Rhino Numbers in Kruger National Park to dip below 3000

The Rapid Slide into Extinction:

"The new CEO of South African National Parks, said there may be fewer than 3,000 rhinos in the Kruger Park for the first time – despite the park authority spending millions on rhino protection."

Don Pinnock from Daily Maverick said that South Africa created loopholes that were exploited by criminal syndicates through licensing of hunting and legalising internal trade, but only shutting down of all rhino horn trade, removing loopholes and stopping mixed messaging – backed up by initiatives like the Pelly Amendment – would bring down poaching.

Dziba said, “I think another way of looking at the alarming stats… is the fact that it is possible to actually do something to basically restore the species but I think it is important to know what needs to be done to basically protect rhino in the wild.”

“We might have created loopholes… in basically legalising hunting and giving permits to international hunters and it is possible, but I think right now within the context of national parks, for instance, there has never been hunting in national parks. We are experiencing the brunt of the scourge of poaching and if you look at Kruger for instance, where our largest white rhino population is at, we experience some of the most severe poaching.”

"The fact is that Rhino Poaching is not 'just the death of a Rhino', but it is a cog in the well-oiled machined which is organized crime. With corruption being rife, mixed messages with regards to legalization of trade, and the failure of effective prosecution and convictions thrown into the mix, this is a recipe for disaster, and most of us can just watch the rapid slide into extinction with frustration and deep sadness," said Paul Oxton, Founder/CEO of Wild Heart Wildlife Foundation.