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rhino poachinglatest news & developments
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
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
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
KwaZulu-Natal had the highest number of poaching incidents, with 325 rhino killed, followed by Kruger National Park (which falls in Mpumalanga and Limpopo) where 78 rhino were killed. Limpopo was next, with 59 rhinos killed on game reserves and farms. File photo
BARBARA CREECY

Rhino poaching spikes despite high conviction rate

KwaZulu-Natal remains the epicentre for poaching and the Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park appears to be fighting a losing battle against the crime

  • Lyse Comins
  • Sheree Bega
10 min read
Kobus De Wet was one of SANParks’ senior managers in its environmental crime investigative unit based at Groenkloof in Pretoria.
HIPPO ATTACK

Senior SANParks manager killed by hippo in Kruger National Park

Kobus De Wet played a leading role in investigations and the arrests of rhino poaching syndicates

  • Sheree Bega
2 min read
231 rhinos have been killed for their horns so far this year. (Photo by Deon Raath/Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
BARBARA CREECY

231 rhinos killed for their horns so far this year

But measures such as law enforcement authorities working together have resulted in a decline in the number of animals killed

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read
Corruption is the main enabler for wildlife crimes, with rangers, who are meant to protect nature, at the centre of these crimes, according to the Wildlife Justice Commission
CORRUPTION

Corruption at the helm of wildlife crimes, Wildlife Justice Commission report finds

The international organisation has released a study on the link between corruption and wildlife crimes

  • Lesego Chepape
4 min read
A ranger on patrol in the Kruger National Park. Photo: Supplied
BARBARA CREECY

Creecy: Just five of 87 ranger posts at Kruger Park have been filled

The environment minister was responding to a Democratic Alliance parliamentary question

  • Sheree Bega
2 min read
Two of the continent’s premier game reserves – Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve and South Africa’s Kruger National Park – stand on the frontlines of species loss, working tirelessly to protect wildlife under the shadow of rising extinction threats. Yet they also reveal how different leadership approaches to park management can shape conservation success, advance inclusivity, and distribute economic benefit to local communities.
CORRUPTION

Corruption rife at Kruger Park – report

About 40% of law enforcement employees at the park are participating in corrupt activities

  • Eunice Masson
5 min read
Of the 448 rhinos killed for their horns last year, 124 were in the Kruger, representing a 40% decrease compared with those killed in 2021. Photo: Getty Images
BARBARA CREECY

Rhino poaching declines in Kruger, but poachers are on the rampage in KZN

Statistics confirm decline in rhino poaching losses in national parks from 451 in 2021 to 448 last year, the toll for private owners was 86

  • Sheree Bega
7 min read
231 rhinos have been killed for their horns so far this year. (Photo by Deon Raath/Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
ILLICIT TRADE

Rhino poaching must be tackled as crime crisis, not as a conservation crisis

Wildlife Justice Commission says law enforcement agencies must address it as transnational organised crime

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read
AFRICA

Rhino poaching and illegal horn trade declining in Africa and Asia

Despite the decline in rhino poaching, there are critical threats to the survival of these iconic animals

  • Sheree Bega
7 min read
231 rhinos have been killed for their horns so far this year. (Photo by Deon Raath/Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
BARBARA CREECY

South Africa sees 59 fewer rhinos killed in the first half of 2022

Figures show South Africa’s efforts to combat rhino poaching pays off

  • Eunice Masson
3 min read
IVORY POACHING

A notorious wildlife smuggler is finally behind bars

Moazu Kromah, aka ‘Kampala Man’, ran a wildlife trafficking syndicate in Africa and law enforcement authorities knew it. Why did it take so long to bring him to justice and what…

  • The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime
3 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
A veterinary from Saving the Survivors and RHINO911 crew attend to a previously wounded Rhino during an operation of RHINO911 Non Governamental Organization on September 19, 2016 at the Pilanesberg National Park in the North West province, South Africa. – Rhino 911 is a tactical air support non profit organisation created in cooperation with Battle Born Munitions and Bell Helicopter to fight Rhino poaching in South Africa. On September 24, 2016 the CITES 2016 (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) conference will kick off in Johannesburg. (Photo by GIANLUIGI GUERCIA / AFP)
NECSA

Fight against rhino poaching goes nuclear

Rhisotope project aims to significantly reduce demand for rhino horns by safely applying radioisotopes to deter poachers

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read
Sixteen southern white rhinos have been moved from &Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal to Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images)
ALBI MODISE

South Africa witnesses alarming spike in rhino poaching

Twenty-three rhinos have been killed in 36 hours, according to a nonprofit organisation; the environment department says this figure is 24 since the beginning of December

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read
Two of the continent’s premier game reserves – Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve and South Africa’s Kruger National Park – stand on the frontlines of species loss, working tirelessly to protect wildlife under the shadow of rising extinction threats. Yet they also reveal how different leadership approaches to park management can shape conservation success, advance inclusivity, and distribute economic benefit to local communities.
ADELE MYBURGH

The Mozambican criminal who escaped from South African prisons, twice

A rhino-poaching suspect, who recently escaped from police custody, has been identified as a criminal who was serving multiple life sentences when he broke out of prison last year

  • Simon Bloch
8 min read
Rhino poaching in South Africa is set to increase by 50% every year.
AB STEYN

Alleged rhino kingpin and an Mpumalanga businessman arrested for possession of 19 rhino horns

Out on bail on similar charges, Dawie Groenewald finds himself behind bars once again, this time alongside hunter AB Steyn

  • Eunice Masson
2 min read
ANDREW CAMPBELL

Skukuza court closure was like a ‘knife in the back’ of rangers

South Africa’s flagship wildlife-poaching court reopens in Skukuza after being shut for a year

  • Sheree Bega
4 min read