In Africa, Chinese Volunteers "Bring Your Own Food" to Fight Poaching

Original title：If lions and elephants could talk, I would express my gratitude to them ……

Chinese Volunteers “Bring Your Own Food” to Fight Poaching in Africa

On June 15, Chinese volunteers and Manapus National Park Director Ah Liang pushed the power delta wing out of the hangar.

Chinese volunteers (from left to right) Wang Ke, Zhang Guangrui, Wang Yilin, Yu Yang and Liang Jiajun at the campground on June 15. All photos by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Yaqin.

What is it like to work as a wilderness conservation volunteer in Zimbabwe, which is far away from my home country? What is the motivation for the Chinese volunteers to come here to work against poaching?

“When you step out of your tent in the morning and find elephants watching you from afar, you will feel that this is the real nature. As a wilderness conservation volunteer, what you get is more than what you give.

“Early in the morning, a male lion stood by the river, majestic and forlorn, seemingly confused about the future.”

“Last night, while on patrol, we encountered a group of African wild dogs preying on an impala, and then the hyenas came and grabbed it, catching us up on a demonstration of nature’s ecological chain.

“At night, a hyena came to the camp and took a bag of garbage, hid outside the tent and bit it. When I shined a flashlight on it, it showed its teeth and smiled a weird, nasty smile.” “We received a call from a poacher.

“We got a tip that there were poachers, and our pilot and the park police searched for them early this morning, but at least they were scared off.

This is the friend group status of a group of Chinese volunteers. In Zimbabwe, an African country 10,000 miles away from China, they are active in the front line of wildlife protection, suffering hardships and challenges they never thought they would face, driving power deltas and zodiac boats to stop poachers in their tracks and let wildlife live undisturbed in their paradise.

Poachers' “nemesis”

Power delta wings, small helicopters, night vision devices, thermal imaging cameras, professional-grade drones, zodiac boats, elevators and other “Made in China” equipment have added to the wilderness protection work that Chinese volunteers have been involved in here, significantly reducing the number of poaching incidents.

Early in the morning of June 17, Chinese volunteer and veteran pilot Yu Yang took Ah Liang on a powered delta-wing flight over Manapus National Park and began his daily two-hour patrol.

His real name is Nyakumba, and he is the director of Manapus National Park. His Chinese name was given to him by his instructor when volunteers took him to Guangzhou to learn how to fly a powered delta wing. “We fly two hours in the air, basically can fly around the whole national park, driving, dry season takes a whole day or more, rainy season is basically impossible, power delta wing help us a lot! Ah Liang said.

Manapus looks like a green emerald from a couple of hundred meters in the air, with the beautiful Zambezi River flowing through its north side, and a “God’s-eye view” of black and white zebras, elephants with curled noses, hippos and crocodiles lying in the river with their heads exposed… …all kinds of animals are scattered on the emerald.

“If there were poachers, we would be able to see them clearly from the air,” Yujan said.

Manapus National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to more than 350 species of animals, including elephants, lions, antelopes, hippos, crocodiles, hyenas and African wild dogs.

Zimbabwe was once known as a model for wildlife conservation in Africa. In recent years, however, the country’s economy has declined due to Western sanctions, and the government has been unable to invest in conservation, resulting in numerous poaching incidents.

A Liang told reporters that in Manapus, cell phones have no signal, communication is basically by roar; vehicles often break down, traffic can only be walked, all these constraints, resulting in anti-poaching work has been difficult.

Since 2015, the Sino-Tianjin Wildlife Foundation has sent three groups of volunteers to Manapus to engage in animal protection and anti-poaching activities, each group lasting 1-3 months. With their passion and skills, the Chinese volunteers, together with the staff, have taken up the important task of anti-poaching. They also brought with them the “nemesis” of poachers - power delta-wing.

Power delta wing aircraft, also known as power hang gliders, is the most popular light powered aircraft in the field of aviation sports, the 1970s began to rise in Europe. Because of its low cost, simple structure, safe and reliable and other characteristics, in recent years, the power triangle wing is widely used in tourism, transportation, exploration, agriculture, fire prevention, aerial photography, disaster relief and other industries.

A bright told reporters, power triangle wing to carry out anti-poaching action to help a lot, manapus area is not small, rugged road in the reserve, some driving need four or five hours to the place, driving power triangle wing 30 minutes to reach. In the patrol, the power delta wing can fly very low, can monitor the whole reserve 360 degrees, cruising distance of more than 300 kilometers, speed up to 80 kilometers per hour. At the same time, the sound generated by its cruise in the air can be transmitted to a radius of tens of kilometers, which has a strong deterrent effect on poachers.

“If we get a tip and drive to the scene, which usually takes several hours, the poachers may have already succeeded and left,” A-liang said. With the power delta-wing, we can get there quickly and save more lives,” said Liang. Thanks to our daily patrols, there have been no reports of poaching incidents for more than a month now.”

In addition to power delta-wings, the volunteers also brought small helicopters, night-vision devices, thermal imaging cameras, professional-grade drones, zodiac boats, elevators and other equipment. The “Made in China” equipment will be a great addition to the wilderness protection work that the Chinese volunteers are doing here. “We hope these equipment will ensure that no matter day or night, in the river or on the shore, we can locate the poachers with professional equipment and notify the park authorities immediately. said Ke Wang, the organizer of the volunteer program.

When Public Welfare Goes International

“Chinese people will not be absent from the wildlife conservation cause. We hope that through this public welfare action, we can change the stereotype of Chinese people among locals and Westerners”.

In 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, he organized volunteers to go to the disaster area in Beijing, and he first experienced the meaning of volunteer activities.

“At that time, I discussed with my friends that we had the skills and equipment to help more people with our expertise, which was a meaningful thing,” he said. Wang Ke said, from then on he fell in love with volunteer work, and joined the Blue Sky Rescue Team, the largest private professional public emergency rescue organization in China, and participated in various disaster rescue operations for many times, providing help to many people in danger.

Little by little, Ke Wang took his public service to China. He led a team to provide aid to refugees in northern Burma and taught Chinese martial arts to children in Djibouti, on the Red Sea coast.

Some people say, “There are so many people in China who need help, why do it abroad? In my opinion, China is already a big country, but the measure of a country’s national power is not only hard power, but also soft power; in addition to official diplomacy, there should also be private diplomacy. On the one hand, we can better establish a positive image of Chinese people overseas; on the other hand, we can spread Chinese ideas and values to more countries around the world, just like Western NGOs,” said Wang Ke. Ke Wang said.

In 2015, Ke Wang set his sights on the anti-poaching business in Zimbabwe. He hopes that by using aerial equipment such as powered delta-wings and unmanned aerial vehicles, he can help improve the local authorities' ability to monitor and combat poaching, thereby curbing poaching and protecting wildlife.

“On the one hand, there are many wild animals in Zimbabwe, but the conservation efforts cannot keep up because of funding and other reasons, so we hope that someone will help. "

But apparently, it is not easy to change the stereotype of Chinese people. Wang Ke and his team approached Western NGOs, most of whom were engaged in conservation activities in Zimbabwe, for cooperation. These organizations often declined the invitation to work with him when they heard he was a Chinese volunteer. Only one NGO reached out to him, but the conditions he was given were laughable.

“We would love to work with you, and would like you to be our ‘informant. The head of the NGO said to Wang Ke, “You will pretend to be Chinese people who want to buy ivory and rhino horns, and go ‘fishing’ for us with poachers, and we will bring the police to arrest them.”

“We have to admit that for a long time in the past, individual Chinese have been illegally buying ivory, rhino horns, lion claws and other wildlife products in Africa, as well as eating pangolin and other game. This, coupled with the fact that some Western and local media have made a big fuss over individual cases of Chinese smuggling ivory and timber, has, to a certain extent, damaged the image of the entire Chinese community in the field of animal protection.” Song Li, an overseas Chinese in Tianjin and chairman of the Sino-Tianjin Wildlife Foundation, said.

If we accede to their request, the image of the Chinese people in the region will be even worse, and our own team will become traitors. Wang Ke was so angry and amused that he refused and decided to go it alone.

The Chinese Embassy in Tianjin is very supportive of this project and has issued an official letter recommending it to the government of Tianjin. They took advantage of their familiarity with local politics and culture to patiently explain and communicate with officials in Tianjin, which greatly accelerated the implementation of the project in the city.

“When we applied for a project with a Western NGO in Tianjin at the same time, we have already started the third batch, while their application may not be approved yet. Wang Ke said.

“The Chinese are really here to do things.”

China’s support for us, both official and private, is unconditional and unchanging.

Getting the power delta wing into Manapus, the park was skeptical at first.

“At first, we didn’t believe that volunteers from China could make the project work,” says Liang. Until then, several Western NGOs had been visiting Manapus every year, A-liang said. “They said they wanted to work with us and help us, but often they came for a visit, talked to us, had a meeting, and then nothing happened.” After being “duped” a few times, the gardeners’ enthusiasm for these NGOs and volunteer groups was reduced by half.

“It’s up to you to take action to allay the gardeners' fears,” says Wang Ke. Wang Ke said that in the three times they have volunteered in the past two years, they have made the gardeners feel that “the Chinese are really here to do something” with their enthusiasm for volunteer work.

In December 2015, the Chinese government donated 14 million RMB worth of supplies to Zimbabwe, including Land Cruisers, pickup trucks, trucks, graders and tractors, as well as handheld radios, solar-powered mobile phones, backpacks, sleeping bags, assault suits, tents, binoculars, hand-held binoculars, and other equipment. GPS locator, diesel engine, water pump and other equipment. Zimbabwe’s Minister of Environment Musinguri said that the assistance provided by China is of great significance to Zimbabwe’s anti-poaching activities.

“Thanks to the assistance from the Chinese government, the level of equipment in Manapus National Park has been improved and the ability to fight poachers has been enhanced,” said Wang Ke. What’s more, the park has more trust in us and is more willing to cooperate with us on a larger scale,” said Wang Ke.

“China has done a lot to fulfill its responsibility for wildlife conservation. Officially and privately, China’s support for us is unconditional and unchanged,” said A-liang, “We have done a lot to fulfill our wildlife conservation responsibilities. We also feel more and more that this support is helping our anti-poaching cause.”

Hu Yingjian, a flight instructor who has volunteered twice, remembers that last year, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, he was on patrol with A-liang in the reserve. Under the bright moonlight, elephants, hippos and other animals coveted by poachers would be nowhere to be seen. But they kept watch all night without hearing a single shot.

“Thank you! You’re flying in the air, so poachers won’t dare to come!” Ah Liang gave Hu Yingjian a thumbs-up.

“This is the best Mid-Autumn Festival gift, and I’m even happier than a few moon cakes,” he said. Hu Yingjian said.

One day in late August last year, sanctuary staff member Dinajer found a dead elephant that had been shot and its face cut open to remove its tusks, a gruesome sight. Judging that the poachers were still in the vicinity and were likely to continue their work, he immediately notified Hu Yingjian on his mobile phone. Hu took his staff with him and tracked the poachers with a powered delta wing, forcing them to flee. “They were afraid they would leave traces for us to catch up with them, so they threw away their shoes and fled barefoot.

At present, the Zhongjin Wildlife Foundation has donated helicopters, power delta-wings, dinghies, elevators and other equipment to the park, which have already been used for anti-poaching work in Manapus, and last year the park caught a number of poachers with dinghies.

Through their efforts and sweat, the Chinese volunteers have gained a reputation in the field of wildlife conservation in Zimbabwe. During this activity, the African Wild Dog Association of Zimbabwe approached Ke Wang and his team to help them protect the endangered African wild dogs with a power tripod. Many other NGOs contacted Wang Ke, asking what other supplies and help he needed.

“He was also contacted by a number of NGOs, who asked him what other supplies and help were needed.

One volunteer, who had eggs laid on his skin by mango flies, had maggots infesting his skin and burrowing all over his body before they were removed by a Chinese medical aid team in Tianjin.

What is it like to be a wilderness conservation volunteer in Zimbabwe, which is 10,000 miles away from my home country? “It’s like eating hardships you’ve never experienced before and seeing sights you’ll never forget,” said Zhang Guangrui, who has participated in three wilderness safari operations in Zimbabwe. Zhang Guangrui, who has participated in three volunteer activities, said.

“The challenges I have to deal with here are unimaginable in my home country.” Zhang Guangrui showed reporters more than 70 bags of mosquito and flea bites, “The insects here are particularly poisonous, and some of the swellings won’t come down for half a month. Last time, a volunteer was bitten by a mango fly, which laid eggs on his skin, and the maggots were deposited under his skin and burrowed around inside his body.

Due to the distance and inconvenience of transportation from the capital city of Harare, supplying vegetables became a problem. In addition to various brands of pickles, there were only onions and potatoes that had been stored for a long time, and leafy greens were completely absent from the kitchen of the volunteer camp.

“The national park has regulations that all supplies must be brought in from outside. We can’t grow vegetables here, we can’t fish, and we can’t hunt,” said Wang Ke with a grin. Wang Ke said with a grin. “It’s hard to get supplies, and getting fresh vegetables is an almost impossible task.”

The dry season is fine, but the rainy season, from November to March, is the biggest test for supplies, as the roads are muddy, making it difficult for cars to get in, and supplies often come once every couple of months.