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A new report has found that the population of Javan rhinos has decreased since 2021 as a result of poaching. The report by the IUCN also found that the population of black rhinos saw an increase in Africa. Nonprofit International Rhino Foundation, which synthesized the data in the report, has now helped fund a tool to monitor and visualize illegal rhino horn trade globally. The tool aims to aid conservationists, NGOs and governments in informing and enforcing stricter policies.

At a nature reserve in central Kenya, the last two northern white rhinos in existence live under the 24/7 protection of armed guards. The subspecies has been driven to near extinction by decades of poaching and civil war in its range of central Africa. A new documentary, "The Last Rhinos: A New Hope," which premiered on National Geographic on August 24, and is now streaming on Disney and and Hulu, chronicles the fight to save the northern white.

The recent arrest of prominent former rhino baron, John Hume, and five others for allegedly running a criminal racket that trafficked nearly 1,000 rhino horns from South Africa, has brought the fore the emotive debate about what should be done to the rhino horn stockpiles that have continued to grow since a ban on international rhino horn trade came into effect nearly five decades ago.

Poaching accused Dawie Groenewald is allegedly conducting wildlife operations in one of South Africa's neighbouring countries. Reports from Botswana state that Groenewald had been spotted camping with clients near the Kwando River in Namibia under an alias. He is currently out on bail in two separate cases in Limpopo and Mpumalanga linked to rhino poaching.

The largest rhino farmer in Namibia says the arrest of his South African role model and mentor, John Hume, is a kind of witch hunt and politically motivated. Jaco Muller of the Rhino Momma Project expressed his opinion after the world's largest rhino farmer was arrested last week. Asked whether Namibia's application to CITES for the legal trade in rhino horn would be negatively affected by this, Muller said that Hume had gone bankrupt precisely because of the ban on the legal trade in rhino horn.

Namibia's largest rhino farmer says the arrest of his South African hero and mentor, John Hume, is a witch hunt and politically driven. Jaco Muller of the Rhino Momma Project has expressed his opinion after the arrest of the world's largest rhino farmer last week. Asked if this would negatively affect Namibia's application to CITES for the legal trade in rhino horn, Muller said it was precisely because of the ban on the legal trade in rhino horn that Hume went bankrupt.

A leading conservationist in South Africa, charged with smuggling rhino horns worth $14 million, has insisted he has "nothing to hide". In a statement, John Hume, the former owner of what is thought to be the world's largest rhino farm, denies allegations that he trafficked the horns from South Africa to South East Asia. Hume (83) and five others, including a lawyer and a game reserve manager, have appeared in court on 55 charges, including theft, money laundering and fraud.

The State alleges that Hume, in association with his five alleged co-conspirators, knew or ought to have known that their enterprise 'uses or invests, directly or indirectly (Hume's) rhino horns, other rhino horns and rhino skins to fuel the illegal market'. A dark shadow has been cast around the "conservation hero" mantle of South African rhino baron John Hume following sensational allegations that he purchased or purloined the identity documents of several indigent people as part of an elaborate scheme to fraudulently circumvent a 50-year-old global ban on the rhino horn trade…

Five men and a woman have appeared before the Pretoria Magistrates' Court for illegal rhino poaching. They have been linked to an international fraudulent scheme involving over 960 rhino horns, worth millions of rands, destined for illegal markets in Southeast Asia. It is alleged that the suspects defrauded the Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Department by securing permits under false pretenses to buy and sell rhino horns domestically, while funneling them into illegal international markets. Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Minister Dion George has hailed the arrests.

The long-running case against Schalk Abraham “AB” Steyn and Limpopo game farmer Dawie Groenewald, who face charges of illegal possession and transportation of rhino horns, has been postponed yet again. The pair briefly appeared in the Nelspruit Regional Court on August 13, where the matter was set down for a pretrial conference on November 10. Steyn and Groenewald were arrested together on July 20, 2021, at a property in the Riverside area, where 19 rhino horns were allegedly found. They were granted bail of R50 000 each shortly afterwards.

Rhino poaching in Africa drops to lowest level since 2011, but total rhino numbers decline 6.7%, with white rhinos at near two-decade low. Asian rhinos stable, but Critically Endangered species in Indonesia face extinction. Illegal rhino horn trade remains global threat: 1.8 tonnes seized in three years (approx. 716 whole horns), with South Africa, home to the largest rhino populations, continuing to be most affected.

When it comes to protecting our rhinos from poachers, there's not a one-size-fits-all solution. There are several ways that national parks, game reserves and organisations are fighting rhino poaching, from fitting rhinos with tracking devices, having anti-poaching units on the ground actively monitoring them, rhino dehorning, education drives, and more. And these do not happen in isolation either, as often a combination of methods are needed to successfully deter poachers. Naturally, all of these hero organisations doing the hard work protecting our rhinos need funds to operate…

Five people found guilty of rhino poaching and related charges were handed down sentences ranging from 16 years to 18 years behind bars.

Corruption is a key enabler of the illegal wildlife trade and its effects can be seen in every stage of this crime chain. This is according to a new report by the wildlife trade monitoring network, TRAFFIC, which said by reviewing past wildlife crime court cases, the relationship between these crimes and corruption can be better understood. It noted that thoroughly investigating corruption in these cases can potentially identify higher-level individuals for investigation, arrest, conviction and appropriate sentencing, disrupting organised criminal groups to a greater extent.

Aiming an immobilizing dart at a rapidly moving animal while leaning out of an airborne helicopter seems like an absurd undertaking, but this is how wildlife veterinarians are able to sedate a charging rhino. It's hair-raising work, but can save the rhino's life. Once the rhino lies down, the helicopter lands and a team of experts from Mozambique Wildlife Alliance (MWA) race towards the immobilized animal. They gently cover its eyes with a cloth, keeping it calm.

Cape Town - Poaching continues to decimate the rhino population with 451 rhinos poached in South Africa last year, 327 of them from government reserves and 124 from private property.

South African National Parks (SANParks) today, 19 March 2022, welcomed the sentence meted out by the Skukuza Regional Court to a man convicted on 12 counts associated with poaching. The accused, Mike Nyathi, a 39 year old Mozambican man with a South African citizenship, faced 14 charges relating to two separate cases of rhino poaching.

Rural communities in the Okavango Delta in Botswana have accused the country's government of not engaging them in efforts to combat rampant poaching in the area. Since 2018, more than 100 rhinos have been gunned down by poachers in the Delta and communities in the region say the situation might have been better had the government engaged them in anti-poaching work.

Pretoria - Sixty dogs have been dispatched across the Kruger National Park to help curb poaching. The almost 2 million-hectare park has a major problem with poachers targeting rhinos, lions and elephants.

Our analysis of wildlife crimes data, supported by numerous interviews, finds evidence of systematic failure by Nigerian law enforcement and the judicial system to hold wildlife poachers and traffickers accountable.

Pretoria - The Tembisa Regional Court has convicted and sentenced 49-year-old Ping Wu to five years direct imprisonment for money laundering. Spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi, said in April 2019, the Hawks serious organised crime investigation team based in Middelburg registered an undercover investigation into allegations of illegal trade in rhino horn. "The scope of the project was to address a syndicate in Gauteng who were illegally dealing in rhino horns," said Sekgotodi.