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Four suspected rhino poachers died in two separate incidents in South Africa's internationally renowned Kruger National Park this month (June). The park on South Africa's eastern boundary is bordered by Mozambique and Zimbabwe and for the first time was last year overtaken by KwaZulu-Natal as the apparent venue of choice for armed poachers seeking rhino horn.

South Africa, where 79% of the world's rhinos live, said it aims to come up with a plan by the end of 2030 to dismantle an almost half-century ban on trading the endangered animals' horns. The proposal, contained in a draft of the country's first rhino biodiversity-management plan released late Tuesday, is controversial because poaching of the animals for their horns has decimated their populations across Africa. The horns are ground into powder and sold in east Asia where they are falsely believed to cure cancer and other ailments.

Southern African nations are at it again. Nyasha Chingono reported in late May that those “hosting the largest elephant populations in the world made a fresh pitch…to be allowed to sell their $1bn ivory stockpiles”, purportedly to allocate it towards conservation. How they derive this figure is unclear, and the report doesn’t question its veracity. Current ivory prices are around US$400/kg in illicit markets in the East and averaging about $92/kg across Africa (except for Nigeria which has now become the continent’s major export hub).

Environmental history was made on Friday 7 June 2024 when the last of 120 white rhinos was released into the network of private and communal reserves on the western border of the Kruger National Park. The operation was carried out under a strict veil of secrecy to ensure its security.

In diesem Jahr wurden in Namibia schon insgesamt 47 Nashörner gewildert, von denen 32 Kadaver im Etoscha-Nationalpark gefunden wurden. Nach Angaben des Sprechers des Umweltministeriums, Romeo Muyunda, handelt es sich bei 33 um Spitzmaulnashörner und 14 um Breitmaulnashörner. "Von den 47 Nashörnern, die in diesem Jahr bisher gewildert wurden, wurden zusätzlich zu den 32 in Etoscha acht Spitzmaulnashörner auf Farmen, die Teil des Nashornschutz-Projekts sind, gewildert. Davon sechs auf privaten Farmen und eines in der Kunene-Region", sagte Muyunda. Vor weniger als einem Monat, am 13…

Altesaam 47 renosters is al vanjaar in Namibië gestroop waarvan 32 karkasse in die Etosha Nasionale Park gevind is. 

A total of 47 rhinos have been poached in Namibia this year, of which 32 carcasses have been found in the Etosha National Park.

Rhino horns, popular for centuries in Asia as an aphrodisiac, are worth an astounding $450,000 each on the black market. Poaching is rife, well-organised, and difficult to stop due to endemic corruption in many African nations. South Africa's Kruger National Park has lost about 7000 rhinos to poaching in recent years - poachers kill the animal, making it easier to take the horn.

An intelligence driven operation has landed three suspects in jail after they were found with six rhino horns.
The operation comprising of the Serious Organised Crime Investigation, Detectives, Crime Intelligence, Tactical Response Team, Tracking Team and the Local Criminal Record Centre ensued after it emerged that three were allegedly dealing in rhino horns.

Ryan Tate is supposed to be in South Africa right now helping to fight off poachers who hack horns off rhinos and kill elephants for their ivory tusks. But since the country announced a national lockdown in March to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Tate is stuck in the U.S. He can't join his team out in South Africa's wilderness and can't meet with private donors in the U.S. for his anti-poaching nonprofit organization, which is seeing donations dry up.

Five of the suspects were arrested for rhino poaching and/or trafficking cases, while two wildlife products, five firearms and 63 rounds of ammunition were seized during operations.

The effects of poaching and climate change are keenly felt In Zambia and Zimbabwe. This ecological
frontline is manned by innovative, but under-funded conservation units, with tourism supporting the survival
of some of Africa’s rarest species.

A group of four men entered a farm in the Severn area and were caught red-handed trying to poach rhinos for their horns by members of the Kuruman Stock Theft unit. The Tswalu Anti- Poaching unit provided aerial and ground support to the South African Police Service (SAPS) and managed to apprehend the suspects. One of the suspects was killed during the gun-fight, with two others injured. A fourth man was arrested, with a weapons stock confiscated.

North-West, Namibia, April 2020/  - In an ongoing partnership with Save the Rhino Trust Namibia (SRT) and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET), Wilderness Safaris is proud to report the success of their most recent entirely airborne anti-poaching operation, forming part of a campaign launched last year. Involving two helicopters and a fixed-wing aircraft, the aim of the campaign is to monitor, dehorn and protect black rhino in north-west Namibia.

For the second week, statistics indicate that only one wildlife crime has been recorded per week. The tightening of anti-poaching security measures during the coronavirus state of emergency is paying off, with only one new wildlife crime case registered last week, while two suspects were arrested.

Die ministeries van die omgewing, bosbou en toerisme en veiligheid en sekuriteit het verlede week hul wildmisdaadverslag van 2019 uitgereik. Verlede jaar is 45 renosters gestroop teenoor 74 in 2018. In 2019 is ook meer verdagtes (112) in verband met renosterverwante misdaad as in 2018 (84) in hegtenis geneem. Die verslag is deur die Blue Rhino-taakspan onder leiding van komm. Barry de Klerk saamgestel. Operasie Blue Rhino is in Julie 2018 van stapel gestuur.

A suspected poacher was killed while his accomplice escaped following a shootout with game rangers on Wednesday at Bubye Valley Conservancy, some 60km west of Beitbridge town. The two men allegedly killed a male lion, before rangers caught up with them while in the process of killing a black rhinoceros.

A man was promised 20,000 South African rand (about S$2,000) to unlawfully transport 11 pieces of rhinoceros horns from Johannesburg to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, a district court heard on Wednesday (April 8).

Arrests for wildlife crime involving high-value species like elephants, rhinos and pangolins, increased by 36% in 2019 compared to the year before.

Twee vas met ammunisie. Nege renosters is tot dusver vanjaar gestroop en een olifant is vir sy ivoor afgemaai. Volgens die woordvoerder van die ministerie van die omgewing, bosbou en toerisme, mnr. Romeo Muyunda, is die meerderheid van dié renosters op private plase gestroop. Twee Namibiese mans wat na ­bewering 'n renoster probeer stroop het, is voorverlede Woensdag in hegtenis geneem.

Botswana has seen an unprecedented rise in rhinoceros poaching in the last 12 months. The government reports nearly 50 of the animals have been killed in the last 10 months, about one-tenth of the country’s rhino population. Officials say at this rate, the black rhino population, which numbers just a few dozen, could be wiped out by the end of next year.

Wildlife crime has become one of the central conservation challenges in Namibia, with a total of 174 wildlife species poached in the country last year alone. This number signifies an increase, as 115 were poached in 2018.

During last year, an estimated 12 elephants and 45 rhinos were poached during 2019, the ministry of environment and tourism’s wildlife crime report of 2019 shows. The ministry seized 116 elephant tusks and 8 rhino horns during the year, however, the reported notes that the number of elephant tusks seized does not relate directly to the number of elephants killed in Namibia, as some tusks may originate from elephants killed in neighbouring countries. The year under review saw wildlife crime cases registered (high-value species only) at 174 with 92 cases related to…

A Chinese national was granted bail last week in a poaching case involving two rhino horns.

The ministry of environment says its anti-poaching activities will not be hindered by the rapidly spreading coronavirus, which has forced many countries, Namibia included, into a lockdown.