River Rat

Agreed.

So why do we have to keep saying it?

The two hardly comparable we might be interested in a Pro being caught for riding roque but the rest of the world would not be bothered. What we have now is someone who may or may not have ridden roque is not the story but the breaking of his arm is the story. The first is a minor offence the second is criminal totally different rules.

I expect a lawsuit against SANPARKS for injury, loss of income etc which you and I will pay for if successful.

The part where you suggest that holding these guys accountable for their behaviour is risky because if they get fired they'll come back as well informed muggers. Now that is sensationalism at it's best and your logic means we should never fire anybody for wrongdoing because they could do more damage hence the Zuma example, he effectively held the country to ransom. You might be happy with a soft approach to this but I am not. As a matter of interest the SANPARKS rangers that I speak to (albeit up here in the north) are not impressed with these guys because it reflects badly on them. One commented that they treat suspected poachers with more respect than what was shown to Nic. I can attest to that as we were apprehended on a game walk in the north of KNP when the anti poaching unit were unaware that we would be in the area. They calmly disarmed our guides, removed our backpacks and sat us down in the shade while they contacted base to verify who we were. Once it was all done and dusted they joined us for part of the hike and we joined them for a beer the next day at the end of hike. My lasting impression is that of professional and dedicated people, which can't be said of this lot if the video is anything to go by.

But the logic would suggest we should keep Zuma in government.

And you don't think your post is somewhat over the top?

That would amount to witness coaching so I doubt that they did that, but to your point it is highly unlikely that Nic was totally innocent in this saga. But the ranger's conduct will be judged against that of a reasonable man and that's where all their arguments fall down.

If you look at the evidence as reported and in the video this what we know, Nic was pulled off his bike because the SANPARKS officials were told that he did not pay. They had no idea at the time whether he had a permit or not but they decided that pulling him off his bike was justified regardless of any injury that could have been caused (strike one). They then decide he has to be forcefully apprehended which is evident in the video, I can't see any reason why any force was necessary, they could have just loaded his bike into the bakkie and said sir you need to accompany us to the office (strike two). Then there was the ranger aggressively trying to stop the person filming the incident to the point that person feared for his own safety, I would love to know which park rule was being applied there (strike three). Now I have the pleasure of working with a number of SANPARKS rangers in our parks and they will be appalled at this incident. Their primary focus is the sustainability of human interaction with nature, but when given the choice they will protect human life. It creates conflict but the protocol is that if human life is threatened you take the animal out even if it is an endangered species. I expect that this event will not sit well with SANPARKS as a whole and I can't see these officials keeping their jobs as their standards are way higher than this.

Why do you believe that this would not result in the same overreaction you described earlier?

Pm your name and cellphone number to me there are two groups one focused on safety within the reserve and the other is we try to coordinate our rides as a safety in numbers thing. So indicate if you want to be on both.

https://www.businessinsider.co.za/some-light-at-the-end-of-the-load-shedding-tunnel-new-independant-power-plants-could-be-connected-to-the-grid-by-february-heres-what-is-coming-online-and-when-2019-12 These projects were delayed by Zuma for 4 years and if he did not interfere we could have had 4 times that quantum of 2300mw online. All to protect his mates Brian Molefe and the Guptas coal business. Renewables have their downside in terms of base load but in the South African context it would have saved our butts.

Size and the fact that they lacked the triple loops on the back pad that all cat tracks have. Sorry my son is a level 3 tracker and we've just spent 10 days in Gonarezhou with him where we actually witnessed a wild dog kill. I was rather primed for this one.

Those look like wild dog tracks.

Nice one!

https://www.facebook.com/TheMungaMTB/videos/2575652012667518/ KB and TR at RV5, listen make up your own mind.

What a lekka oke Danie is and by the way MK is still riding

No no no

2.3km to go for DH.

Ambo 9 is at 1071 let's hope they're tracking him even then it's tight.

Okay how many times have you pressed refresh in the last 10 minutes?

I think he's going to make it.

Damn Magdaleen has just scratched that leaves DH as our last rider on the course.

Average speed.

Just confirmed our last rider home in 2018 Nina Long has scratched, also TS . So that leaves MK as our last rider on the course with a literal mountain to climb of 68km in 2hr45 min.