The eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal has been particularly affected, with 143 rhinos killed there in the first half of 2023, 10 more than in the same period in 2022. Illegal hunters have increasingly turned their sights on regional parks and private reserves, the government said. Kruger's estimated tally in 2021 was 2,800 rhinos, around 70 percent down compared to 10,000 in 2008, according to statistics from the national parks authority, SANParks. "This is why you see a displacement to other areas," she told a press conference, adding that however she attributed the overall downward trend in poaching to the "incredible work" of rangers and law enforcement agencies.Ĭreecy declined to say how many rhinos were left in the park-a tourist magnet bordering Mozambique-as she did not wish to provide criminals with "intelligence". Overall, 231 rhinos were killed across South Africa in the first six months of 2023-an 11 percent drop on 2022, according to the environment ministry.Īsked if the decrease in Kruger went hand-in-hand with depleting animal numbers, Environment Minister Barbara Creecy said it was "no secret" that the rhino population there "has been severely battered through almost 20 years of poaching." The government said 42 of the park's rhinos were killed for their horns from January to June this year, almost half the numbers poached in the same period last year.
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