and Operation Lock 88, 89, 90–95
World Wildlife Trust 83
Wu, Jianwei 199, 200
Xaysavang Export-Import Company 185, 288, 299
and CITES 288, 289, 294, 297
and rhino killing 108, 125
and trading in rhino horn 154, 164, 167, 179–180, 188, 288, 296–297
and trading in wild animals 289, 293, 295, 296–298
Yemen 112, 271
Yengeni, Tony 201–202
Yu, Zhongda 199
Zachariah 229–230
Zambezi Valley 19–21
Zambia 19, 20, 59, 76, 110
zebra gangs 5–6, 8
zebra poaching 8
Zimbabwe xi, 10, 13, 19, 131
and Dawie Groenewald 130–132
land resettlement programme 2–3, 130
and Operation Lock 76–77
refugees 233–235
rhino population 2, 19, 111
Rhodesian Bush War 19, 20, 27
wildlife conservancies 2–3
Zimbabwean Association of Tourism and Safari Operators 131
Zimbabwe National Parks (Zimparks) 4, 19, 131
Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association 131–132
Zitha, Albert 213
Zitha, Batista 211, 213–214, 228
Zitha, Dario 211–215, 228
Zoutpansberger 12, 13
Zulu Dawn film 138
Zuma, Jacob 144, 202, 203, 204, 206, 207–208
A wounded poacher, Hardlife Nkomo, is questioned by game scouts. A hundred metres away lies a bloodied .303 rifle fitted with a silencer
Blondie Leathem and Magotshe Siziba – his former Zimparks sergeant – discuss a possible incursion by poachers into the Bubye Valley Conservancy. The two men have been at the forefront of Zimbabwe’s ‘rhino wars’ for the past twenty-five years
A .375 hunting rifle, fitted with a custom-made silencer, which was stolen during a violent farm attack near Musina in South Africa, and later used to poach rhinos in Zimbabwe
Another silenced rifle was found by Zimbabwean police in a hidden compartment in the tailgate of a South African–registered bakkie
Zimbabwean poacher Rodgers ‘Teacher’ Mukwena
Two game scouts, Godknows Zulu (left) and Sylvester Ncube (right) tracking poachers in the Bubye Valley Conservancy
Musina poacher Johan Roos photographed after his 2009 arrest in Zimbabwe
The Lemmer family, from left to right: Faan Snr, Faan Jnr and Christi in their Musina home in 2010. A .375 rifle, stolen during a robbery on their farm, was found in Zimbabwe, where it was used to poach rhinos
An orphaned rhino calf, one of several rehabilitated by Blondie Leathem and his wife Katrina, suckles on a milk bottle in a protected boma
Alleged rhino-horn-syndicate ‘mastermind’ Dawie Groenewald on his farm near Musina
A Vietnamese ‘hunter’ poses with her kill
The many faces of a wildlife trafficker. Chumlong Lemtongthai, aka ‘Chai’, poses for his webcam at his home in Thailand
Chumlong Lemtongthai (left) is ordained as a Buddhist monk, a nominal ordination that many Thai men undergo during their lives
Chumlong with the Hummer he paid for in cash
Chumlong (centre) and Punpitak Chunchom pose with labourers on a lion-breeding farm near the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in Gauteng
Farm labourers with the skinned carcass of a lioness
Lion carcasses are stripped of flesh and the bones are cleaned
Chumlong Lemtongthai poses with a number of lionesses on another farm. It is unclear whether the animals are dead or sedated
One of the Thai men working with Chumlong Lemtongthai poses with a complete ‘set’ of lion bones
Members of the Xaysavang syndicate photographed in Bangkok with an illegal consignment of ivory
Punpitak Chunchom and hunting outfitter Juan Pace with a pile of money that is believed to have been payment for the first rhinos that the Xaysavang syndicate shot
Chumlong Lemtongthai
Marnus Steyl
Punpitak Chunchom
According to Johnny Olivier, Chumlong Lemtongthai described his business with these words: ‘We shoot, we cut, we weigh, then pay.’ Chumlong watches farm workers with knives removing a dead rhino’s horns
Punpitak Chunchom weighs a set of horns
A pile of cash drawn from ATMs at Emperors Palace Casino
A young Thai woman – one of the many allegedly recruited by the Xaysavang syndicate – poses with a rhino carcass
Game farmer Marnus Steyl poses with one of the Thai ‘recruits’. When I later tracked her down (INSET), the woman – who only wanted to be identified as ‘Wi’ – denied shooting any rhinos
Chumlong Lemtongthai and a North West environmental services department official
Three of the young women allegedly recruited to pose as ‘hunters’ by the Xaysavang syndicate
A photograph discovered on a camera belonging to ex-cop and alleged rhino horn smuggler ‘Big Joe’ Nyalunga. It was submitted to court during his bail hearing and appears to show an unidentified man in handcuffs being tortured. In the background is a car battery, jumper cables and cans of beer
Albert Zitha holds a photo of his dead brother Dario, who was shot dead in the Kruger National Park while trying to poach rhinos
Thando, the Musina con man, making one of his fake rhino horns
Left: Tommy Tuan’s passport; below left: R1.2 million in cash spread out on the bed of his hotel room; below right: the embassy car he was driving when he was arrested in Kimberley
A Vietnamese man consumes rhino horn from a grinding dish in which it was ground and mixed with water
A rare photograph of Xaysavang boss Vixay Keosavang (left) and Chumlong Lemtongthai (right). Apparently taken in Thailand, it was obtained from a source with close links to Thai investigators
Company registration documents for Xaysavang Trading bearing a photograph of Vixay
Vixay’s business card
Vixay’s home and offices in Paksan in central Laos
Chumlong Lemtongthai in the dock of the Kempton Park Regional Court in South Africa. Investigator Paul O’Sullivan is standing in the background to the right
From left to right: Chumlong Lemtongthai, Punpitak Chunchom and Marnus Steyl in the Kempton Park Regional Court
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Killing for Profit: Exposing the Illegal Rhino Horn Trade Page 40
