From The Sunday Tribune, 11 November
Senseless killing of Zim rhinos

Myrtle Ryan

As KwaZulu-Natal celebrated the release last week of 11 black rhinos on to community-owned land, a highly-successful project in Zimbabwe involving the critically endangered animals was on Wednesday night dealt a death blow. John and Judy Travers of Imire Game Farm in Wedza, near Marondera, have for many years been heading an extensive black rhino breeding programme funded by the Zimbabwe government. The progeny are released into the Zambezi Valley in a successful attempt to build up the herds of the endangered species in the wild. Imire has been in the family since World War 2. At the core of the project are four breeding rhinos which have been supplying the new blood. It was these animals which were shot at 9.30pm on Wednesday. Each rhino was tended by an armed guard.

According to family member Nicola Roche, members of the Zimbabwe Army, dressed in camouflage uniforms and carrying AK-47 rifles, arrived at the lodge, where they beat up a maid and tied her up. They then forced someone to lead them to the rhino pens, where they badly beat up the guards protecting the animals and tied them up, said Roche. The men then killed the rhinos, leaving a one-month-old calf as the sole survivor. Roche said there appeared to be no motivation for this "senseless, heinous slaughter", as all the rhino had been dehorned.

REWARD FUNDING

Reward funding required towards the arrest and conviction of the persons responsible for the brutal killing of our 3 Black Rhino at Imire Game Park on the night of 7th November 2007

DJ mother of 7week old Tatenda (now Orphaned) Sprinter (father of Tatenda) and Amber (pregnant mother and ready to give birth).

They were shot while in there bomas

In 20seconds our Black Rhino breeding stock were annihilated

Obviously the bigger the reward the better the prospects of these culprits being brought to JUSTICE all funds will be carefully monitored and invested until such time the reward is paid or refunded to those who have contributed

All funds made payable to Imire Game Park
Zimbank Marondera Branch A/C # 4573 399451001

Contact: Mike or Sheila Thompson,

John, Judy or Reilly Travers

Or Pete and Mandy Bibby

Imire Game Park

P Bag 3750

Marondera