Search results

The Dinokeng Game Reserve in South Africa has a thriving rhino population, but their exact numbers and the details of the security operation that keeps them safe from poaching are closely guarded secrets. They are the protocols that reserves with rhinos follow to ensure they're not the next target for poachers who still kill on average one rhino every day in South Africa for their horns despite decades of work to save the endangered species.

Two Belgian teenagers were charged Tuesday with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser known species. Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, two 19-year-olds who were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house, appeared distraught during their appearance before a magistrate in Nairobi and were comforted in the courtroom by relatives. They told the magistrate they were collecting the ants for fun and did not know that it was illegal.

South Africa, with its abundant wildlife, suffers from a scourge of poaching that has become a significant challenge in the country's national parks. In particular, the poaching of rhinos for their horns has increased dramatically since 2014, so SA National Parks (SANParks) sought out a system that could enable it to successfully counter this: one that could detect movement - specifically of people - in protected areas.

Gunshot technology ShotSpotter is being used to deter rhino poaching in Kruger National Park, helping authorities reduce unsanctioned killings by 60% inside the park’s Intensified Protection Zone (IPZ). South Africa, which holds nearly 80% of the world's rhinos, has been the country hit hardest by poaching criminals, with more than 1 000 rhinos killed each year between 2013 and 2017. Kruger is a critical poaching area.

Conservationists have warned the country against adopting elephant contraception as a population management strategy given the negative social and ecological consequences. The ballooning elephant population estimated at over 80 000, rampant human wildlife conflict case, sophisticated poaching syndicates and the existing ban on ivory trade have become a major headache for Zimbabwe wildlife authorities.