South African govt vow to safeguard rhinos

By Bisola Adeyemo

Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment in South Africa, Barbara Creecy, on Tuesday, said that government is committed to protecting its Rhinos population as there has been an increase in poaching, with about 451 Rhinos poached last year alone.

In a statement, the minister revealed that 327 rhinos were poached within government reserves, while 124 were poached on private property.

“South Africa remains committed to safeguarding the country’s rhino populations, and will continue to work tirelessly, alongside the private sector, committed non-governmental organisations (NGOs), as well as authorities in transit and destination countries, to combat wildlife crime,” the Minister said.

Last year, 209 rhino were poached for their horns in South African National Parks (SANParks) – all in the Kruger National Park.

“This was in fact a decrease in comparison to 2020, when 247 rhino were poached within the national parks. It is important to note that none of SANParks’ smaller rhino parks experienced any rhino losses from poaching in 2021, in comparison to the two rhino that was poached in 2020,” the Minister said.

The steady decline in rhino poaching in the Kruger Park is related to an increase in the intensity of anti-poaching activities. A close working relationship between the police’s endangered species unit, the SANParks environmental crimes inspectorate has resulted in increased arrests and convictions.

In 2021, there were 189 arrests in connection with poaching activities with 77 of them within the Kruger National Park and 109 outside the park. This compares with 156 people arrested countrywide in 2020. In the 38 verdicts handed down by the courts, 37 cases resulted in the conviction of 61 accused rhino poachers/traffickers.

“One of the unintended consequences is that poaching syndicates are looking to other areas for easy prey and this has resulted in them targeting private reserves in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Over the last year, conservation and anti-poaching efforts have intensified countrywide, as a joint effort is made by State-owned conservation areas, government and private landowners to reduce the poaching of rhino in South Africa,” Creecy said.