom of Mlahlangubo Pass where we had planned to tent the night. Half way up this valley we stopped by the river for lunch. While having lunch at 1pm a Basotho hunting party with 15 dogs passed us and we got a huge fright as these dogs were big, mean and vicious looking. I managed to take a photo of them as they were close by. If they had attacked us we would not have stood a chance surviving! The five poachers passed us as though they were just doing their daily job, in fact they looked like they owned the park and this was a common daily occurrence they did! One of them had a freshly sharpened panga which was disturbing. The place they passed us was only 6 kms from the Wildlife office. Later it became clear to us that they were heading towards that group of Eland near the offices. Later in the afternoon we reached the bottom of Mlahlangubo Pass and set up tent just off the main path behind a small hill. At 4pm we noticed the poachers had returned carrying a cut up Eland on their backs. I hid in the grass on the hill above them and watched them cut up the Eland into pieces and put the meat into bags. They took just 3 hours to catch the Eland and return to the base of the pass revealing to us their hunting efficiency. At 5pm they had finished cutting the meat and headed up the pass.
I was extremely upset and mad at witnessing this illegal poaching act. If I was armed with an R4 I would have shot the dogs and possibly one of the poachers in the foot by mistake. I was involved with and managed the first wildlife conservancy in South Africa so wildlife conservation is deep in my heart. During that time I had to deal with many such cases of poaching and snaring and this incident in Vergelegen brought back anger into my heart. We passed the place they cut up the Eland the next morning and there was blood, bits of meat and bone everywhere suggesting that this was their regular place of stopping before ascending the pass. We continued the next day walking at the high contour level on our way to the Evranda Rock Bridge. High up on the Mlahlangubo peak there were Basothos shouting at up until we disappeared around the Ntsupenyana peak ridge into The Saddle area. We had no peace and were worried about confronting another poaching gang. We realized later the Poachers used this peak as a lookout point to observe the area and presence of Wildlife rangers who normally patrol on horseback, and of course very easy to see the whole area. We later found out that the rangers patrol from early morning until lunch and then they return to base. This means that the poachers come down the pass at midday and hunt Eland in the afternoons knowing there will be no rangers around.
We eventually found the Evranda Rock Bridge/Arch high up on the snow line and directly below and in the middle of The Saddle (it is marked wrongly on the Wildlife map) It was a magnificent sight and possibly 60m high. The terrain was very rough and in places the snow had turned to ice and this made the walking on the steep slopes difficult. We were lucky to find a tenting site and stayed there the night together with the hooting of owls the entire evening. We were worried that night as Basothos were putting in fires all over that area and did not want to get caught in a fire with the strong winds.
The next day we left early on our way down Ngaqamadolo ridge to Birdsnest Cave where we planned to overnight. We joined with the Mkhomazi river and walked along it for an way and then walked up to Ngcinaweni Ridge which overlooks Birdsnest cave.
This was where our worst nightmare began. As we got to the top of this ridge we heard dogs barking and witnessed two different packs of dogs chasing down Eland on the other side of the valley above Birdsnest cave. The speed the dogs ran and with the amount of dogs the Eland had no chance. They basically chase the Eland keeping up with it until it is exhausted and tearing its throat when it falls down from exhaustion. The lower hunting pack chased one Eland over a cliff alongside Birdsnest Cave and we heard the thud as this magnificent animal hit the ground. I did not have my zoom lens with me but only my landscape lens so could not properly get photos, however I did get one photo when they were closer to us and had to crop it to get a photo of the dogs chasing down this Eland.
Now we had a problem because when the poachers came to retrieve the carcass they would have had to pass directly in front of Birdsnest cave. This meant that it was too dangerous to stay there the night and we continued to walk back to the Wildlife office on the same day cutting our trip a day short.
My conclusions:
Vergelegen has become a Basotho hunting ground and they have taken control in that area making a mockery of KZN Wildlife. If they continue to poach every day which they possibly are doing, taking out 3 to 4 Eland per day, then within a year there will be no wildlife left. There are a couple of poaching gangs active in the Vergelegen area and this makes hiking in that area very dangerous. KZN Wildlife must deal with and sort out this problem before allowing hikers into the area. It will only be a matter of time before hikers are caught up in this conflict and get killed, unless they are armed and can defend themselves. The Wildlife Heads must realize that there is a huge problem in Vergelegen and it must be sorted out before it’s too late. Everything possible must be done to get these poachers out the Drakensberg Park. It is obvious that horse patrols are a waste of time and regular foot patrols must be put into place, also over nighting near the base of the 3 main passes... setting up ambush and shooting as many dogs as possible. By arresting these poachers will be a waste of time, but by shooting their dogs will stop them as they highly treasure their dogs!!! The poachers are openly hunting in the afternoons as they have the whole park to themselves and have become so confident that many other poaching groups are following into the area. They go back up the passes with the meat in the late afternoons so tracking them down and ambushing them would be easy. If the local Vergelegen rangers are not capable of sorting out this problem then a specialized anti poaching team or leader must be brought in. If the rangers don’t patrol in the afternoons or overnight in the mountains because of an overtime payment issue then the Head of KZN Wildlife must make overtime payment available.
Please Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, do something as you are the custodians of this beautiful piece of land called the “Ukhahlamba Drakensberg Park” Please allow our children to witness the vast herds of Eland and antelope that should roam freely in these magnificent mountains.

A gang of poachers passing us and below a pack of dogs chasing down an Eland.

I viewed the image of the hunting with a sinking feeling in my heart and felt cut to the core, I am really sad that you had to witness this. However on the flip side, you have brought it to light via the images. Were it not for this, this could have continued for a lot longer!

Not sure how the forum feels about this, but I recon these images and the story must get into the newspaper ASAP. I think that a ground swell of anger from all those that the love the berg and its wild life might help to insist that something extraordinary is done about this before it is to late.

Were you abel to talk to Thabo Ndlovu about this, what was his comment?

I'm not proposing a head in the sand or turn a blind eye approach to this, but it needs to be handled carefully by the hiking community.

Africa has always been a continent of revenge, and if the poachers feel that they are being persecuted because of us, this could lead to retaliatory attacks, especially in such a remote area..

@PD I hear what you say.

When I said anger, it was for people to get angry enough to make a noise about it so that the relevant authorities put something in place to prevent this from happening. If these hunting parties are not discouraged and they don't get any game, are hikers going to be next on the menu to make their trip worthwhile. If the army get involved and a few dogs are shot and killed, and the poachers chased away, i don't think that they will naturally assume that hikers had anything to do with it.

These brazen incursions, be they illegal hunting, stock theft or assault on hikers are a bad trend. Perhaps it is because Southern Africa has just gone through the worst drought in 100 odd years that there is a lot of frustration and frayed nerves caused by hunger that these issues are now coming to the fore and they will calm down when things improve on this front. However, it could also be because there is no perceived presence of authority or enforcement of the law that there is a building realisation that it is open season.

Alternatively this has been going on for the last 30 years in this area and i was just not aware of it. I have only hike in V once, so that could be likely, however I just cant believe that. I have come across hunting parties, but that was in Lesotho, not SA. If it was carrying on at this pace for so long, the eland that Richard saw would not have been so chilled out.

Serious tribe wrote: Not sure how the forum feels about this, but I recon these images and the story must get into the newspaper ASAP.

Agreed 100%.

A shocking story indeed, and quite right, when will some innocent hikers be taken out by their dogs? Either the area has always been the "wild west" and we're only noticing now because of increased hiking activity, or because of the severe lack of law along our border the attitudes of some individuals is that of "we'll do as we please along here." I suspect it's both.

@Karl: I have spoken to that ranger and cannot put his comments on VE, but a report has been sent to KZN Wildlife and I await there response which will be posted on VE. I will persist until something done about it. Yes the Eland are very tame in Vergelegen and this is because of very little persecution in the past, that's why they are so easy to hunt as humans can get very close to them.

This is deeply disturbing. I have witnessed the poachers going over the escarpment to poach late at night in the Giants Castle area, but never anything as brazen as this.

hopefully KZN wildlife will up their game.

added note, maybe forward your story & pics to the Carte Blanche team ...

The Drakensberg is a World Heritage Site. There are other WHS which have similar pressures including poaching and illegal logging etc.

One could argue that there is nothing that can be done about this. However, I disagree I think that the Carte Blanche team, or someone with equal clout should know what is going on. It needs to be brought out in the open so that the relative parties, be they enforcement agencies, regulatory authorities, local government, traditional owners can sit together to thrash this out so that it does not just go into steady decline.

I certainly don't want the Berg to become a battle ground between various i&ap's, however I am worried where this is all leading to. I still want to hike with my wife and friends without always looking over my shoulder! These Basotho are answerable to someone in their traditional and governmental hierarchy and these authorities can put the squeeze on them. However if the powers that be, don't think that anyone knows or cares enough about it, they will continue to be in ignorance, or worse to turn a blind eye to this.

Bringing this out into the media and wider world means that people with the power, influence and mandate can act on our behalf. As it stands now we are likely the lone voice in the wilderness.