Tag archives for Leon Marshall
Worsening Rhino war Strains Countries’ Relations
Posted by Leon Marshall of Environmental Journalist, News Watch South African Contributor on April 30, 2013 
The growing incursion of rhino poachers from Mozambique into South Africa’s flagship Kruger National Park is beginning to strain relations between the two countries. South African security operatives trying to stem the relentless killing of the enigmatic animals speak of it as a “border war”. They are getting increasingly fed-up with Mozambique’s security agencies for not doing more to clamp down on the poachers and the rhino-horn smugglers on their side of the boundary.
Record 618 South African Rhinos Poached for Horns in 2012, so far
Posted by Leon Marshall of Environmental Journalist, News Watch South African Contributor on December 11, 2012 The number of rhinos killed for their horns in South Africa so far this year has shot up to 618. This is well past last year’s shock record of 448 and substantially more than the tally of 550 predicted at the beginning of 2012. And still there is no sign of the onslaught letting up.…
Shellfish Poaching Fuels Illicit Economy in South Africa
Posted by Leon Marshall of Environmental Journalist, News Watch South African Contributor on February 9, 2012 The tough shellfish known as abalone is highly prized as a delicacy in the Far East, where it is fetches excessive prices. Poachers picking abalone off the rocky shallows of South Africa’s southern coast have become brazen, plying their illegal trade in open view in daylight. Is the abalone trade fueling its own economy through corruption and big spending by the poachers?
Is Tourism Good for South Africa’s Great White Sharks?
Posted by Leon Marshall of Environmental Journalist, News Watch South African Contributor on January 17, 2012 
Shark cage-diving has become big business in South Africa, luring visitors from all parts of the world. Conservationists say that the tourism could be good for the overall image people have of sharks, and the ecosystems the predators need to survive.
Record 443 Rhinos Killed by Poachers in South Africa in 2011
Posted by Leon Marshall of Environmental Journalist, News Watch South African Contributor on December 14, 2011 It has been a bad year for rhinos in South Africa. Many more got killed than in 2010, the 333 toll of which was described with words like “shocking” and “outrageous”. Most thought it couldn’t get worse.
It’s got much worse. The tally for 2011 is at least 433. It could end up being higher, for even as the year drew to a close, reports kept coming in of more dead rhinos found with gruesome wounds or just stumps left where their horns had been.
Durban Climate Talks to Aim for Pragmatic Results
Posted by Leon Marshall of Environmental Journalist, News Watch South African Contributor on November 23, 2011 The annual United Nations meeting to assess progress in dealing with climate change convenes in Durban, South Africa, next week. The meeting is known formally as the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 7th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as…
Five African Nations Sign Up for Conservation Zone the Size of California
Posted by Leon Marshall of Environmental Journalist, News Watch South African Contributor on August 29, 2011 Five southern African countries have signed into place the region’s biggest and most ambitious transfrontier conservation project yet. It covers a sparsely populated region of 444,000 square kilometers (171,429 square miles; slightly larger than California) that comprises some of the most spectacular scenery on the continent.
South African Court Jails Rhino Horn Smugglers
Posted by Leon Marshall of Environmental Journalist, News Watch South African Contributor on August 8, 2011 A South African court effectively threw away the key when it jailed two smugglers convicted of trying to smuggle rhino horns out of the country. But the slaughter of the country’s pachyderms for the spurious healing power of their horns continues unchecked. A new scheme allegedly involves sex workers posing as trophy hunters seeking to harvest rhino horns through a legal loophole.
South Africa’s Rhino Slaughter Rages on
Posted by Leon Marshall of Environmental Journalist, News Watch South African Contributor on July 23, 2011 
The shadow of rhino poaching keeps darkening the magnificent landscape that places South Africa among the most biodiverse countries in the world. Already the figure for the year so far stands at about 200 rhinos killed. This has conservationists fearing that the toll for the year could end up exceeding the shocking 333 killed last year.
South Africa’s Enigmatic Big Cats Under Growing Threat
Posted by Leon Marshall of Environmental Journalist, News Watch South African Contributor on June 16, 2011 
Leopard and cheetah are two of southern Africa’s most enigmatic cat species. But both are under growing threat from livestock farmers, trophy hunters and both the legal and illegal trade in wildlife species. Now conservationists are pushing for tighter controls.
Posted by From Leon Marshall in Johannesburg The assault on South Africa’s rhino population has continued unabated into 2011. After last year’s massacre of 333 of the country’s rhino herd, the death toll since the beginning of 2011 already stands at a disheartening 71 of the seriously endangered species. This is higher than at the same time…
From Leon Marshall in Johannesburg It is a relatively small bird, no bigger than a dove, and extraordinarily shy. It is merely a summer visitor to South Africa, but even so the white-winged flufftail carries enormous weight. It has come to be known by the country’s conservation fraternity as “the little bird that stopped a…
Critically Endangered South China tiger cubs born in captivity in China, but raised in South Africa where they were taught to hunt for their food, are soon to be introduced into a controlled wilderness in their native country. The many people involved, at considerable effort and expense, hope that the experiment will show the way to not only…
From Leon Marshall in Johannesburg Rhino poaching keeps taking on such alarming proportions in South Africa that the country’s defence force has now been called in to help fight the ruthless killers who are mostly using assault weapons and often other sophisticated equipment to carry out their crime. The request has come from South African…
This post is part of a special National Geographic news series on global water issues. From Leon Marshall in Johannesburg Awareness of the world’s mounting freshwater troubles has bubbled to the top of South Africa’s political agenda. Briefings by experts on the over-use and abuse of the country’s water supplies have so alarmed some…
From Leon Marshall in Johannesburg Faced with mounting outrage at the rhino-killing spree that has hit South Africa this year, the country’s government has finally come up with plans aimed at tackling the scourge on a wider front and in a more coordinated way. The two-pronged scheme includes the establishment of a National Wildlife Crime…
NG stock photo of male mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) by Bates Littlehales By Leon Marshall Johannesburg–Some people get very upset whenever there is talk of exterminating invasive alien bird species, even if they pose a threat to a country’s own birds. In South Africa, the effort to eradicate non-native birds has even been compared to…
By Leon Marshall in Johannesburg South African police and security agencies seem to have struck their deepest blow so far against the country’s increasingly callous–and rampant–rhino poachers. Nine people were netted Monday in an early-morning sweep of several towns in the northern province of Limpopo. The Johannesburg newspaper Die Beeld reported Tuesday that two veterinarians…
From Leon Marshall in Johannesburg The proposed opening of a coal mine on the verge of one of South Africa’s most prized nature reserves has put the cat among the pigeons. Conservationist have long been alarmed at the way mining is being allowed in some of the country’s most sensitive areas. Now they are preparing…
The recent brazen slaying of two rhinos–a pregnant mother with her two-year-old calf–in a highly popular wildlife park on the outskirts of Johannesburg, has focused attention on the growing poaching crisis in South Africa, a country renowned for the conservation of the endangered animal. Law-enforcement officials say they are in a battle against organized criminals…
By Leon Marshall Intermittent blasts of gas-fired burner break the early morning still as our hot air balloon lifts and starts to glide gently on the air currents above hilly grasslands crossed here and there by bushy gullies. A few times we hear wildebeest grunt, and from behind a rocky outcrop come the unmistakable croaks…
By Leon Marshall Reports about openbilled storks appearing in places they had never been seen before in South Africa were hesitant at first. The birding fraternity is notoriously sceptical of claims about unusual sightings and amateurs are wary of incurring their derision. But then the floodgates opened. People reported seeing them all over, even as…
