Grim toll as rhino carnage soars

A STAGGERING 668 rhinos were poached in South Africa last year – more than double the 333 killed in 2010 and within a whisker of 50 percent more than the 2011 total of 448.

Nearly two-thirds of these animals – 425 – were poached in the Kruger National Park, while three others were killed in other national parks.

The four other major poaching areas were the provinces of North West (77), Limpopo (59), KwaZuluNatal (66) and Mpumalanga (28).

No rhinos were killed in the Northern Cape or Free State last year, while two were lost in the Western Cape, one in Gauteng, and seven in the Eastern Cape.

There were 267 arrests for rhino poaching incidents last year, most of them – 73 – in the Kruger National Park, followed by 66 in Mpumalanga, 43 in Limpopo, 32 in North West Province, 26 in Gauteng and 20 in KwaZulu-Natal.

Five rhinos have already been poached since the beginning of this year: three in the Kruger National Park, one in North West and one in Mpumalanga.

As of noon yesterday, no arrests had been made this year.

These figures were released yesterday by Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa, who expressed “grave concern” and reemphasised the government’s “unwavering commitment in the continued fight against rhino poaching”.

Molewa said the government would continue its interventions to address rhino poaching, including the “Rhino Issue Management” (RIM) process led by Mavuso Msimang, a former chief executive of SA National Parks. He had consulted widely last year and his final recommendations would be presented to her in due course.

“Integral to the RIM team’s findings is that there is no single solution to the rhino poaching scourge. From this, it is quite clear that our efforts will pragmatically require the employment of a range of strategies along several fronts,” Molewa said.

She also announced that revised norms and standards implemented last year relating to the issuing of rhino hunting permits, the hunting of rhinos and the transportation of the horns, had resulted in a significant drop in the number of hunting applications, from 222 in 2011 to 90 last year.

The National Environmental Management Laws First Amendment Bill aimed at strengthening the regulatory and enforcement provisions to prevent abuse of the hunting permitting system was at an advanced stage in the parliamentary process, she added.

SMS tip-offs about poaching anonymously to Crime-Line at 32211 or call 08600 10111.