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BIODIVERSITY ECONOMY

SA’s rhinos are ‘more valuable alive than dead’

Government unveils new plan to strengthen rhino coordination and confront poaching

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read
There are far more African forest elephants than conservationists previously thought — not because the critically endangered species is recovering, but because scientists are now able to count them more accurately.
AFRICAN CONSERVATION

DNA surveys reveal far more African forest elephants than previously known

A new IUCN report shows African forest elephants are more numerous than previously believed, not due to recovery, but thanks to groundbreaking DNA-based surveys that have…

  • Sheree Bega
4 min read
Horns of a dilemma: A scenes from The Last Ranger, starring Avumile Qongqo, which explores the relationship between human communities and the conservation of rhinos.
ANELE MDODA

The Last Ranger: They are my family, says actress

Oscar-shortlisted South African film is a cinematic call to action against rhino poaching

  • Lesego Chepape
6 min read
Wild dogs are not the only animals being caught in snares — more than 30 elephants were caught in 2023 alone, as well as hyenas and lions. (File photo by Dianah Chiyangwa)
WILDEYE

Unravelling the threads of snaring in Kruger park

Incidents of wildlife snaring have rocketed in South Africa’s flagship national park in the past four years. What’s driving the surge, and how are conservationists facing up to it?

  • Dianah Chiyangwa
  • Roving Reporters
12 min read
The department of forestry, fisheries and the environment awarded a four-year bursary to two learners, one of whom is Kgaugelo Marema, who is in grade 12 at Mapanolla Secondary School in Mokopane.
CONSERVATION

Lapalala Wilderness School’s rhino initiative works to empower the next generation of conservationists

Two learners receive four-year bursaries plus two years of work after they graduate based on presentations they prepared

  • Lesego Chepape
3 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
The animals, formerly owned by rhino breeder John Hume, are expected to significantly boost biodiversity in their new home. Photo: Michael Dexter
AFRICAN PARKS

120 captive rhinos moved to the Greater Kruger wild

The animals, formerly owned by rhino breeder John Hume, are expected to significantly boost biodiversity in their new home

  • 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
Kgwebane Tloubatla was a winner of the Lapalala Wilderness School World Rhino Day competition.
CONSERVATION
Video

Young people at the heart of conserving the rhino

Lapalala housed 120 learners who took part in a competition through speeches and posters to raise awareness for the rhino

  • Lesego Chepape
4 min read
Africa alone sees about half a million snakebites that need treatment every year, according to the World Health Organisation. (AFP)
CHAMELEONS

Landmark sentence for West Rand chameleon poacher

It has taken two animal organisations and a local community working together to halt the trade in reptiles, puppies and other animals on the side of a Johannesburg intersection

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read
De-horned rhinos roam on the field at John Hume’s Rhino Ranch in Klerksdorp, in the North Western Province of South Africa, on February 3, 2016. Picture: MUJAHID SAFODIEN / AFP
AFRICAN RHINO SPECIALIST GROUP

Fate of John Hume’s 2 000 rhinos unclear

Over the years, the project has built up ‘significant biological assets’, says a rhino specialist group

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read
While the rejection of once-off sales might please the animal rights groups who claim to be protecting the elephants from poachers. Photo: Supplied
AFRICA

Which SADC president is ready to unlock wildlife’s trade value?

Instituting new, legal means of trading ivory would create opportunities to put poachers and illegal trade syndicates out of business

  • Emmanuel Koro
5 min read
Game ranger Tsakana Nxumalo.
ANTI POACHING

I was looked after by a guardian angel, says game ranger

Game rangers, the custodians of the natural environment, who face danger from wildlife and poachers, use faith to inspire them

  • Sheree Bega
7 min read
Onward Muchangowa was identified as a key link in the supply chain to buyers from multiple rhino horn syndicates during the course of police investigations.
GIDEON VAN DEVENTER

NPA mulls review of rhino horn trafficker’s eight-year sentence

Onward Muchangowa was identified as a key link in the supply chain to buyers from multiple rhino horn syndicates during the course of police investigations.

  • Simon Bloch
3 min read
The firearms case was dropped when a prosecutor at Bronkhorstspruit decided not to prosecute without giving an explanation.
GIDEON AKA DEON VAN DEVENTER

State reinstates charges against rhino poacher Gideon van Deventer

The firearms case was dropped when a prosecutor at Bronkhorstspruit decided not to prosecute without giving an explanation

  • Simon Bloch
4 min read
BLACK RHINO

Study finds no evidence dehorning rhinos has an impact on the species

A small study shows it doesn’t have a detrimental effect on the animals but more research is needed

  • Lesego Chepape
7 min read
A study conducted by the University of Bristol Veterinary School in the UK, the Namibian Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism and the Save the Rhino Trust found no evidence dehorning black rhinos has a negative impact on them.
BLACK RHINO

Study finds no evidence dehorning rhinos has an impact on the species

A small study shows it doesn’t have a detrimental effect on the animals but more research is needed

  • Lesego Chepape
7 min read
A South African Park authority ranger prepares tools to open the carcass of a poached and mutilated white rhino as a South African Police Services forensic investigators collects evidences on the killing September 12, 2014 at Kruger National Park. As investigators comb a scene of a dehorned rhino in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, its horn is likely to have already been smuggled out of the country to Asia, highlighting the extent of organised poaching cartels threatening the endangered species. AFP PHOTO/MARCO LONGARI (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)
ATTORNEY GENERAL ALLIANCE AFRICA

Direct jail sentences a win in fight against South Africa’s illegal wildlife trade

Collaboration between the various state agencies and specialist prosecutors are needed to break the illicit value chain of wildlife trafficking

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read
Three species of the aloe quiver trees have been listed as threatened. (Christian VAISSE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
CLIMATE CHANGE

Poachers, climate change push South Africa’s succulents to the brink

With a 250% increase in plants confiscated from traffickers since 2019, the declines are unprecedented, says South African National Biodiversity Institute

  • Sheree Bega
8 min read
A parliamentary committee received a briefing on Wednesday about how a sophisticated criminal syndicate pulled off a brazen heist at the headquarters of the North West Parks and Tourism Board, stealing 51 rhino horns
ARMANDO AMOSSE CHINGO

Fired Ezemvelo field ranger arrested for rhino horn trafficking

Man who was dismissed from his job at a top KZN park for links to poaching is held by police in Gauteng

  • Simon Bloch
3 min read