Rhino Poaching Down in South Africa

Rhino poaching in South Africa continues to decline as additional steps are taken by government to ensure the crime is effectively dealt with.

The Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Ms Barbara Creecy, says the steps to address rhino poaching and wildlife crime across the country are presently aligned to the Integrated Strategic Management of Rhinoceros as well as the principles set out in the draft National Integrated Strategy to Combat Wildlife Trafficking (NISCWT), which will be taken to Cabinet for consideration in the first half of this year.

The NISCWT was a recommendation of the Committee of Inquiry into whether South Africa should table a recommendation for the legal trade, or not, of rhino horn to the 17^th Conference of Parties to the Convention on the Illegal Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora in 2016.  It aims to strengthen the law enforcement aspects of the successful multi-disciplinary approach – the Integrated Strategic Management of Rhinoceros – and broadens the scope to combat other wildlife trafficking, not only rhino poaching.

“Because wildlife trafficking constitutes a highly sophisticated form of serious transnational organized crime that threatens national security, the aim is to establish an integrated strategic framework for an intelligence-led, well-resourced, multidisciplinary and consolidated law enforcement approach to focus and direct law enforcement’s ability supported by the whole of government and society,” said Minister Creecy.

The Minister has also paid tribute to rangers who battle poaching in the conservation areas on a daily basis.

In 2018, 769 rhino were killed for their horn in South Africa. During 2019, rhino poaching continued to decline, with 594 rhino poached nationally during the year.

This decline can be attributed to a combination of measures implemented in line with government’s strategy, including improved capabilities to react to poaching incidents linked to better situational awareness and deployment of technology; improved information collection and sharing amongst law enforcement authorities; better regional and national cooperation and more meaningful involvement of the private sector, NGOs and donors.

“A decline in poaching for five consecutive years is a reflection of the diligent work of the men and women who put their lives on the line daily to combat rhino poaching, often coming into direct contact with ruthless poachers,” said the Minister.

Despite the two thousand and fourteen incursions and poacher activities recorded in the Park during the year, a total of 327 rhino were lost as a result of poaching in the Kruger National Park during 2019.

With regard to elephant poaching, the Department can report that 31 elephant have been poached in South Africa in 2019 – 30 animals in the KNP and 1 in Mapungubwe National Park.  This is a decrease in the number of elephant poached in 2018, when 71 were killed for their tusks.

During 2019, a number of successes have also been recorded through the number of arrests and convictions linked to rhino poaching and the illicit trade in rhino horn which reflects the joint and integrated work of law enforcement entities, including the Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit of SAPS, the Hawks, SANParks, provincial park authorities and Environmental Management Inspectors (Green Scorpions) and Customs as well as the National Prosecuting Authority.

From January to December 2019, 178 alleged poachers were arrested within the Kruger National Park.  At a national level, 332 arrests were effected in respect of both rhino poaching and rhino horn trafficking and in excess of 57 major investigations were undertaken across the country.

A total of 85 firearms were recovered during the year.

Editor’s Note: With little or not hunting in most areas and a loss of ecotourism 2020 is up in the air in terms of poaching activity here and across Africa.