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Police arrest six suspected rhino poachers in Limpopo and Gauteng; recover horns, guns and ammunition.

It's not rocket science. Harsher sentences - both locally and abroad - need to be dished out to those who poach rhinos for their horns, or smuggle those horns to other countries. The South African government reported 448 rhinos were killed across the country in 2022 - just three fewer than the previous year. It's welcoming to hear a Singapore court on Friday sentenced Gumede Sthembiso Joel, a 33- year-old South African man, to two years in jail for smuggling rhino horns. It was the heaviest sentence handed down by the city state for trafcking wildlife parts.

Two men are expected to appear in the Vryheid magistrate's court after they were arrested with two rhino horns and a rie hidden in their car's engine compartment. KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Lt-Col Nqobile Gwala said ofcers acted on information about the suspects and spotted their vehicle on the R34 travelling towards Vryheid and a high-speed chase ensued.

Dit gaan baie goed met Venasha, die renosterkalfie wat in Oktober 2022 by die Rhino Momma-projek aangekom het, nadat sy deur haar ma verwerp is. Volgens Juliette Erdtsieck, haar versorger van die afgelope 19 maande, bly Venasha onder meer saam met drie renosterkoeie en hul kalwers in 'n kamp. "Sy word nou regtig baie groot en is 'n regte renoster! Sy het op 26 November haar laaste bottel melk gekry en aan die einde van die jaar is sy na die groot kamp verskuif," sê Juliette. Die Rhino Momma-projek in Namibië het in 2022 in een maand twee wees-renosterkalfies gekry.

Seven more rhinos have been killed by poachers in Etosha, driving the species ever closer to extinction. Seven rhino carcasses discovered during aerial patrols in the Etosha National Park at the weekend have been confirmed to have been poached. This brings the total of poached rhinos to 16 this year, while there have also been 16 elephants poached this year. Altogether 59 rhinos were poached in the country last year and 95 rhinos in 2015, 56 in 2014 and 9 in 2013.

Seven of the eight rhino carcasses found at the Etosha National Park this week show that the animals had been poached. According to the environment ministry's chief public relations officer, Romeo Muyunda, the eighth animal had died of natural causes. In a statement yesterday, he said no arrests had been made, and reiterated the government's offer of N$60 000 for anyone providing information which could lead to the apprehension of the suspects. The eight rhino carcasses were discovered in the park between 23 and 25 June 2017.

Seven rhino carcasses of which several have already been confirmed to be poached, were discovered in the Etosha National Park this past weekend during routine patrols by officials of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. Ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda yesterday confirmed to Namibian Sun that during patrols in the park between 23 and 25 June seven rhino carcasses were discovered. "The carcasses are all believed to be for this year."

The bill, amongst others, proposes that foreigners who are found guilty of wildlife crimes will not be allowed back in Namibia after completing their jail terms. This will apply to foreigners who are found guilty of possession of, and dealing in, elephant and rhino products.

A Chinese man who was arrested and charged after the police found two rhinoceros horns at a rented flat in Windhoek early this year is now a fugitive from justice, having failed to attend a scheduled court appearance last week. With the 29-year-old Chen Nan absent from the Windhoek Magistrate's Court, where he was supposed to appear for the first time since being granted bail in April, magistrate Vanessa Stanley on Wednesday issued a warrant for his arrest, provisionally cancelled his bail and provisionally declared his bail deposit of N$300 000 forfeited to…

Chinese national Nan Chen, arrested in January this year for illegal possession of two rhino horns, is allegedly on the run. The 29-year-old Nan, who is free on bail of N$300 000, was scheduled to make another appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court yesterday, but was absent, and his privately-instructed defence lawyer Kadhila Amoomo also did not know his whereabouts.

The four suspected poachers who were arrested on Saturday following a shoot-out with the police at Khorixas will remain in custody after the court denied them bail.