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7/28/2019 Protecting Rhinos In South Africa
1/2
medicinal properties. Thosebeliefs are hard for Zach to
stomach.Although it is used in Asian
medicine as a hangover cure orfever reducer, it does not, in fact,
have any medicinal value, he
said. The animals die a horribledeath in vain.
Morgan said another troublingaspect is that poachers are
resorting to using tranquilizers
instead of rifles.Firstly, this means that
trained vets are involved,Morgan said. The M99 drug is
a controlled substance and mustbe administered by someone
with strict training. Secondly,
the rhino dies a much slowerand painful death than by simply
being shot. While drugged, theanimals face is literally hacked
off to get every last piece of
valuable horn.Few animals can survive the
trauma once the tranquilizerseffects wear off, Morgan
said. The use of tranquilizersinstead of rifles, he said, is a
way of avoiding detection by
counterpoaching teams.If one looks at photos of
Morgan and Zach going through
Regional News
Regional NewsB Section Thursday, April 4, 2013
News from Bradford County, Union County and the Lake Region
FEATURES
CRIME
SOCIALS
OBITUARIES
EDITORIAL
BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Regional News/Sports Editor
For some people, a love for
animals is simply shown throughtheir care of a pet, but for twins
Morgan and Zach Cooney, thatlove means taking active roles
in helping to prevent needlessabuse and slaughter of animals.
Morgan and Zach, the sons ofMike and Catrell Cooney of Cape
Canaveral and the grandsons ofHarry and Marianna Cooney of
Starke and Grady and Dimple
Overstreet of Starke, recentlyparticipated in counter-poaching
training for five months SouthAfrica. The two worked all
summer last year to save$5,000 each to cover the cost of
equipment and travel expenses.Their training focused on rhino
poaching.We love all animals, but at
this point, rhinos need the most
help, Zach said. There wasa spike in 2009 in poaching
incidents, which have grownexponentially since.
Zach said it was predicted thatmore than 700 rhinos would be
killed last year because of theirhorns, which people believe have
Twins love of animals leadsto active role in their welfare
Morgan (left) andZach Cooneytake part inbuilding-entrytraining in theevent poachersare indoors. Thebrothers, whohave a deep loveand concern foranimals, tookpart in trainingto help combat
rhino poaching inAfrica.
See COONEYS, 5B
7/28/2019 Protecting Rhinos In South Africa
2/2
12-14.
Event chairman Jim Mitzel
said that unlike past yearsevents, this years Vet Fest has
been revamped to provide fun
for all ages.
What were trying to
concentrate on is making itfamily oriented, Mitzel said,
adding, Its not a biker event.
With that in mind, there is a
Kids Korral this year April
13-14. The area, which has aone-time $1 fee, will include
a bounce house, magician and
face painter, while the Florida
National Guard will provide a
climbing wall on April 13. Thearea will be fenced and under
constant supervision so that
parents can enjoy the rest of the
event without worrying abouttheir children.
Bingo games for all ages will
be available, offering the chance
to win cash and merchandise
prizes.Vet Fest begins with a kickoff
party at 5 p.m. on April 12. The
Tropical Whiskey Band will
play from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m.
Thursday, April 4, 2013 Telegraph, Times & Monitor B Section 5B
their counter-poaching training,it would almost appear as if they
are in the miltary, brandishing
guns and wearing camouflage.This job contains aspects of
military, police and game rangerfields of work, Zach said. We
are enforcing laws similar topolice, but are not in a city. A
majority of work takes place in
the bush.Counter-poaching teams
are also armed with pepper
spray, which is used to detain
poachers, Zach said. That ledto a part of training he was not
looking forward to.To learn how it affects
people, we will unfortunatelybe subjected to being pepper
sprayed in the face, Zach saidprior to undergoing that bit of
training.Training also included
tracking, counter-tracking,
dangerous wildlife behaviorand survival in the wildwhat
Morgan described as essentialbush skills.
Those involved in counter-poaching efforts are working
in an environment where beingalert is key.
As can be expected, thereis a lot to learn for this type of
work, Morgan said. It is vital
to know how to react in eachsituation we encounter, whether
it is a charge from an angrybull elelphant or encountering
poachers within the reserve.Though they love animals,
Morgan and Zach also realizewild animals do pose a threat to
humans. Better understandingthe behavior of those animals
through a trail-guides course
was one of the brothers favoriteparts of the training.
This course was a monthlong and focused on the
behavior of dangerous gameanimals such as lions, leopards,
hyenas, elephants, hippos andrhinos. We left camp early every
morning and searched for tracksand signs that would lead us to
these animals. Once we pickedup the trail, we would follow
and try to approach as close aspossible.
The purpose of this was
to understand what to doin situationswhile on a
counterpoaching patrolwhenyou encounter these animals
at very close range, either
intentionally or unintentionally.All of these animals are capableof killing a person if you do
not have the knowledge andconfidence to make the right
decision.
Perhaps all you need to knowto understand the Cooneys
passion is to hear why thatparticular part of the training was
one of their favorite moments.The reason we enjoyed this
the most was because we had
so many great experiences with
these animals, Morgan said.Wildlife is the reason why we
are here, and it was great toconstantly be surrounded by it.
Morgan and Zach have hadmany animal encounters, such
as working at Gatorland andthe Central Florida Zoo. Their
move into active roles regardinganimal welfare was a natural
progression, but an around-
the-world trip taken with their
family in 2008-09 helped in theirdecision to go through counter-poaching trainng. The family
visited and stayed at AfricasSanWild sanctuary during that
trip.Although we would have
wanted to do something like thiseven without the trip we took
with our parents, I believe the
knowledge and experiences wegained were an essential part
of our desire to travel to helpwildlife in peril, Morgan said.
Coming to South Africa thefirst time put it on our map of
special places that we needed torevisit.
Their counter-poaching
training may have focused onrhinos, but Morgan and Zach
cant see themselves limited tohelping one species.
There are so many animalsthat need help, Zach said.
Morgan and I also have a strongpassion for marine life, as well,
and would like to do somethingsimilar to help whales and
dolphins that are being illegallyhunted.
BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Regional News/Sports Editor
Billed as Bradford Countys
premier, free concert event, Vet
Fest 13 welcomes more than 15
musical acts to Thunder MusicPark (9057 U.S. 301 South in
Hampton) Friday-Sunday, April
Vet Fest returns April 12-14 withmusic, vendors and family fun Zach Cooney
looks for animaltracks. As partof their training,he and brotherMorgan learnedabout tracking,counter-tracking,dangerouswildlife behaviorand survival in
the wild.
Morgan Cooney is pictured with a German shepherdthat is being trained to attack poachers.
COONEYSContinued from 1B
See FEST, 7B