Rhino poaching increases

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Pretoria - South African National Parks announced that to date, 405 rhinos have been poached throughout the country this year.

According to SanParks, the hardest hit areas have been the Kruger National Park, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal provinces.

From 2009 to 2010, the incidence of poaching rose by 173 percent and from 2008 to 2009 there was a 47 percent increase.

The number of arrests increased from the previous year by approximately 27.3% to 210, from 165 in 2010.

In a bid to reduce rhino poaching, one of the initiatives introduced included the establishment of an interim Wildlife Crime Reaction Unit (NWCRU) to investigate rhino-related crimes in cooperation with SANPARKS, the South African Police Service, Conservation Authorities, National Prosecuting Authority and the Defence Force.