rhino sales in SA turned into a soap opera... South African National Parks denies knowledge of rhinos sold to hunting safaris but South African Minster of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, then reconfirmed it. The story of South African National Parks (SANParks) selling 260 rhinos to private land owners in the Northern Cape has grabbed the attention of the media and caused outrage amongst conservationists as it is believed the rhinos were sold to hunting farms. The alleged sale of 260 rhino is believed to be part of SANParks plan to relocate 500 rhino from its parks to “safe locations.” There has been a lot of controversy surrounding this decision as SANParks originally denied the announcement of the rhino evacuation, but South African Minster of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, then reconfirmed it. “A decision has been made on this issue of translocation,” said Edna Molewa, “Relocations from the Kruger National Park and the creation of rhino strongholds could allow the total rhino population size of South Africa to continue to grow.” However, it has been reported on the 23rd of August that the rhinos will no longer be moved to “safe locations” this year. “We have missed the window to remove the animals because it is now getting warmer. The best time to move them is in winter,” says spokesman Isaac Phaahla. Amid mounting pressure from conservation groups and an alleged investigation into SANParks, the SANParks Board have released a media statement saying they had nothing to do with the transaction of 260 rhinos to hunting safaris, blaming it instead on a member of the SANParks Executive who acted on his own initiative and without the knowledge of the SANParks board. The alleged perpetrator has been suspended, pending disciplinary action and an independent forensic audit has been commissioned to look into the problem. The statement makes no mention of who was responsible for the sale, however Edna Molewa has announced previously that senior SANParks Executive, Hector Magome has been suspended because of “issues” with the procedure that were followed after the sale of the rhinos. According to the statement released by SANParks, on the 29th of August, the Board claims they have never approved any decision to sell rhinos: “The SANParks Board has been constantly engaging with experts and stakeholders on the issue of combatting rhino poaching since the current poaching crisis emerged, as well as developing and implementing responses.” The Board held a strategic workshop in July of this year to formulate a new and amended rhino management strategy. The Board is now ready to finalise its strategy to combat rhino poaching. Kuseni Dlamini, Chairman of SANParks has said “The Board has now made a decision to, inter alia, move some rhinos out of high risk areas or areas with too high densities of rhinos. These movements may include movements within parks, between parks, to provincial reserves, community areas or private areas.” This is however entirely dependant on the approval by the SANParks Board and the Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa. An article by IOL however, states that SA National Parks have sold 354 rhinos since 2010 for a sum of just over R81-million (£4,5million). This is equivalent to an average of just under R230 000 (£13 000) per rhino. Edna Molewa, following parliamentary questions by DA spokesperson on environmental affairs, Terri Stander, disclosed these figures. Molewa has said the money received from the sale of the rhinos has gone into a dedicated Park Development Fund. “This fund is used by SANParks for numerous conservation-related projects including the acquisition of land for inclusion into national parks; research projects relevant to national parks; scientific reports; and community beneficiation projects.” A few hours after the statement was released by SANParks, an article by SABC news claims the Kruger National Park has already started moving small numbers of rhinos. Reynold Thakhuli, spokesperson for SANParks has said some rhinos have been sold to hunting farms and it is considered normal practice for SANParks. He also said that the details of the rhino relocations are not available to the media.“I think it needs to be understood that you know game farms who practice hunting, they do it through a recognized system as hunting is a legal activity in South Africa,” says Thakhuli. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has already raised concerns about the sale of the rhinos to hunting farms in the Northern Cape, saying that whilst rhino poaching in the Northern Cape is not on a grand scale they are however worried that the translocation of 260 rhinos to the area could change this, unless stringent anti-poaching measures are put in place.
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 20:21:46 +0000
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