CAPE TOWN - A total of 451 rhino were poached in South Africa in 2021, including 327 within government reserves and 124 on private property.
While this marks a 24% decrease in rhino poaching compared with the pre-Covid period in 2019, there has been an increase in poaching on private properties, the Department Of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) said.
In 2021, a total of 209 rhino were poached for their horns, all in the Kruger National Park.
“This was in fact a decrease in comparison to 2020 when 247 rhino were poached within 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 were poached in 2020,” DFFE Minister Barbara Creecy said.
The steady decline in rhino poaching in the Kruger National Park is related to an increase in the intensity of anti-poaching activities. A close working relationship between the police’s endangered-species unit and the SANParks environmental crimes inspectorate has resulted in increased arrests and convictions, Creecy added.
In 2021 there were 189 arrests in connection with poaching activities, including 77 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.
With the steady decline in rhino poaching in the Kruger National Park, one of the unintended consequences is that poaching syndicates are looking to other areas for easy prey and this has resulted in their targeting private reserves in Limpopo and Mpumalanga, Creecy said.
“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. More targeted deployment of resources is being assisted by the roll-out of a CSIR-developed situational awareness platform known as CMORE into the integrated wildlife zones,” Creecy said.
Through this single technology platform all role-players are able to collaborate, making use of real-time insights and analytical capability, linking camera traps and ranger patrols while integrating a range of other systems.
Information collected and communication flows via the Environmental Enforcement Fusion Centre (EEFC) continues to support the teams at both a tactical level and strategic level.
“Our analysis capabilities have also improved, resulting in the increased identification of those involved in rhino poaching and trafficking and improved and expanded investigations by multidisciplinary teams,” Creecy said.
SANParks, provincial nature reserves and private rhino owners are dehorning rhino to deter poachers, while SANParks is investigating the feasibility of additional actions such as anti-poaching initiatives focused on apprehending poachers and establishing additional founder populations outside the Kruger National Park.
Members of the public can report any suspicious activities around wildlife to the environmental crime hotline on 0800 205 005 or to SAPS on 10111.
Cape Times