The good news is that poachers slaughtered far fewer rhinos in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in KwaZulu-Natal last year. The bad news is that they killed many more in Kruger National Park instead.
What lies behind the persistent attempts to shut down or curtail the operations of the Skukuza Regional Court, which has achieved remarkable success in bringing rhino poachers to justice?
The deputy environment minister says that fines of R5m, R10m or R20m for environmental offences are insignificant for certain offenders.
When John Hume put his 2 000 rhinos up for auction in April, he didn’t receive a single bid. Last month, the NGO African Parks announced it would purchase the world’s largest population of privately owned white rhinos, which will be ‘rewilded’ over 10 years.
Thirty years after embarking on a speculative – and controversial – wildlife industry venture, the owner of the world’s biggest privately owned herd of rhinos has announced plans to sell up.
Sniffer dogs, secret recording devices and the long arm of international law have helped to ensure the apprehension of at least two men linked to the slaughter of numerous rhinos. The arrests took place thousands of kilometres from the killing fields of southern Africa.
