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WE are disturbed by reports that veterinary surgeons have been forced to put down a black rhino, days after it was shot by poachers in the Matopos National Park. The eight-year-old rhino named Ntombi was shot last Tuesday and lingered on, wounded, for close to a week, before authorities took the painful decision to put an end to its misery.

Caroline Washaya-Moyo, spokeswoman for the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, said surgeons from Aware Trust finally had to make the “very painful” decision to euthanise her at the weekend because the bullets lodged deep in two of her legs meant she could no longer support herself. Ntombi left behind a 13-month-old calf.

“Surgeons tried their best to save her but the wounds were just too deep. Poachers are still a menace in most of our parks hence our untiring calls for help,” said Washaya-Moyo. Ntombi once appeared on a television show, “Karina: Wild On Safari” and her death has echoes of the shooting to death of iconic lion, Cecil, which was killed by American dentist Walter Palmer in the Gwayi area last year.

Trevor Lane of Bhejane Trust, an animal conservation group that works with the wildlife management authority, said they are offering a “substantial reward” for information leading to the arrest of poachers who shot Ntombi. The shooting is worrying given that Matopos has not recorded a poaching incident for some time. A white rhino was reported poached in the Matopos in May 2015 but no rhinos were poached in the park in 2014.

This was attributed to concerted efforts by conservation groups working with the local community and Zimparks to combat poaching. In January last year, the fence around part of Matopos National Park to protect its population of rhino was completed, thanks to the Matobo Rhino Initiative Trust.

The Trust successfully managed to confine the rhino in an Intensive Protection Zone designated by the government, with a “shoot to kill” policy for suspected poachers. It also confined the rhino in a defined zone so that anti-poaching activities were effective. The Matobo Rhino Trust is also working in conjunction with the Dambari Trust which supports rhino dehorning programmes.

A community benefit scheme was set up so that the surrounding community would be responsible for external fence patrols and fence maintenance and would derive the financial benefit of income from tourism. In essence, the plan envisaged confining the rhino in a protection zone with high anti-poaching presence, dehorn all rhino and surround the area with a community which receives direct benefit from tourism involving the rhino.

Poachers would need to pass through a non-supportive community to get to well-guarded rhino and if they did find a rhino, it would have no horn — a high risk to take for a small reward. So far, the plan has been working effectively but the latest incident is a draw back. Zimbabwe is teeming with wildlife but the country is constantly battling poachers who target mainly elephants and rhinos.

Poachers have killed over 150 rhinos in the country in the past five years, according to the Lowveld Rhino Trust, a rhino conservation organisation. The killing of Ntombi is yet another blow to efforts to conserve the dwindling numbers of rhinos in the country’s national parks. A significant surge in rhino poaching in Zimbabwe last year saw at least 50 rhino poached, more than double the figure lost in 2014.

Forty-two of the rhino lost last year were black rhino, according to the Lowveld Rhino Trust. Around 20 rhino were lost to poachers in Zimbabwe in 2014. Although there were some rhino births recorded in 2014, the increase in deaths mean that Zimbabwe’s total population of white and black rhino has dropped to around 800 from just above 800 in 2014.

Most of the rhino were lost in the Lowveld area where the rhino population is considered particularly vulnerable. The killing of Ntombi comes in the wake of the arrest of four men in the Matopos National Park for allegedly tracking a rhino in the park.

Munyaradzi Mwonzora, young brother to the MDC-T secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora, Clement Mazhandu, 39, Shadreck Kuvarega, 39, and Brighton Nkosilathi Nyathi, 26, were arrested by ZimParks rangers in January on suspicion of tracking a rhinoceros spoor in the park.

They are out on bail. We call on authorities to redouble their efforts to curb poaching in all the country’s national parks. We regret the shooting of Ntombi and hope the culprits behind the dastardly act are apprehended and made to pay for their crime. Poaching is on the increase in Zimbabwe and we would like to pay tribute to the gallant efforts of conservation groups who besides committing substantial personal resources to the case for no gain, also put their lives at risk to protect our country’s natural resources.