Rhino poachers switch focus to KZN from Kruger Park

Government is gearing up efforts to combat poaching in KwaZulu-Natal, with trends showing a move to provincial and private reserves and away from the Kruger National Park, where a clampdown is bringing successes.

Environment department statistics reveal 42 rhino were poached in Kruger National Park from January to June, with a worrying 143 killed in KwaZulu-Natal in the six months. Forty-six of the rhino killed were in privately owned nature reserves and 143 in provincially owned reserves.

This includes the Hluhluwe/iMfolozi game reserve where a tactical operations joint control centre has been established to co-ordinate police deployments. The National Prosecuting Authority has also designated a prosecutor to facilitate rhino cases in KZN so they can be expedited through the court processes. The department has budgeted R40m for the repair and replacement of the boundary fence around the reserve.

In response to a range of studies that point to collusion between rangers and criminal syndicates, SANParks has established a polygraph policy for new recruits and to support anti-corruption investigations.

The number of rhino poached from January to June is a 11% decrease, or a decline of 28 animals killed for their horns, compared with the same period last year.

The department said 31 rhino poachers have been convicted in the six months with sentences of between 16 and 39 years imprisonment handed down.

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