2014 rhino poaching stats released South African Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, announced on Thursday the official rhino poaching toll for 2014. A total of 1 215 rhinos were poached in South Africa last year, an increase of 21% on the 1 004 rhinos poached in 2013. TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network, responded to the announcement saying the latest figures illustrate the severity of the rhino poaching crisis with losses substantially increasing for seven consecutive years. According to TRAFFIC, the South African Police Service (SAPS), and specifically the Hawks, a key agency addressing wildlife crime in the country, has experienced increasing internal turmoil recently following the suspension of a number of senior officers. “This distraction from the unit’s duty to fight organized crime inevitably means the poaching crisis is not receiving the agency’s full attention,” the network said. “The lack of strong political will and active leadership from the government, neighbouring Mozambique and key Asian countries remains a serious impediment to turning this crisis situation around,” said David Newton, Director of TRAFFIC in East and Southern Africa. The World Wildlife Foundation South Africa (WWWSA) said in a statement that continued strategic action is needed along the entire illicit horn trafficking network to address the rhino poaching crisis in South Africa. Rhino poaching is now recognised on the international stage as a symptom of growing involvement of sophisticated transnational criminal syndicates in the trafficking of wildlife products,” said Dr Morné du Plessis, CEO of WWF SA said. “We recognise that this battle impacts our national security and economy and will need everyone to work together to combat these threats if we are to achieve a tangible reduction in rhino losses. There is no time to lose.” Tourism Update
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 11:42:19 +0000
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