MBOMBELA – Judicial history was made in a local Magistrate’s Court this week when the ability of a dog to track a rhino poacher, as portrayed by his handler, was allowed and accepted as evidence in a South African court.
The dog’s name is Killer, and he is being deployed in the Kruger National Park (KNP). His handler presented a sterling testimony in the case against Mozambicans, Andelius Mukwebe and Jeremano Thive.
This and other evidence led to the verdict of guilty against the two, who were arrested in the N’wanetsi area of the park in 2013.
The trackers’ testimonies told the story of how Mukwebe and Thive were arrested on January 19 that year. They testified that they arrived on a poaching scene in a helicopter and heard gunshots. While heading in the direction of the gunshots, they saw a rhino spoor.
It led them to a carcass with its horn only partially removed, surrounded by human spoors. The two rangers, one of them with his trusted tracking dog Killer by his side, tracked the two poachers down where they had been hiding under a shrub 1,6 kilometres from the carcass.
They had two white rhino horn, an axe, a knife and a sharpner in their possession. They arrested the two and transported them to the Skukuza Police Station where they were charged.
The charges against them were that of illegally entering the country, trespassing into the KNP and two counts of performing restricted activities involving rhinos – one as a result of the carcass that was found and the other stemmed from the two white rhino horns found in their possession.
Mukwebe and Thive pleaded guilty to entering South Africa without valid passports, but denied poaching a rhino. They said they crossed the border between Mozambique and South Africa to pursue careers in hairdressing.
Apparently, they were walking to Tembisa when armed police bombarded them, and shoved rhino horn into their hands. According to defence attorney Mr Daniel Mabunda, the men had been framed and were innocent. The magistrate, Mr Edward Hall, rejected their version stating that it was too far-fetched to be true. He found them guilty of poaching and accepted the evidence led by the state.
What made this ruling noteworthy, was the fact that the evidence of Killer’s conduct was allowed in a court of law. This is a celebrated first for South African rhino-poaching cases.
However, Hall pointed out that his acceptance of the dog handler’s evidence of Killer’s tracking, did not rebut precedents on the issue of the admissibility of dog-tracking evidence.
In this case, Hall pointed out, the court dealt with a very specific set of facts as the crime scene was set in the KNP. The testimony of Killer’s tracking ability was part of a package that Hall could consider – it was presented alongside the evidence of his trainer, Mr Henry Holtzhysen and his handler.
According to Holtzysen’s testimony, Killer is of the German Malinois breed, which makes him the ideal tracking dog. He underwent intensive training and was introduced to the park at the age of two. He said Killer didn’t get sidetracked when tracking his target and added that, on the day of the crime, the weather conditions were ideal for tracking.
Killer’s handler’s testimony was crucial – he explained that he interpreted Killer’s reaction to various air and soil scents. This way, the handler and Killer tracked the poachers down together.
KNP section ranger, Mr Don English said both rangers were so good at tracking that an expert couldn’t teach them anything. Killer and his handler were called a formidable team in court.
Mukwebe and Thive are to remain in custody and will be sentenced in the Nelspruit Regional Court today.
