Former poacher becomes Zimbabwe conservation advocate

In Zimbabwe’s wildlife-rich but poverty stricken Chiredzi district, an ex-poacher, recently released from prison, now preaches the gospel of conservation. Hunting is in the tradition of Tembanechako Mastick's community in Chiredzi, a semi-arid area about 500 kilometers from the capital of Harare. “I grew up as a hunter and it is a trade that become intrinsic, before game rangers eventually caught up with me in the animal reserve, hunting was our way of life but we did not know that we were committing a crime by killing animals,” he says.