SANParks warns of rise in rhino deaths as poachers do ‘Christmas shopping’

THE SA National Parks (SANParks) has sent a warning about a possible renewed poaching onslaught on rhinos during the festive season.

In the past week, 21 arrests were made inside the Kruger National Park and eight firearms confiscated.

General Johan Jooste of SANParks said the numbers showed illegal rhino hunting increased significantly during the holidays in December and January. He called it the result of crime networks financing their “Christmas shopping”.

He said all parks, especially Kruger would be on high alert and conducting special operations with the police. One of the NGOs assisting the Kruger with curbing rhino poaching was StopRhinoPoaching.com, established in 2010 in response to the growing crisis. As one of its focus areas, the organisation encourages collaborative projects with individuals and corporates, channelling their funding and support.

StopRhinoPoaching.com has supported anti-poaching at Kruger since 2012. Throughout the years, it has donated R2.5 million worth of funding, which includes nine tracker dogs and handler training, equipment support and communication support.

“What started off as a webbased platform focusing on credible content and awareness soon turned into a fulltime responsibility of managing donations and supporting rhino reserves,” said Elsie Daffue, founder of StopRhino Poaching.com. “Rangers live with huge stress, endure hardships and sacrifice a great deal. They have become soldiers, which is not what they signed up for. Jooste said the commitment StopRhinoPoaching. com had shown towards rhino conservation was remarkable.