Dept working on rhino plan
WHILE no arrests have been made in connection with the recent deaths of nearly a dozen rhinos, which were found slaughtered on two farms in the Northern Cape, the National Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) yesterday expressed its intention to come up with an effective strategy to combat rhino poaching and ensure the prosperity of the endangered species, before the end of the month.
The exact number of these animals poached in South Africa since February this year, has not been made public by the DEA but at least 10 rhinos have been killed in the Northern Cape in a matter of weeks after the carcasses of two dehorned white rhinos were found on a private game reserve near Colesberg on Sunday, July 2.
This came just days after eight rhino were slaughtered, and three were dehorned, on a farm near Kimberley.
Spokesperson for the DEA, Albi Modise, said yesterday that the Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, would be meeting with various relevant organisations to address the scourge of poaching.
These discussions are scheduled to take place over the course of this month, with Modise adding that government would make a decision on the best way forward before the end of the month, when the latest statistics are also scheduled to be released.
“Poaching is not just a matter that needs to be addressed by our department as there are also criminal/justice and law enforcement aspects that do not form part of our mandate but need to be taken into account,” Modise said.
“The department has not released any stats regarding poaching in the current year but we remain committed to the issue and will do everything we can to protect these animals.
“Once Environmental Affairs officials have met with the various role-players, the minister is likely to release the latest statistics on rhino poaching.”
It is estimated that a rhino horn has a value of about R2.3 million on the black market.
According to rhino poaching statistics that were released in February, 1 054 rhino were poached in 2016, of which 662 rhino carcasses were found at the Kruger National Park.
Molewa had indicated that there had been 2 883 cases of poaching-related activities, including poaching camps, contacts, crossings, sightings, tracks and shots fired at the Kruger National Park.
The minister also stated that criminal gangs, who were linked to a well resourced and funded transnational syndicate, were involved in the sale of rhino horn, where 680 poachers and traffickers were arrested during 2016.
More than 106 rhinos were translocated from the Kruger National Park to various private rhino “strongholds” for safety and security reasons last year after suitability assessments were conducted by SANParks.
Yesterday, spokesperson for SANParks, Reynold Thakuli, said that disclosing specific details of their anti-poaching strategies could be detrimental to the preservation of the species, as criminal elements and syndicates gather any and all intelligence available in order to ensure that their black market operations are as efficient and lucrative as possible.
“We cannot discuss the measures that we take to combat poaching,” Thakuli said yesterday. “The problem is that any comments, statements, statistics or information that we put out are gathered by the perpetrators who are then able to use it to pre-empt our actions. We can also not comment on rhino poaching taking place on private farms.
“However, what we can say is that SANParks is on high alert and we are monitoring the situation very closely.
“It is all about vigilance and we work with various other role-players in conservation and law enforcement to ensure the safety of our animals.”
Meanwhile, police spokesperson, Captain Sergio Kock, said yesterday that both cases of rhino poaching that have been reported recently in the Northern Cape are still being investigated and no arrests had been made yet.
“The police are requesting that anyone with information please call Detective Warrant Officer Martin Coetzee on 082 494 3540,” Kock said in regard to the death of the eight rhino.
He further requested that members of the public with information regarding the incident near Colesberg contact Detective Warrant Officer Renier Snyman on 083 393 3659.