Illegal Elephant Hunt: Denver Feds Charge Man Who Led Safari

DENVER, CO – Federal prosecutors in Denver charged a South African man with federal crimes related to illegal Zimbabwe elephant hunts set up for a Denver-based client. An arrest warrant has been issued for Hanno Van Rensburg, 44, according to federal court records.

Van Rensburg, according to a federal indictment, runs a company called Authentic African Adventures. Federal prosecutors accuse him of bribing Zimbabwean government officials for the chance to shoot and kill several elephants and harvest ivory in Zimbabwe's Gonarezhou National Park, according to an indictment filed in federal court in Denver.

Van Rensburg also is accused of exporting a dead elephant out of Zimbabwe by submitting forged documents saying the animal was killed outside the park and that his U.S. client was a South African. Van Rensburg also allegedly attempted to sell an illegal $50,000 elephant hunt to an undercover officer of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services.

Colorado trophy hunter Paul Ross Jackson, 63, of Evergreen pleaded guilty in April to illegally shooting the elephant in a protected wildlife park and attempting to defraud Zimbabwe officials to illegally harvest ivory.

Federal authorities said that Van Rensburg led an excursion in late May 2015, during which several elephants were shot outside the park, but then hired a local Zimbabwe-based outfitter so he could lead a hunt for a larger elephant inside the park. Jackson paid almost $40,000 to Van Rensburg for the chance to hunt and kill elephants, the indictment said. Once on the hunt, Van Rensburg's group killed an elephant inside the national park in violation of Zimbabwean Parks and Wild Life Act.

Van Rensburg and his client then allegedly paid "somewhere between $5,000 and $8,000 in bribes to Zimbabwean government officials" the U.S. Attorney's office said. Van Rensburg allegedly filled out paperwork saying his Colorado client was a South African native to avoid restrictions on exporting the dead elephant to a New York-based taxidermy trophy broker.

Van Rensburg also allegedly advised Colorado hunter Jackson to "use casts" of the dead elephant's tusks for taxidermy so he could sell the ivory on the international black market, the indictment said.

In February of 2016, Van Rensburg allegedly paid for a booth for Authentic African Adventures at a convention in Las Vegas, where he advertised excursions that could hunt and kill large bull elephants.

Over the course of the next few months, Van Rensburg allegedly attempted to pitch an undercover agent a $50,000 guided hunt in the same location outside Gonarezhou National Park. He told the agent he could obtain tags to hunt inside the park via bribery and openly "described in detail his previous illegal hunt in Gonarezhou National Park," the court documents said.

Describing the hunt with the Colorado man, Van Rensburg told the undercover agent his team shot one elephant at night, which he admitted was "not allowed." The animal escaped, and Van Rensburg said part of the bribe money had to go to local officials to allow the team to continue to hunt because "if an animal was wounded it was considered 'hunted' and that you have to pay for it even if you don’t find it." The team also shot and killed a smaller elephant, which was deemed too small. The larger elephant, shot in the park, was wounded and then tracked for 10 miles, the indictment said.

Van Rensburg told these facts to the undercover agents to explain that even if a hunting party had not killed a significant elephant, local officials could always be bribed to let them keep hunting, the indictment said.

“[I]f they need another tag, they get another tag. You know, that’s the negative part of it. The system is so corrupt. If they need to get it, they will get it. If the client pays the money they will find another tag. I am straight forward with you. Corruption is the rule in Africa.” Van Rensburg allegedly advised the undercover agent to bring an extra $9,000 in "extras" for potential bribe money that “we can use in camp to make things straight if we need to,” the charges allege.

Criminal penalties under the U.S. African Elephant Conservation Act for illegally hunting and exporting elephants include up to a year in prison and a $5,000 fine for each offense.

A warrant was issued May 17 for Van Rensburg's arrest. Van Rensburg was out of the country, a spokesman for the DOJ said.

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is committed to protecting imperiled species around the globe from poaching and trafficking,” said Steve Oberholzer, special agent in charge of the Mountain-Prairie Region in a press release. “These cooperative law enforcement efforts strengthen and protect America’s borders while ensuring the conservation of cherished wildlife species."

Read indictment here:

Illegal Elephant Hunting Case 1 18 CR 00238 PAB by JeanLotus on Scribd

Related: Evergreen Trophy Hunter Was Elephant Poaching Partner

Image African Elephant via Donovan van Staden/Shutterstock