Sunday, February 16, 2025

FIRST WITH SECURITY NEWS

Dehorning given as reason for slight drop in rhino poaching

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The GNU (Government of National Unity) minister leading South Africa’s conservation efforts was able to report a decrease in rhino poached numbers for the first half of the year, driven in part by extensive dehorning in KwaZulu-Natal.

The decrease, Dion George said in a Thursday (1 August) statement, was slight – two – down to 229 from the corresponding 231 last year. This came with what he called “a significant drop” in May and June: 21 and 22 compared to 42 and 34 for the first six months of last year.

The reduced loss is thought to be attributable to the dehorning of rhino populations in KwaZulu-Natal and specifically in Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park where over a thousand rhinos have been dehorned since April 2024.

Well over half – 191 – of the 229 rhino lost to poachers to date this year were on what the Minister has it are “State properties” presumably national parks and provincial game reserves.

The Kruger National Park, straddling Mpumalanga and Limpopo, lost 45 rhino to poachers from January to June compared to 42 in the same period in 2023. Kruger continues to implement its rhino conservation plan focusing on guarding and protecting this Big Five species in core rhino areas as well as “use of appropriate technologies”, dehorning and “implementing innovative biological management” in.

The Kruger integrity management plan (IMP) addresses staff integrity and other initiatives including field ranger selection and training, polygraph testing, wellness, financial literacy and skills development programmes.

George also reported implementation of first year targets for the National Integrated Strategy to Combat Wildlife Trafficking (NISCWT). The over-arching South African government structure for security – NatJOINTS (National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure) – is part of the strategy by way of its priority committee on wildlife trafficking, according to the Ministerial statement.

During the reporting period, over 60 suspects were arrested and 20 heavy calibre firearms recovered in relation to rhino poaching and rhino horn trafficking.

“Successful joint operations and investigations between SAPS Stock Theft & Endangered Species Unit, Environmental Management Inspectors (EMIs) from national and provincial conservation agencies and departments, the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations (DPCI) and private security teams are to be commended for their sustained effort,” George is reported as saying.

With regard to rhino population numbers, at the end of 2023, South Africa reported 16 056 rhinos comprising 2 065 black and 13 991 white rhinos. These figures compare with figures estimated for the end of 2021 when there were 2 056 black and 12 968 white rhinos in the country.

“South Africa had 1 032 more rhinos in 2023 than what there were in 2021 despite the poaching – in 2022 and 2023, 2.9% and 3.2% of South Africa’s rhinos respectively were poached. These were lower than the threshold of 3.5% beyond which rhino numbers will decline,” George said.

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