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Mail & Guardian
ezemvelo kzn wildlifelatest news & developments
Last resort: Deputy Minister Narend Singh says provinces will have to provide scientific evidence of why any of the other options are not applicable. Photo: DFFE
ANIMAL WELFARE

Elephant culling ‘last resort’ as MPs warn of crisis in reserves

Deputy environment minister insists culling will only be used with approval, but MPs and animal welfare groups say governance failures and delays in humane interventions are…

  • Sheree Bega
7 min read
ANTI POACHING

Ezemvelo says war on rhinos continues, supports regulated trade to curb poaching

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife highlights a successful dehorning programme and improved anti-poaching measures but continues to call for discussion on legal rhino horn trade to protect…

  • Sandile Motha
2 min read
The discovery of KwaZulu-Natal’s first active hooded vulture nest has been hailed as a landmark vulture conservation milestone
AERIAL WILDLIFE SURVEY

Vulture conservation boosted as first active hooded vulture nest confirmed in Zululand

Discovery of a hooded vulture nest offers hope and renewed urgency for protecting these critically endangered birds

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read
Initiatives such as dehorning help to reduce the number of rhinos poached. Graphic: John McCann
ANTI WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING

Rhino poaching decreases by 15% – but 420 still killed

The environment minister said increased poaching in Kruger National Park was of great concern

  • Sheree Bega
4 min read
Photo by Julian Hahne
BABANANGO GAME RESERVE

Meet the real rhino whisperers protecting black rhinos in KwaZulu-Natal

The WWF’s Black Rhino Range Expansion Project has established 17 new populations

  • Sheree Bega
7 min read
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has reluctantly decided to dehorn its rhinos after KwaZulu-Natal lost 325 rhinos since 2023, the majority of them to poaching.
AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife resorts to dehorning rhinos to limit poaching

Most of the 325 rhinos that died in KwaZulu-Natal were a result of poaching the animals for their horns

  • Umamah Bakharia
2 min read
This baby Large-Spotted Genet arrived with eyes still closed, and slowly, with care, grew until its eyes opened. Photo: Supplied
EZEMVELO KZN WILDLIFE

Howick wildlife centre cared for over 1000 animals in 2023

FreeMe saw the first Marabou Stork admitted to the centre’s care, as well as a lesser flamingo, lesser honeyguide, Narina Trogon and the endangered secretary bird

  • Akheel Sewsunker
2 min read
In January last year, the department of environmental affairs in the Free State and the national department of forestry, fisheries and environment, together with the SPCA, inspected Steilfontein farm, in Petrus Steyn, where several feline predators were held captive. (Pers-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images)
EZEMVELO KZN WILDLIFE

Rangers fail to find lion spoor after KZN families report sighting

The animals were seen in the Nembe area near eShowe

  • Umamah Bakharia
2 min read
The increase in demand for exotic wildlife as pets is evident throughout the world and, thus, is not a uniquely South African problem. Photo: Supplied
DOMESTICATION

Keeping wild animals in captivity: Is it ever a good idea?

Demand has increased locally, but neither the legislation to ensure that both the animals and people are protected, nor the government’s ability to police it, has improved at the…

  • Brent Coverdale
5 min read
A sign on the side of the road warns poachers near the Balule reserve. (Photo by Matthieu Alexandre/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE

Zikalala finally releases first part of long-delayed rhino task team report

The report was commissioned in 2016 by KwaZulu-Natal’s former premier, Willies Mchunu, after a surge in rhino poaching

  • Simon Bloch
5 min read
At least 70 rhinos have been killed in in Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park in the three months from January to March this year Photo: Daniel Born/The Times/Gallo Images/Getty Images
EZEMVELO KZN WILDLIFE

KwaZulu-Natal premier slammed for withholding report on rhino carnage

At least 70 rhinos have been killed in in Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park in the three months from January to March this year

  • Simon Bloch
6 min read
To the rescue: An endangered Pickersgill’s reed frog perches on a leaf near Richards Bay. (Morgan Trimble)
BIODIVERSITY

Big mission to save tiny frog

A pioneering project has released 800 captive-bred Pickersgill’s reed frogs back into the wild in KwaZulu-Natal

  • Sheree Bega
3 min read
While this was the first such event recorded for southern Africa, extreme heatwave events like this are already common in Australia. (David Mercado/Reuters)
BATS

South Africa passes ‘grim milestone’ after extreme heat kills off birds, bats

Mass November die-off in KZN is a sign of how global heating is affecting small animals, researchers warn

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read
EZEMVELO KZN WILDLIFE

Millions missing from parks board

An internal forensic report revealing corruption at the embattled Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal parks organisation could lead to extensive prosecutions.

  • Yolandi Groenewald
4 min read
ANIMAL RIGHTS AFRICA

Hunter hired to track leopard in KZN

A professional hunter has been hired to track down a leopard on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife said on Wednesday.

  • Staff Reporter
2 min read
DURBAN

R22m ‘not missing, but unaccounted for’

KwaZulu-Natal’s agriculture minister, Mtholephi Mthimkulu, has ordered a forensic investigation into Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife following revelations of alleged financial…

  • Staff Reporter
2 min read