Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
rhinolatest news & developments
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
The rhinos, which are part of the 2 000 that belonged to controversial breeder John Hume, have now been relocated to a conservancy in KwaZulu-Natal
JOHN HUM

40 dehorned rhinos relocated in bid to ‘rewild’ captive-bred animals

The rhinos, which are part of the 2 000 that belonged to controversial breeder John Hume, have now been relocated to a conservancy in KwaZulu-Natal

  • Sheree Bega
4 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
The House of Lords is expected to pass legislation that will make it illegal for citizens to bring home any animal body part. (JENS-ULRICH KOCH/DDP/AFP via Getty Images)
CAMPAIGN TO BAN TROPHY HUNTING

UK to vote on banning its citizens from bringing hunting trophies home

South Africa is the most popular destination for British trophy hunters

  • Lyse Comins
7 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
The Hawks have arrested latest suspect in R9 million rhino horn theft from a stockpile facility in North West (Brent Stirton and African Parks)
ASIAN RHINO

Saving the rhino is more than an emotional quest

At the start of the 20th century, an estimated 500 000 rhino roamed Africa and Asia. Today, about 27 000 remain in the wild

  • Donovan Jooste
5 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
The Rhino 100 Master Driller is a multi-functional, mobile raise bore driller used in the process of longhole stoping. Photo: Supplied
GOLD FIELDS

Mechanisation is still to come into its own in South Africa’s gold industry

Gold Fields’ South Deep hopes to turn the situation around with its super driller and indications are that extraction will shift from 85% to 93%.

  • Anathi Madubela
6 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
The South African Mint Company said it had launched rhino coins as part of its Big Five collectable series, after unveiling elephant and lion coins earlier this year. (Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
BIG FIVE COIN

SA Mint launches rhino coin

The coins are produced in limited quantities ranging from 500 to 2 000, depending on the demand

  • Bongeka Gumede
2 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
Massmart should ditch Game, say analysts
BUILDERS WAREHOUSE

Massmart will not be profitable as long as it keeps Game, analysts say

Walmart bought Massmart in 2011 and over the past 10 years the share price of the group has decreased by 80%.

  • Anathi Madubela
4 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
A typical day at the office: Tebogo Manamela processes samples in the laboratory and helps to dehorn a rhino in the field. (Lucas Ledwaba/Mukurukuru Media)
BIOBANK

‘I was hit by an adult bull buffalo’: An interview with Kruger National Park veterinary technologist Tebogo Manamela

Tebogo Manamela talks to Lucas Ledwaba about helping to preserve Africa’s heritage and the rewards of working with – and sometimes being attacked by – animals at the Kruger…

  • Lucas Ledwaba
5 min read
At risk: South Africa, home to the world’s largest population of rhino, is critical to the conservation of this species, which are targeted by poachers. (Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images)
BARBARA CREECY

Reservations about ‘new deal’ for rhinos, lions, elephant, leopards

Draft policy promotes species playing their role in wilderness systems but one conservationist says leopards are being sold out

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read