Trainee rangers put to test on Wildlife Warzone

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Trainee rangers put to test on Wildlife Warzone --

Fri, 18 Oct 2013 11:32

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On Monday 21 October at 22h30 Al Jazeeras Wildlife Warzone features the six remaining trainee anti-poaching rangers in a gruelling Make or Break Day challenge. Those who advance will become armed operatives in the war against rhino poaching in South Africa.

Along with physical challenges, including learning what it means to carry a team member (literally), the trainees will be taught how to search a suspicious car, how to handle puff adders and pythons, and how and when to fire their rifles.

Heartbreakingly, they will also find and do an autopsy on a dead rhino, just one of the 800 rhino expected to die in South Africa this year.

Not all nine original trainees have made it to Day 16 and Lunga Nyawe, a 27-year-old farmhand from the Eastern Cape, is worried he may be the next to go. Nyawe is still struggling to climb the ropes on the obstacle course, putting trainer Corporal Calvin in a difficult position to let him advance further.

If he can t get himself up that rope, I m going to have to fail him, Calvin says. If I send him out to the bush and something has to happen maybe he gets chased by a buffalo and he has to climb a tree if I find he s been killed because he couldn t climb that tree, I know I haven t done my job.

Injury has threatened to crush the dreams of trainee Chrisjan Visser, a 21-year-old qualified wildlife guide from Cape Town. Visser, who aspires to be on the frontline against rhino poaching instead of driving tourists around, has an old knee injury that has started to play up when he runs, sending pain shooting up his back.

Additional screenings of the episode will air on Tuesdays at 09h30, Wednesdays at 03h30, and Thursdays at 16h30.

Watch the episode promo at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7VkFDYYwoM, the full first episode at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0ON_d36Y60, and the full second episode at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH02iQfyBAs.

For more information, visit http://aje.me/GRw7Nh.

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Series wages war against rhino poachingAl Jazeera English will air Wildlife Warzone, a captivating new series that features real-life trainee rangers tackling South Africa s war against rhino poachers, from Monday 7 October at 22h30...

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LINK:	http://www.screenafrica.com/page/news/television/1635727-Trainee-range...
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