Editorial

The Scourge of Complicit Officials

By Zig Mackintosh

A professional hunter friend of mine worked in northern Mozambique a few years ago. Like most PHs, he was deeply committed to anti-poaching operations in Africa. On one patrol in his hunting concession, he and his team uncovered a poachers’ camp containing the dried meat of 15 eland and 10 zebras. There were no poachers in sight, so the team loaded the meat into a trailer and began the journey back to camp.

Confrontation with Corrupt Authorities

On the way, they were stopped by the local police chief. Seeing the trailer loaded with meat, the officer became enraged, verbally abusing and threatening my friend. Somehow, he managed to defuse the situation and return safely to camp.

About a week later, while driving through a nearby town, he was again pulled over—this time at a police roadblock where no one else was being stopped. Forced to blow into a breathalyzer, he tested negative. The police thoroughly searched his vehicle but found nothing incriminating. However, he had forgotten his driver’s license.

For this, he was arrested, handcuffed, and frog-marched by three armed officers to the local jail.

Life in a Brutal Jail Cell

He was thrown into a cell crammed with 20 other inmates, one of whom had been held there for 30 years. Along three walls stood triple bunks, two inmates per bed, while others had to sleep on the floor beneath them.

The cell’s only toilet was a hole in the corner, overflowing with human waste. Prisoners were locked in from 5 pm until 6 am, with the lights kept on all night—a detail my friend admitted he found preferable under such conditions.

On the fourth day, he was taken to court and held in a filthy side room without water or ablutions. The floor was smeared with excrement. His case wasn’t heard that day, forcing him to return the next. When it finally came up, the magistrate berated the police for wasting the court’s time on such a trivial matter and dismissed it.

The Deeper Issue: Complicit Officials

This ordeal underscores a serious challenge for conservation: corrupt or complicit officials. While anti-poaching patrols across Africa—large and small—continue to do extraordinary work, their efforts are undermined when authorities collude with poachers or harass those dedicated to protecting endangered wildlife.

In This Edition of Patrol

• Research Insight: Catherine Semcer from Oxford University shares findings from her survey on private sector contributions—money, manpower, equipment, and resources—to anti-poaching operations across Africa.
• Documentaries: Two short films highlight the Isibaya Leopard Conservation Project and anti-poaching operations in Tanzania’s Moyowose Game Reserve.
• Dispatches from the Frontline: A look at a rhino de-horning operation in Namibia.

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