Rhino poaching down, but more elephants dead

THE first half of this year has seen fewer rhino poaching incidents compared with the same period last year‚ but the Department of Environmental Affairs says it is now monitoring an apparent increase in elephant poaching cases.

Briefing the media in parliament‚ Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said 529 rhino had been poached since January‚ compared with 542 in the same period for 2016.

The Kruger National Park‚ which has traditionally borne the brunt of poaching, has recorded a decrease of 34%‚ with 243 incidents recorded in the first half of the year‚ compared with 354 in the same period last year.

Molewa, however, indicated that as government and law enforcement stepped up their efforts in the Kruger Park‚ poachers were moving into other provinces‚ particularly KwaZulu-Natal.

Molewa said that there also appeared to be an emerging threat as 30 elephants had been poached in the Kruger Park so far this year‚ compared with 46 elephant poaching incidents recorded for the whole of 2016.

The department says it is taking these incidents seriously and applying the lessons learned in rhino poaching to curb further threats to the South African elephant population.

Molewa said a total of 359 arrests of alleged poachers and traffickers had been made this year.

Ninety of the arrests were made inside the Kruger National Park and 112 adjacent to the park.