Namibia saw a continued downward trend in rhino and elephant poaching last year after stepping up patrols and sharply increasing nes, the government said on Thursday. Citing intensied intelligence operations by authorities and collaboration between the government and the private sector, environment ministry spokesman Romeo Muyunda said 30 rhinos had been poached last year compared with 50 in 2019 and 79 in 2018. Only 11 elephants were poached in 2020 compared with 13 a year earlier. "The reduction is attributed to many factors, one of them is increased patrols by our staff," Muyunda said. Collaborative efforts between the police, central intelligence, members of the public, civil society and the private sector had also helped turn the tide against poachers. Namibia has increased nes for poaching to 25 million Namibian dollars ($1.66 million) from 200,000 and prison sentences have risen to 25 years from 20.