There are promising signs that rhino poaching is now on a downward trend in South Africa‚ Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa says. Reporting back on progress in the implementation of the Integrated Strategic Management of Rhinoceros‚ Molewa said on Sunday that nationally‚ 702 rhino had been poached since the beginning of 2016 compared to a total of 796 rhino poached between January and July 2015.“We are pleased to announce yet again‚ as we did in January and May‚ that poaching is on the decline in the Kruger National Park (KNP) – the area hardest hit‚” she said.Between January and the end of August 2016‚ a total number of 458 poached rhino carcasses had been found in the Kruger National Park‚ compared to 557 in the same period last year. This represented a 17.8% decline in the number of rhino carcasses‚ the minister stated.“Poaching rates‚ i.e. the number of carcasses as a percentage of the number of live rhinos estimated the previous September for each year‚ reduced by 15.5% compared between the same periods in 2015 (9.6% poaching rate) and 2016 (7.9% poaching rate).“These figures come amidst a 27.87 % increase in the number of illegal incursions into the KNP – a staggering 2‚115 for the first eight months of 2016‚” Molewa said.But she added there might be indications that the success of anti-poaching efforts in the Kruger National Park had led to poaching syndicates shifting operations to other provinces.In the period under review‚ the number of rhino poached had increased in a number of other provinces in comparison to the same period in 2015‚ such as Kwa-Zulu/Natal‚ Free State and the Northern Cape.“However‚ despite these increases there is still a downward trend in the number of rhino poached.”..