Book 35: Streets Paved with Gold

Jack Rabie is a senior game ranger in one of the South African game reserves. He is passionate about conservation and when the opportunity arises to strike back at the rhino poachers, he readily volunteers to serve on one of the anti-poaching teams. The campaign is run like a military operation with a central command structure. The teams are reinforced by members of the police force who are more experienced than the game rangers in operations of this kind. However, it is not a war that can easily be won. Rhinos are being killed at the rate of about three a day. Jack discovers that the poachers are poor peasants armed and supported by criminal syndicates. For every poacher killed by the task team, a dozen others are ready to take their place. Jack is forced to re-asses his attitude towards their strategy. He comes to the conclusion that it is the criminal syndicates who are the real enemy. His change of heart is noted by the management of the game reserve and as a result he is side-lined. However, Jack vows to continue the fight even if it means a one-man crusade against criminals and the vested interests protecting them.