South African National Parks’ (SANParks) Environmental Crime Investigation Unit collaborated with the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations – also known as the Hawks – to conduct a series of sting operations within the past month.
These intelligence-driven operations led to 12 arrests in Kruger National Park (KNP) alone, according to IOL. In separate incidents, suspects were apprehended in Mpumalanga after being found with high calibre firearms, ammunition, and rhino horns in their position.
Just outside of KNP, an additional four suspects were apprehended after being found in possession of poison, dried and cooked buffalo meat, snare cables, elephant skins, elephant lips, dried baboon arms, and wild animal bones.
SANParks spokesperson Ike Phaahla stated that ‘we are hoping to arrest more of these poachers as time goes on, especially during this festive season.’
Whilst the arrests of 12 poachers is a great victory, the threat is far from over. Poachers’ weapon of choice is wire snare traps. These are the most lethal, as they catch virtually anything, not just rhinos, according to state veterinarian Dr Louis van Schalkwyk.
Moreover, in addition to most poachers knowing the parks like the back of their hands, the surrounding villages and communities depend on poachers to get them food, and as such, they sit around the gates waiting for them.
As rhino poaching continues to devastate the rhino population, experts have warned that rhino extinction could very well be a strong possibility within the next decade.
Picture: Keith Markilie/Unsplash
ALSO READ
Two suspects apprehended for attempting to sell a lion’s head
