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