VETPAW Returning to Train Wildlife Rangers in South Africa

As found on Military Times

JOHANNESBURG — A group of U.S. military veterans with experience in Iraq and Afghanistan plans to train rangers at some private wildlife areas in South Africa, where poachers have killed large numbers of rhinos for their horns.

The small conservation group called Vetpaw previously operated in Tanzania, which ordered the group to leave last year, partly because of a video in which a member talked about killing poachers.

Ryan Tate, a former Marine and head of Vetpaw, said Tuesday that the member didn’t speak for Vetpaw and that he has sought to “rebrand” the organization.

Tate and Shea Peaton, a Navy veteran, have spent about a month in South Africa, assessing security needs in several wildlife parks. Training will include marksmanship, field medicine and maneuvering at night, Tate said.

“People are desperate and want to try anything and everything that they can,” he said, referring to operators of private wildlife areas that lack the resources that some state-run parks receive.

You can read more on this story here.

Rumor has it that Kinessa Johnson has separated from VetPAW but she WILL be headed back to Africa this August with a different organization on a training mission.  Stay tuned to Tactical TMZ for more as this story unfolds.

 

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