The poachers

The poachers

By the light of the moon three dark shadowy figures were crossing the river on a raft. They did not want to be seen. Who were they? Where were they going?

A great river formed the border between two countries. By the light of the moon three men were crossing the dark water on a small raft. The river was wide but the current was not strong. The river bank was thick with trees. No one had seen the men arrive and make camp a few days earlier. A river patrol


 boat that passed each afternoon had not seen them nor had the ranger's plane that flew along the border. For three days the men had camped and slept in the thick woodland. This was the third time they had made a night crossing on the river.

All three men were wearing camouflage clothing. Two of them paddled the raft while their leader studied the bank they were heading for with powerful binoculars. These had lenses that made it possible for him to see in the dark. There were three hunting rifles, boxes of cartridges, an axe and some rubber torches wrapped in plastic on the deck of the raft.

The three men landed the raft down-river from a crescent-shaped bay. Up river, in the muddy water, five or six elephants were drinking and bathing. The men stepped ashore carrying the rifles and lay down to wait behind a bush. Two were boys rather than men. When the elephants moved off, after about half an hour, the leader kept on watching the bay. A few smaller animals came down to drink. Another hour went by before he saw what he wanted.

'Here they come!' he whispered to the boys. 'Pass me my rifle, Ochola.' One of the boys handed the leader his gun. The boy seemed very nervous. A female black rhino came down to the river bank pushing her calf ahead of her towards the water. The leader began to crawl towards the two animals. The boys followed him.

The rhinos finished drinking and moved back to the open grassland. Some time later, the big female sensed danger. She stopped eating and sniffed the air. The only sound came from her calf, eating the grass. But something seemed not quite right. The mother animal snorted and moved off, pushing the calf ahead of her. They pushed their way through some thick thorn bushes. There was good grass on the other side.

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The calf began to eat at once, but the mother remained alert, sniffing the cool night air for the smells of danger. She could hear nothing that alarmed her. She relaxed a little and started to feed. The animals did not know that the three poachers were now only a few paces away from them.

Then everything went wrong. First, from quite nearby, there was a human cry of pain. The rhino gave a snort of alarm which sent her calf charging off into the darkness. The mother lowered her massive horns, and charged towards the place where the cry had come from. Then two loud bangs shattered the silence. A bullet smashed into the rhino's chest. A second bullet went into her side just behind her right foreleg. She fell over, dead, but still moving forward.

Then there was the sound of an angry human voice shouting, 'Get the calf, Ochola! Get the calf, you fools! Which of you yelled out like that?'

'I couldn't help it. I trod on a thorn!' Ochola shouted back.Clumsy young fool! Get the calf!' 

Ochola went after the calf. By the light of their torches, the leader and Akim, the other boy, began to cut off the rhino's horn with the axe. The calf did not go far. It was frightened by the men's voices and the sounds of the gun. Eventually it would return to its mother. Rhino calves hate to be separated from their mothers. The men would shoot the calf when Ochola found it.

In a few minutes the horn had been cut from the mother rhino. It was placed in a leather hunting bag. 'It's a beauty!' whispered the leader. 'That makes five good horns in three nights. Excellent work! Now where's that fool Ochola gone?' He put down his torch and began to search the bushes with his special binoculars.

Ochola followed the calf's tracks until he thought he heard a snort up ahead of him. He put his torch in his pocket and gripped his rifle. Then he began to move forward, one step at a time. He eased off the safety catch

and placed his forefinger gently on the trigger, straining to catch the faintest sound. Then he froze. Six powerful lights cut through the darkness. A voice rang out through a loud-hailer, 'Throw down your rifle and put up your hands!' Ochola threw down his rifle and put his hands in the air. He had walked into a trap set by the game warden and his men.

The leader started to run towards the river clutching the bag with the precious horn to his chest. Akim, the other boy, threw down his gun and ran after him. Lights were following them and the voice from the loud-hailer was ordering them to stop. 'Run!' yelled the leader.

'They can't follow us across the border. They can't break the law!' The fleeing poachers had an advantage. They knew where they were going and knew the path to the river. Behind them the game warden and his men shouted to each other as they stumbled through the darkness.

'Come on!' shouted the leader, gasping to catch his breath. 'Once we're across the river we're safe. Look! There's the raft!' He laughed out loud as they paddled the raft quickly away into the darkness. 'We're safe!' he shouted. 'They can't arrest us now!'

They had almost reached the middle of the river when the spotlight from the patrol launch shone down on them. They had been paddling straight into the arms of the waiting rangers. Rifles pointed at them from the deck.

'Come aboard,' ordered a senior ranger, 'or I'll sink you.' 'It looks as if we're sunk already,' snarled the leader, putting up his hands.