The unpredictable nature of the things that happen to one in the bush adds an extra spark to the work of a ranger in the Kruger National Park.
It makes his work exciting, but often also perilous, and sometimes makes unbelievable demands on the preparedness of both the ranger and his family.
Like that Sunday in May 1982 when senior Louis Oliver and his wife Trix convincingly outsmarted six-armed poachers with just one rifle, a handful of cartridges and a great deal of bravery.
“That day I promised myself that never again would I go into the bush with too little ammunition in my pocket,” tells Louis.
“Because in this part of the world, before you know it, you can find yourself in a situation from which only a good supply of ammunition and the grace of God can save you.”
This story began when Louis, Trix and their two-year-old daughter, Benneli, were on their way to the pans along the eastern boundary of the northern part of the Kruger Park, where they had to put some fish-spawn into the water.
“We were in no hurry and slowly rode past the roan antelope camp at Nwaswitsumbe in the four-wheel drive until we came across a herd of reedbuck. After stopping to look at this relatively rare antelope species for a while, we continued our journey.”
“Half a kilometer further on I suddenly slammed on brakes when I spotted five armed men in the bush. I grabbed my R1 rifle and moved away from the vehicle to draw the enemy’s fire to myself should a shoot-out develop.
I was certain that this was the group of poachers that had been shooting down so many of our elephants at that stage.”
“Thirty meters from the pick-up truck I commanded them to throw down their weapons. They ignored my request and took to flight.”
“I started shooting at them but was not very successful because they fled in a typically military manner, continually falling to the ground, rolling over and jumping up again.”
“That was when I decided to go after them on foot, because I was determined to arrest at least one of them…”
About half a kilometer further on Louis was suddenly forced to a halt when he twisted his ankle running at full speed over a clump of grass.
He was very angry with himself and with waving his arms indicated to Trix that she should bring the vehicle closer. When she stopped beside him, she had already called in the assistance of Bruce Bryden and Flip Nel, two of Louis’ colleagues, by radio.
The vehicle had barely drawn to a halt before Louis was on the back of the open pick-up. From this vantage point he could indicate to Trix exactly in what direction to drive so that they could stay on the heels of the poachers.
The group fled eastwards in the direction of Mozambique. After a while one of the men veered into a northerly direction. Louis indicated to Trix that she should follow him.
“We were about fifty metres away from him when he suddenly dived behind a dense shrub mopani.”
“I knew that he had to roll out from behind the bush or stand up if he wanted to shoot at us. I was ready for him!”
With one hand on the steering and the other on the child that she had to try and keep on the floor of the pick-up, Trix sped right up to this bush, stopping centimetres from it. On the back of the jolting pick-up Louis said a hurried prayer in which he asked the Almighty to please see to it that he was not shot down in front of his wife and child.
“When Trix braked sharply in front of the bush, I jumped from the vehicle, rolling over when I reached the ground, as I had been taught to do during my army training.”
“When I got to my feet, the man was right in front of me. I instinctively hit at him with the butt of the rifle and saw his knees buckle under him. When he reached the ground, he was already unconscious.”
“We tied him up and loaded him onto the back of the pick-up, rifle and all. He had sustained a gunshot wound in the thigh. This is apparently what had caused him to lag behind and had forced him to change direction.”
They had only just finished loading this offender onto the vehicle when one of the other fugitives panicked and jumped up out of the grass. They immediately chased after him. Every now and then he would dodge to and fro like hare to avoid the bullets from Louis’s rifle.
One of them must have passed very close to his ear because he immediately dived behind a leadwood tree.
“When the vehicle was right opposite him, I dived from the pick-up and landed hard on top of him, rifle first.”
“He was quite confused by the force with which I had hit him, and it took him a while to recover sufficiently to be able to tell us that their group consisted of six members and not five as we had initially suspected.”
“According to him the sixth member was armed with an AK47 rifle. He also told us that this man had remained on his haunches beside a zebra carcass when I saw them for the first time. When his friends took their heels, he had escaped unnoticed.”
“I only had four cartridges left and realised that it would be to dangerous to declare war on people with an automatic rifle in their arsenal. I would have to wait until reinforcements arrived before we could go in search of the other poachers.”
A long search for this group proved to be fruitless and the rangers returned to the Shingwedzi Restcamp disappointed.
“I was very proud of my wife who, with her fearless behaviour, proved her mettle to me for the umpteenth time.”
“If it had not been for Trix, these two imps of the devil, like their friends, would perhaps never have been caught…”
