Rhino poaching shifts to KZN
WHILE rhino statistics provided by the Department of Environment Affairs have all but dried up, the non-profit organisation PoachingFacts based in the United States has released its latest report.
The organisation does not receive public funding or grants of any kind and is not affiliated to, or financed by any environmental or hunting lobby groups, or other organisations with a potential political agenda.
Through the organisation’s independent network of contributors, it provides unbiased analysis and disclosure of the facts relating to poaching, corruption and conflict that sustains the illegal wildlife trade and deforestation, and related crimes. Rhino poaching stats
According to its latest report, the Kruger National Park remains among the largest rhino poaching targets in southern Africa.
The park’s intensive protection zones (IPZ) are estimated to be home to
5 000 rhino.
Data from the 1990s through to the early 2000s shows a relatively low interest in rhino horn as either trophies or medicine desired by the Asian market.
In 2007 pseudo hunts of rhino were arranged for Thai nationals in South Africa, sometimes with forged hunting permits.
Comprehensive data for 2014 indicates that 1 215 rhinos were killed and 386 poachers arrested.
In its 2015 annual report, SANParks stated that 1 175 rhinos were killed throughout the country, a slight decrease from the previous year.
Of these, 826 rhino were killed in the Kruger National Park.
Focus on KwaZulu-Natal
The remaining 349 poached rhino died in other parks or provinces, the majority of which are believed to have occurred in KwaZulu-Natal.
As a result of administrative changes in the way rhino poaching is reported by the South African government, only two statistics are presented.
One figure for the Kruger National Park and another for the rest of the country.
Because PoachingFacts does not believe all state statistics are accurate, the organisation collects its own data through its own and external sources from throughout Africa.
Rhino poaching in KZN has steadily increased since 2008.
The first spike of killings occurred in 2008 when 14 animals were killed.
The number doubled the following year and increased to 66 by 2012.
In 2015 the number reached triple digits with 116 rhinos killed.
A further 162 animals were poached in 2016 and the killings peaked at 222 in 2017.
Last year the numbers killed in KZN dropped dramatically to 142, the least in three years.
By the end of July this year, 66 rhinos were poached since 1 January.
The first half of 2019 saw 316 rhinos poached throughout the country, 70 fewer than during the same period in 2018, suggesting a continued trend in reducing poaching incidents.
There is a worrying uptick in poaching in Gauteng, historically not a major target, and also an increase in the Free State.
During the first half of 2019, 253 arrests have been recorded nationally related to rhino horn trafficking or poaching, an increase in total arrests compared to 2018, but many of the court cases from the previous year remain unresolved owing to a ponderous judicial system.