DURBAN – A comparison of rhino poaching statistics revealed that more than half of the rhinos poached in South Africa in 2021 were poached in the first six months of the year.
On Tuesday, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy said a total of 451 rhinos were poached in South Africa last year.
She said 327 rhinos were poached within government reserves and 124 on private property.
At the end of July last year, Creecy said between January and June, 249 rhinos were poached for their horn in South Africa. In 2020, 166 rhinos were killed and 318 in 2019. Both figures are from the first six months. A total of 125 people were arrested for rhino poaching and rhino horn trafficking across the country in those six months.
That meant that fewer rhinos were poached in South Africa between August and December last year, with 202 rhinos poached.
During the first six months, KwaZulu-Natal had seen a decrease in rhino poaching in the last three years and during the first six months of 2021 while the SA National Parks (SANParks) numbers fluctuated.
Statistics also showed that KZN went from 93 rhinos poached in 2020 to 102 in 2021.
On Tuesday, Creecy said while there was a 24% decrease in rhino poaching compared to the pre-Covid period in 2019, there has been an increase in poaching on private property.
“In 2021, 209 rhino were poached for their horns in South African national parks – all in the Kruger National Park (KNP). This was in fact a decrease in comparison to 2020 when 247 rhinos 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, two rhinos were poached in 2020,” Creecy said.
Reacting to the news, World Wide Fund South Africa wildlife portfolio senior manager Dr Jo Shaw said: “The latest rhino poaching numbers from South Africa confirm the ongoing nature of the threat to the world’s rhino populations, regardless of the brief respite in poaching pressure in 2020 due to lockdown restrictions.
“In fact, global travel and tourism restrictions in response to the pandemic continue to have a devastating impact on income for conservation areas and the livelihoods of local people living near those areas.
To dismantle the known trafficking networks threatening people and wildlife we need international commitment to cross-border collaboration across law enforcement agencies from rhino range states, transit countries and consumer countries,” Shaw said.
Daily News