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Pretoria - The number of rhino in the Kruger National Park has increased. This after the use of technology and sniffer dogs to deter poaching. In the past financial year, the park reported about 180 cases of rhino poaching, a decrease of 45% compared with previous years. Security camera were installed and 12 more installations are expected.

Conservationists are raising serious questions about crime scene protocols - and the sense in stockpiling rhino horn - after a report claimed the police took eight hours to respond to a burglary at the North West Parks Board on Monday. In what is being described as a well-planned heist executed with military precision, thieves broke into the Heritage House headquarters of the North West Parks Board in the early hours of Monday and stole 51 rhino horns worth millions of rands on the Asian black market.

The recent sentencing of six Zimbabweans - members of the so-called Chitiyo Rhino Poaching Gang - to prison terms ranging from 16 to 20 years suggests that authorities are slowly but steadily making inroads in tackling the poaching scourge.

In Limpopo, which shed over 90 000 jobs between January and March, the impact of rhino poaching was hugely felt by its nearly 6.8 million population. More than 80 rhinos were killed through poaching in Limpopo parks and game reserves between 2020 and 2022  - which is of major concern for the Limpopo economics development, environment and tourism department.

The FF Plus called for intensified efforts to curb poaching of wild animals in the Manyeleti Game Reserve, while the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency said the situation had been stabilised after a hectic December of dog poaching and snaring.

Nampol in Omusati thwart a rhino poaching expedition and confiscate the rifle.

Cameras and vehicle recognition devices assist in picking up vehicle movement and how many vehicles are circulating in a specific area of the park. Solar powered hubs, cameras and alarm speakers are just some of the few modern technologies erected in the Kruger national park's (KNP) Skukuza campsites to bolster the fight against theft, poaching and other crimes. KNP has incorporated modern technology into its vast terrain ravaged with smugglers and poachers.

Cape Town - Members of a rhino poaching gang were sentenced to heavy direct imprisonment sentences by the Eastern Cape High Court sitting in Makhanda. The Zimbabwean nationals, Francis Chitho, 35; Trymore Chauke, 30; Meshack Chauke, 27; Simba Masinge, 32; Nhamo Muyambo, 32; and Abraham Moyane, 36, were convicted of conspiracy to commit theft of rhino horn and unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.

A 32-year-old poacher, Freedom Siyabonga Ndlovu, was sentenced to 32 years of direct imprisonment for offences related to poaching by the Skukuza Regional Court. The accused had a hand in the killing of three rhinos.

The Namibian police have reported another wildlife crime, as two rhinos were poached in the Outjo district on an unknown date in June. According to the weekend crime bulletin, the incident involved the hunting of specially protected game species without a permit and theft of rhino horns. It is alleged that unknown suspects unlawfully and intentionally hunted and killed two white rhinos, with a value estimated at N$660,000. The carcasses were recovered, no arrests have been made, and police investigations are ongoing.

Six Zimbabwean nationals, found guilty of rhino poaching, appeared at the Makhanda High Court on Wednesday, 14 June 2023, for their long-awaited sentencing. The six felons were first arrested in July 2018. Almost five years after their arrest, Francis Chitiyo, Trymore Chauke, Misheck Chauke, Simba Masinge, Nhamo Muyambo, and Abraham Moyane have been sentenced to between 16 to 20 years for conspiracy to kill rhinos so that they could steal their horns and for possession of an unlawful firearm and ammunition.

Johannesburg - The Eastern Cape High Court sitting in Makhanda imposed heavy prison sentences on six Zimbabwean nationals in what game reserve owners in the Eastern Cape have called a major breakthrough in the war against rhino poaching syndicates. In sentencing the six, Judge GH Bloem referred to the men as a well-organised group of criminals, arrested after stellar investigation by the SAPS, in particular Captain Morné Viljoen of the Eastern Cape Stock Theft Unit. Viljoen and his team, acting on information, apprehended the poachers while they were travelling on the…

Six members of the so-called Chitiyo rhino-poaching gang received lengthy jail sentences in a landmark judgment in the Makhanda High Court on Wednesday. They were convicted last September on charges of conspiring to poach rhinos and the illegal possession of heavy-calibre firearms and ammunition. Makhanda High Court judge Gerald Bloem handed down sentences ranging from 16 to 20 years, in front of a courtroom packed with conservationists who turned up in their numbers to show how they feel about wildlife crimes. Sentencing proceedings…

Sixteen suspects appeared before the Nelspruit Commercial Crimes Court on 31 May 2023 to face charges related to money laundering and corruption connected to the illicit trade of rhino horns. The accused were apprehended during the course of "Project Blood Orange", which saw an investigation conducted by the Serious Corruption Investigation unit of the Hawks in Mpumalanga.

Durban - Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife says it has adopted a number of measures in its efforts to deal with rhino poaching in many of its parks. However, opposition parties have questioned the entity's urgency to deal with the poaching threat. The entity recently made a presentation before the meeting of the economic development portfolio committee in the KZN legislature where members decried the failure to deal with rhino poaching and the declining standards at Ezemvelo-owned facilities. A total of 244 rhino were killed in poaching incidents in KZN last…

Seven people have been arrested in relation to three wildlife crimes that took place between 17 and 23 April. According to the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism, these incidents occurred in the Kavango East, Kunene, and Erongo Regions. Two out of the three cases reported during that period involve high-value species. In the first case, registered at the Opuwo Police Station in the Kunene Region, the police arrested three men for possessing four counterfeit rhino horns.