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The person in control of anti poaching in Maluleke concession informs me that he has removed more than 3500 snares in the area , but he says ithe situation is now manageable .
His employees have also permanently removed a number of trigger happy poachers who had the gall to fire on his well trained anti poaching patrols .

do they know if these poachers stay in the park for x amount of time or if they check snares and jump back over the fence?

BTW which area is the Maluleke concession in

These guys mostly jump over and run , for they run the risk of death by highly trained soldiers .
Maluleke is the concession area between the Levuhvu and Limpopo rivers in the far northern KNP .
It was the first concession to be returned , which mangement begrudgingly admitted was incorrectly handled .
It remains a near as can be pristine area with most beautiful scenery , unfortunately only visible to Sanparks guests using the road from Pafuri gate leading south , that is unless you have big bucks to afford the private lodges there .

I just found this thread and I am a bit confused.
Everybody seems to agree on the fact that, should we meet illegals in the park, we should leave them there and only report them at the next camp .
I don't understand this behaviour.
They are in danger, if they ask for help, I can't imagine leaving them!
Ok, they are illegals, but this comes after saving their lives!
Why not pick them up (if they agree to go with you)?

Also, isn't it contradictory to be scandalized by people simply putting their arms or head out of their car to take a picture and, on the other hand, accepting to leave people in the bush?
Is it only because they are illegals?
Did I miss something along this thread?

Please help me understand...

Hi Pikasso,
Particularly in South Africa it is never a healthy situation letting just anybody into your car.
You might pick up that 1 in 1000 with ulterior motives and you could be a victim.
I do not believe anything like that has ever happened in Kruger but there is always a first time.
Yes, they are in danger being on foot but one should always consider your own safety first, right?

I'm ok with you JenB, in a general way!
But we are in the Kruger and its dangerous animals... I can hardly imagine somebody being in the park to try and steal me.
I think that, in France, we might even be sued for not helping somebody in danger should something happen!
Maybe, to the least, should we stay next to them until another car passes by that could be send for rescue...

Picasso, you are right, in general they are very desperate people. I think staying with them until help arrives is a very good suggestion! One could also check for possible cellphone reception and make a call the the rangers. I think one should just not allow emotions to get the better of common sense.

I agree with JenB.
You will be surprised how many refugees cross the border through Kruger into SA.
The reality is that it just isn't safe to pick these people up, take it from someone who knows .
Rather just inform an official as they are trained to deal with these situations.
Just don't try be a Hero, it might come at a high cost.

The thing is Pikasso and I think most SA forum members will agree with me here is that we live in a country where crime is a problem and for this reason we have learned what you can do and what you can't do.

It is not that we are any less human but we need to practice caution to survive. The KNP in general is a very safe place, and I really dont think you should worry about this.

Picking up a hitch hiker in any country in the world is a dangerous thing to do.

Your safety should always be thought of first. Report any illegals in Kruger at the nearest camp.

I have read a lot about illegal immigrants crossing Kruger and the dangers that went along with doing so. I also always wondered what it must feel like for those who were walking Kruger at night.

On a recent visit to Kruger I got my chance to experience that.

It is spine chilling. It is really an experience which you never forget. The fear, the adrenaline... The sounds of rustling in the bush next to you... the thought of what is waiting for you around that next bend in the road.

Not a pleasant experience at all and nothing anyone would go and do for fun.

Here is some pictures captured in an attempt to try and show you how desperate these people must be.

Sheesh !! Thanks WTM.

Definitely not something you would do out of stupidity but rather out of plain necessity.

I'll tell you this much.
The walk I did is something that mentally drains you.
You have to constantly battle your mind and thoughts.
You know that there are things you can't see.
Things that watch you.
You are scared, you are cold, hapless.
You know that you must do this in order to survive, but at the same time you have little hope.
You are pushing forward towards a hopefully better life somewhere else. Knowing that what you leave behind is worse than this what you are attempting right now.

There is very little you can do to lift your spirit.
Your aim is to get yourself into a stride where you have no thoughts.
So that you can take one step at a time as a complete zombie and hope that nothing will bump into you.

Now doing this, knowing that you are in man-eating country, as you stroll down a line of pylons.
That must be horrible.
Because you know that your chances of getting through without the lions getting you is very very slim.
Still doing this is better than the circumstances you have walked away from.

Even in a group you have that constant thought that the very same men and women around you will end up as a statistic tonight.
And all you think about is that you have to be the fastest tonight.
You simply will have to outrun your friend, brother, sister, child in order to survive... or that you will have to sacrifice yourself for them...

Just to clarify, this post was moved by the moderators from the Pafuri sightings thread, where it was intended as the first of a series on what I recently saw in the area.

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Right, I shall have to write this is fits and starts as I find the time and opportunity.

Let me start with sightings of the bipedal plantigrade sort.

The largest number of illegals I saw at any one time was 26. That's right, twenty-six! In broad daylight, dressed in bright colors, and within sight of the water tower of the Mabilingwe anti-poaching camp. They were most likely on one of their regular shopping trips to Bende Mutale. To quote a report:

"Illegal and Inappropriate Movement of through the Area: Zimbabwean communities in the Sengwe area to the north of the Makuleke Contractual Park often move through the Park in order to cross into South Africa to conduct their shopping activities. This has been tolerated, given the food security issues in Zimbabwe."

Whether this should be tolerated is debatable. The large numbers involved makes it easy for criminals, poachers and illegal immigrants to hide amongst the "shoppers".

Now repeatedly seeing steady streams of shoppers cheerfully walking through a national park is bad enough, but early one Sunday morning I was driving down the H1-8 and encountered about 15 people brazenly walking down the tar road at Klopperfontein! They were walking south, it was overcast and drizzling, so they did not hear or see me coming at first. When they did, they scattered in all directions like cane rats at the approach of a leopard. This was where the road crosses the vlei that feeds into Klopperfontein, so they all ended up hiding in very wet grass and bushes, ha ha ha.

It may have been funny, but the situation is obviously getting completely out of hand. I fully understand that SANParks' resources are stretched to the limit. I completely understand that rhino poaching is their top priority. But at the same time large numbers of people who do not belong there are moving through the park quite openly. Something needs to be done, and something needs to be done quickly and decisively before the situation deteriorates to the point that tourists start asking themselves why they are visiting the KNP. They don't come to watch all sorts of people taking a walk in the park, that's for sure.

Next installment: Sightings of non-tourist vehicular traffic (despite the Pafuri Border being closed).

Johan