For the fifth consecutive year, the number of rhinos poached in South Africa has decreased. The total number or rhinos poached stood at 594 at the end of 2019 according to South Africa’s Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries. This seems a significant drop compared to 769 rhinos poached in 2018 according to Save the Rhino.org.
Commenting on last year’s figures, South Africa’s Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Barbara Creecy said that because wildlife trafficking constitutes a highly sophisticated form of serious transnational organised crime that threatens national security, the aim is to establish an integrated strategic framework for an ‘intelligence-led, well-resourced, multidisciplinary and consolidated law enforcement approach’ to focus and direct law enforcement’s ability supported by the whole of government and society, according to Illicit Trade.com.
‘A decline in the number of rhinos that were poached for their horns for the fifth year in a row was a reflection of the diligent work of the men and women who put their lives on the line daily to combat rhino poaching, often coming into direct contact with ruthless poachers,’ Creecy added.
In 2018, the numbers were also lower than the year before, however, rhino populations are still vulnerable and various anti-poaching units still work around the clock in the hopes of bringing the number down to zero.
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