Man/Magnum

The notorious ivory poachers of old

In the far north east corner of South Africa where the Levuvhu River joins the Limpopo is an island in the middle of the Limpopo. In the centre of this island stands a beacon which indicates the geographical position where South Africa, the old Southern Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe) and Portuguese East Africa (PEA - now Mozambique) meets. The beacon is the apex of the triangle to the south and east formed by the two rivers and is known as Crook's Corner. The reason for this description is retold by Nick Hurry in the June issue of Man Magnum.

After the Second War of Independence this area with its prolific wildlife was incorporated into the Shingwedzi Game Reserve (now part of the Kruger National Park). At the time of Shingwedzi, the nearest game ranger was 130 km (80 miles) to the south and easily a week away by ox wagon. This area was the home of the big tusk elephants of the time like the famous Dhlulamithi.

It also was the ideal sanctuary for poachers because should a police patrol from any of the three countries arrive it was easy for poachers to just walk across the imaginary border line into another country and thumb their noses at the police.