472 white rhinos were poached in the Kruger park between April 1, 2018, and July 31, 2019, while 366 alleged poachers were arrested in the park since the start of last year.
Barbara Creecy, South Africa’s Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister recently revealed this in a response to a written parliamentary letter.
Her response also stated that in addition to the 366 people arrested in Kruger, seven were arrested in the Pilanesberg National Park and three in the Motala National Park since January 1, 2018.
Of the 376 people arrested, 15 were employees of South African National Parks (SANParks).
Unfortunately even with all these arrests made, 503 of South Africa’s rhinos fell victim to poachers between April 1, 2018, and July 31, 2019. In Kruger, 472 white rhinos and 32 black rhinos were poached, In Pilanesberg the losses were 28 and 3 respectively. The smaller reserves were also affected with a single white rhino poached in Mokala, and two in Marakele.
In her response Creecy said, due to the “persistent threat” of rhino poaching, South Africa was implementing a “holistic, integrated and multidimensional response”, involving her department as well as the South African Police Service, the Hawks, SA National Defence Force, SARS’ customs division, National Prosecuting Authority and State Security Agency.
She added:
“This approach has seen a moderate decline of 91 incidents from the same period last year,”
The authorities are also continuing cross-border collaboration to “ensure rhino poachers are brought to book”.
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