Rhino Poaching 2017-2024

[RogerFraser]

Relentless pressure forces rhino poachers to abandon national parks in 2022, says Creecy
06 February 2023
https://www.dffe.gov.za/mediarelease/cr ... ate2023feb

South Africa’s relentless fight against rhino poaching in the Kruger Park and other national parks saw a decline in poaching numbers across the country.

In 2022, 124 rhinos were killed in the Kruger National Park. No rhinos were poached in any other national park. The number of rhinos poached in the Kruger National Park represents a 40% decrease compared with those killed for their horn 2021.

Unfortunately, the poaching threat has shifted to KwaZulu-Natal, which lost 244 rhino to poaching last year. Of these, 228 were killed in provincial parks and 16 in privately owned reserves. The Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park was specifically targeted.

In total across the country private rhino owners lost 86 rhinos. The number of rhinos killed in the past year represents a slight decline (of 3) compared to the 451 rhinos poached in South Africa in 2021.

“The steady decline in rhino poaching in national parks is related to the relentless war that has been waged by our fearsome anti-poaching machinery as well as a comprehensive dehorning programme.” Said Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy.

“This year’s outcome shows that collaboration between conservation authorities, the South African Police Services, revenue authorities and international agencies works,” the minister added.

“We believe that if provincial authorities in KwaZulu-Natal follow our model, they will be able to significantly curb rhino poaching in their provincial parks before it is too late,” said Minister Creecy.

In 2022 several successful arrests and prosecutions were recorded, adding weight to the integrated work of the law enforcement agencies, including the SAPS, Hawks, SANParks, Environmental Enforcement Fusion Centre, the Environmental Management Inspectorate or Green Scorpions, customs officials, provincial park authorities, and the National Prosecuting Authority.

A total of 132 arrests were affected during 2022 for rhino poaching: 23 in the Skukuza area in Mpumalanga, 49 in KwaZulu-Natal and the balance in Limpopo.

The recent focus on money laundering and international co-operation with other law enforcement authorities saw the arrest of 26 rhino horn traffickers and 13 people for money laundering and bribing of rangers.

To support anti-poaching efforts in KwaZulu-Natal, special interventions were introduced in collaboration with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), non-governmental organizations and the South African Police Service (SAPS) which resulted in four key arrests of syndicate members who were focusing their illegal efforts in KwaZulu-Natal. These agencies will continue to collaborate this year.

The work of the department’s Environmental Enforcement Fusion Centre (EEFC) enables authorities to track information pertaining to wildlife crime at a national level and understand trends and changing modus operandi while supporting the investigative and tactical teams.

During 2022, the NPA in collaboration with the DFFE established a Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Environmental Working Group (EWG). The purpose of this group is to foster closer collaboration between the provinces working on wildlife trafficking cases and helps identify repeat offenders moving around the country.

As part of continued efforts to ensure the survival of the rhino species, SANParks, is in the process of identifying suitable safe habitat across South Africa for the introduction of new rhino communities.

** Members of the public can report any suspicious activities around wildlife to its environmental crime hotline which is 0800 205 005 or the SAPS number 10111

To access a recording of Minister Creecy’s statement, click below:

The audio: https://www.dffe.gov.za/sites/default/f ... update.m4a
The video: https://www.dffe.gov.za/sites/default/f ... update.mp4
For media inquiries contact:
Albi Modise
Cell: 083 490 2871

Editor’s note: The provincial and national breakdown for 2022 (in comparison to 2021 and 2020) is as follows:

2022RhinoStats.png (179.85 KiB) Viewed 2038 times

Some other important arrests and prosecutions that took place during 2022 include:

The notoriously well-known Mozambican rhino poaching kingpin, Simon Tivani aka Navara, who was arrested in Maputo in a combined sting operation between the Mozambican authorities and the Wildlife Justice Commission.
The arrest of a South African man at Changi Airport in Singapore with 34 kg of rhino horn, South Africa is working closely with Singapore authorities to investigate the syndicate involved.
In relation to rhino prosecutions, verdicts were handed down in 62 cases which resulted in the conviction of 92 accused rhino poachers/rhino horn traffickers with a conviction rate of 100%.
An accused in the Skukuza court was charged for the killing of 2 rhinos in the Kruger National Park and the possession of unlawful firearms and ammunition. He was sentenced to effectively 34 years imprisonment.
In another matter, an accused was convicted for the killing 1 rhino in the Kruger National Park, possession of unlawful firearms and ammunition, possession of a dangerous weapons and trespassing and sentenced to 17 years imprisonment.

[Lisbeth]

KZN is in a generalized mess: Politically, crime-wise, infrastructure-wise etc. etc.

[Richprins]

The only reason Kruger poaching is down is that there are so few rhino left there...

[Lisbeth]

Ezemvelo conservation agency reviews ‘desperation dehorning’ as rhino bloodbath hits KwaZulu-Natal


A wild rhino in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, still with its horns, and a freshly dehorned rhino in Somkhanda private reserve. (Photos: Tony Carnie)

By Tony Carnie | 07 Feb 2023

The Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife conservation agency has, up till now, opted to not dehorn its rhinos to protect them from poachers. But that could change soon, following another year of relentless killings in which the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park emerged as the current rhino poaching hotspot, globally.
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The Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in KwaZulu-Natal is one of the last places in Africa where local and foreign wildlife lovers can see wild rhinos — with their magnificent horns still attached to their heads.


Ezemvelo’s resistance to de-horning has also been based partly on the position that local and foreign tourists would prefer to see wild rhinos with their horns intact. (Photo: Tony Carnie)

On a recent drive through the park, this writer saw 14 rhinos in just two hours, all with the fully grown horns they use to drive off predators, protect their calves and combat territorial rivals.

Unlike most private parks and many other conservation agencies, the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife conservation agency has opted to not dehorn its rhinos as a desperate measure to protect them.

But that could change soon, following another year of relentless killings in which the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HIP) has emerged as the current rhino poaching hotspot, globally. Covering just 96,000 hectares, the HIP is considerably smaller than the two million-hectare Kruger National Park. But last year, the number of rhinos killed in KZN was close to double that of Kruger.

The latest poaching figures released by national Environment Minister Barbara Creecy show that 244 rhinos were killed by horn poachers in KwaZulu-Natal in 2022 — the vast majority of them in the HIP.

By comparison, 124 rhinos were killed in Kruger, a park that was once home to more than 11,000 rhinos, but whose population has plummeted to somewhere around 2,500 over roughly a decade.


A table showing the latest rhino poaching statistics – Source: Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment.

Overall, 448 rhinos were slaughtered nationwide during 2022 (see table) a slight decline (of three) compared with the 451 rhinos poached nationally in 2021. By comparison, more than 1,000 rhinos were poached every year in South Africa between 2013 and 2016.

Now, with the Kruger rhino horn larder stripped almost bare, criminal syndicates have been hitting the HIP harder than ever.

As one of the oldest game reserves in Africa, the HIP is also regarded as the cradle of rhino conservation, a refuge where the last remnant population of southern white rhino was rescued from extinction in the late 1870s and later served to repopulate Kruger and other reserves that had lost all their white rhinos to hunters and poachers.

In a media statement on 6 February, Creecy suggested: “The steady decline in rhino poaching in national parks is related to the relentless war that has been waged by our fearsome anti-poaching machinery as well as a comprehensive dehorning programme [emphasis added].

“We believe that if provincial authorities in KwaZulu-Natal follow our model, they will be able to significantly curb rhino poaching in their provincial parks before it is too late,” she said.

A desperate measure to discourage poachers

At a time when most private and state rhino reserves have opted to dehorn their rhinos in a desperate measure to discourage poachers, Ezemvelo has also dehorned its rhinos in smaller reserves — but has so far resisted dehorning its iconic HIP population (a measure which involves immobilising rhinos with drugs every two to three years to allow conservation officials and veterinary experts to trim off the bulk of a rhino’s horns with miniature chainsaws). The rationale is that poachers are less inclined to hunt rhinos with small remnant horn stumps.

Apart from the expenses associated with repeated dehorning, Ezemvelo’s resistance to dehorning has also been based partly on the position that local and foreign tourists would prefer to see wild rhinos with their horns intact.


Another poached rhino lies dead in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. This animal was killed in the park’s Corridor section in 2014. (Photo: Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife)

Ezemvelo’s wildlife protection budget has shrunk dramatically over recent years, while the agency has also been plagued by a series of leadership crises and financial controversies.

Responding last night to Creecy’s comments, Ezemvelo spokesperson Musa Mntambo confirmed that the dehorning option was back on the table, although no final decision had been taken.

“Ezemvelo will continue to consider dehorning. This consideration involves assessing the financial implications or impact in terms of both conservation and ecotourism.

“Once we have decided what to do, we shall engage all relevant stakeholders to further engage on the matter. At the moment we do not know what will be the final decision.”

In her latest statement on the national rhino poaching crisis, Creecy noted that 132 people were arrested in 2022 for rhino poaching (23 in the Skukuza area in Mpumalanga, 49 in KwaZulu-Natal and the balance in Limpopo).

“The recent focus on money laundering and international cooperation with other law enforcement authorities saw the arrest of 26 rhino horn traffickers and 13 people for money laundering and bribing of rangers.

“To support anti-poaching efforts in KwaZulu-Natal, special interventions were introduced in collaboration with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), non-governmental organisations and the South African Police Service (SAPS), which resulted in four key arrests of syndicate members who were focusing their illegal efforts in KwaZulu-Natal. These agencies will continue to collaborate this year.”

Organised crime networks

Responding to the release of the latest rhino poaching statistics, the WWF South Africa conservation group said: “Transparency and regular communication about rhino numbers and rhino poaching are vital to understand the threats to our rhinos and the best solutions to conserve them.

“The most recent rhino population numbers for Africa to the end of 2021, as released by IUCN [International Union for Conservation of Nature] last year, showed that white rhino numbers have continued to decline at around 3.1% per year and numbered just below 16,000 animals.

“We note with concern that the organised crime networks orchestrating the trafficking of rhino horns continue to move their targets on to important rhino populations in large conservation areas across southern Africa. Of specific concern is the… ongoing rhino poaching pressure in KwaZulu-Natal.”

WWF noted the reported benefits of active dehorning programmes in Kruger National Park in shifting the risk/reward to criminals involved in rhino poaching.

“Dehorning has also been recognised as an important security intervention in the private reserves forming part of the WWF Black Rhino Range Expansion Project in KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo.”

WWF also highlighted the importance of targeting criminal underworld leaders rather than foot-soldier poachers.

“The Wildlife Justice Commission 2022 Global Threat Assessment into rhino horn trafficking from 2012-2021 identified irrefutable evidence pointing to the involvement of transnational organised criminal networks.

“The report called for in-depth, intelligence-led investigations that focus on the criminal networks rather than individuals, conducting further investigations after seizure incidents to identify the product owners, using advanced investigation techniques, conducting parallel financial or corruption investigations, and seizing assets.”

It also hailed a recent integrated take-down operation dubbed Blood Orange and conducted in Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Limpopo by the Hawks, SAPS, Mpumalanga Serious Corruption Investigation, Serious Organised Crime Investigation and Serious Commercial Crime Investigation, Crime Intelligence, Tactical Response Team and Local Criminal Record Centre, KPMG, DFFE and South African National Parks (SANParks).

“This operation led to successful arrests of former SANParks rangers and family members for their involvement in serious organised crimes relating to rhino horn trafficking, including money laundering.

“Such collaboration between local law enforcement and prosecution agencies not only disrupts rhino poaching networks but also promotes broader safety and security for people throughout the landscape.

“Over the last year, there has also been growing recognition of the importance of professionalising rangers working on the front line of conservation efforts. Valuing the critical work by rangers and building morale and trust within teams can also prevent transnational organised crime networks from corrupting staff to gain information and access to rhinos.” DM/OBP

[Richprins]

[Lisbeth]

‘People need to get angry’ — poachers butcher three rhinos at Eastern Cape game reserve


A rhinoceros and her calf at the Shamwari Private Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape. (Photo: David Silverman / Getty Images)

By Tembile Sgqolana | 07 Mar 2023

‘With an escalating sense of foreboding we set off to account for our rhino. Shortly thereafter our worst fears were confirmed with the gruesome discovery of three carcasses.’
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The bodies of a female rhino and her two heifers were found in Lalibela Game Reserve in Makhanda in the Eastern Cape at the weekend. They had been killed by poachers for their horns.

Lalibela Game Reserve general manager Rob Gradwell said a routine fence check picked up what was obviously an incursion into the game reserve.

“This was our first in over 2,300 days of monitoring. With an escalating sense of foreboding we set off to account for our rhino. Shortly thereafter our worst fears were confirmed with the gruesome discovery of three carcasses.”

He said they were brutally killed, with their faces senselessly hacked off.

“ ‘75’, as she was affectionately known, was a poster child for our conservation successes. She was the first of a recently translocated crash of rhino to give birth on Lalibela. Her young heifer calf, which along with her older heifer sibling were the future matriarchs of multiple offspring, born into an organisation determined to retard and reverse the degradations of poaching,” said Gradwell.

“This magnificent animal with her two daughters, butchered, for what? A lump of matted hair essentially of no practical use to anyone but the rhino itself. A mythical lump of keratin much prized in the East, medicinally inert but with the power to corrupt beyond any other commodity on Earth.

“A commodity both priceless and useless at the same time. Outrage and a terrible, heart-wrenching sadness that we as a species have stooped this low. Who does this? How do you reconcile the stupendous greed and inhumanity that would bring us to this point?”

Gradwell said something had to change.

“Couch sympathy is no longer a luxury we can afford. People need to get angry – angry people shape government thinking and only then can we get the kind of global focus we need to save this species.”

Gradwell said as Lalibela and other rhino custodians had spent themselves into the red in an attempt to save rhinos, but they couldn’t do it alone.

“Open debates about legal trade, open channels for demand reduction, open dialogue with recipient nations, bring pressure to bear from whatever sources we can. Regardless of which side of these contentious fences you currently sit on, believe me when I tell you that the most tangible truth in rhino conservation is that what we are currently doing is not working. Not at all.

“So throw aside your current moralistic prejudices and at least entertain the alternatives. If we do not, believe me when I tell you, rhinoceros in the wild will be extinct. This isn’t just someone else’s fight any more. This is your fight too.”

Evidence

He said they had gathered evidence from the scene of the rhino killings that may help put the shooters in jail.

“Then tomorrow we will get back in the trenches and do all we can to save the rest of our burgeoning little population. That’s tomorrow. Today I am just furious and deeply, deeply sad,” he said.

Ayesha Cantor from Kragga Kamma Game Park said: “There has been no poaching [in the Eastern Cape] for the past 4½ years and now there are 13 dead rhinos in the last 10 or so weeks.”

The latest rhino poaching data released last month showed that there was almost no change in the poaching numbers, with 448 rhinos slain in South Africa in 2022 for their horns to meet overwhelmingly Asian demand for the commodity, compared with 451 in 2021. The Eastern Cape recorded no deaths during the period in which the data were collected, while KwaZulu-Natal had 244 deaths. DM/OBP

[Richprins]

Open debates about legal trade,

That is all that will help...

[Richprins]

Mpumalanga chief killed in a hail of bullets



27 March 2023 - 13:47
Belinda Pheto Reporter



Chief Clyde Mnisi was killed on Sunday night in a hail of bullets fired by unknown gunmen. The shooting is said to have occurred close to the Kruger Mpumalanga International airport, just outside White River.


A Mpumalanga chief, Clyde Mnisi, 37, was killed in a hail of bullets late on Sunday night on the road leading to the Kruger Mpumalanga International (KMI) airport, outside White River.

Mnisi was chief of the Mnisi tribal authority in Bushbuckridge, which has 11 villages under its authority. He became chief last October.

Police spokesperson Brig Selvy Mohlala said Mnisi and his driver were travelling in a Toyota Avanza when they had a flat tyre and were ambushed by gunmen while waiting for assistance, just after 11pm.

4 hours ago

“It is alleged that a group of about five heavily armed men wearing balaclavas and gloves came in a BMW X5. They then alighted from the vehicle with high-calibre rifles and went straight to the passenger side where the chief was sitting,” Mohlala said.

Mohlala said the chief sustained multiple gunshot wounds and succumbed to his injuries.

His driver was shot in his leg and was receiving treatment.

Mohlala said police in White River are investigating a murder and attempted murder case.

“No one has been arrested so far and police urge anyone with information that may assist in apprehending the perpetrators to call the Crime Stop number at 08600 10111.

“Alternatively members of the public can send information via MYSAPSAPP. All received information will be treated as confidential and callers may opt to remain anonymous.”

Acting police commissioner in Mpumalanga, Maj-Gen Zeph Mkhwanazi, condemned the shooting.

“The team of investigators are working around the clock to ensure the perpetrators are swiftly brought to book” Mkhwanazi said.


Earlier this month, the Sunday Times reported that Mnisi, together with other people, were charged with a variety of crimes, including theft, conspiracy to commit a crime, illegal buying and selling of rhino horns, corruption, money laundering and racketeering. They were scheduled to appear in the high court in Mpumalanga next month.

The publication reported that prosecutors alleged Mnisi was one of the “kingpins”, with other top cops and former top cops in that province, who were part of a “huge trafficking network of poached rhino horn” from the Kruger National Park and reserves in the greater Kruger area.

TimesLIVE


https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/sout ... f-bullets/

[Lisbeth]

SA is getting worse than the old Far West A court case saved though

[Lisbeth]

More details ......

Alleged rhino poaching kingpin gunned down near Kruger Park

By Don Pinnock | 27 Mar 2023

Yet another suspected poacher ‘big man’ has died in a hail of bullets in Mpumalanga’s landscape of fear.
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Chief Clyde Mnisi, trailing charges of murder, money laundering, illegal sale of rhino horn and racketeering, died of multiple bullet wounds near Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport near White River late Sunday night.

Mnisi was recently appointed as chief of the Mnisi Tribal Authority in Bushbuckridge. Police and prosecutors allege he is one of the “kingpins” in a massive poached rhino horn trafficking network.

According to police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala, Mnisi and a driver were waiting for help with a flat tyre when about five hooded men drove up in a BMW X5, walked to the passenger side and opened fire with high-calibre rifles.

The driver was shot in the leg and is receiving treatment.

Previous arrests

In 2018 Mnisi, with (later assassinated) crime boss Petros Mabuza and notorious ex-cop Joseph ‘Big Joe’ Nyalungu, were arrested in a police operation codenamed Project Broadbill, involving members of the Hawks, the police special task forces, SANParks, the NPA, the SA Revenue Service and the Department of Environmental Affairs.

Assets worth millions were seized, including properties, cars, trucks, stolen trailers, generators, electronic equipment and animal skins. Among those arrested were five police officers, including a captain and former Kruger Park station commander at Skukuza.

According to a report – “Landscapes of Fear”by researcher Julian Rademeyer – the syndicate is alleged to have exerted influence over a swathe of territory along Kruger’s western boundary, stretching from Belfast and Cork to the east of Sabi Sands Game Reserve, down to the Shabalala tribal trust area, and Hazyview.

Company records show a close affiliation between the Mnisi and Nyalungu families, with shared directorships in several shelf companies dating as far back as 2004. Mnisi was also the owner of Phendulani Lodge in Mkhuhlu.

At the time of the arrests, a police spokesman said the syndicate’s criminal operations were “executed with paramilitary discipline and included counter-intelligence operations to prevent detection”. Its reach extended from Kruger to Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. It was allegedly linked to many poaching incidents hammering Kruger Park rhinos at the time.

Nyalungu was granted bail of R120,000, Mabuza R90,000 and Mnisi R50,000, with the remaining accused released on bail of R10,000 each. Charges against Mabuza were formally withdrawn in November 2021 after the case was transferred to the Mpumalanga Division of the High Court of South Africa. He was gunned down in 2021.

Charges

Earlier this month, Mnisi – with other people – was charged with a variety of crimes, including theft, conspiracy to commit a crime, illegal buying and selling of rhino horns, corruption, money laundering and racketeering. They were scheduled to appear in court in Mpumalanga in April.

According to Brig Mohlala, police at White River are investigating the murder. Acting police commissioner in Mpumalanga, Maj-Gen Zeph Mkhwanazi, said a “team of investigators are working around the clock to ensure the perpetrators are swiftly brought to book.”

Unfortunately, these stock phrases fail to inspire confidence in Mpumalanga any more. According to Rademeyer’s Landscapes of Fear report, internal corruption, a breakdown of trust and staff cohesion in Kruger, plus worsening organised crime in Mpumalanga, are of greater threat to the future of the park than poaching.

The corrosion was kick-started by rhino poaching, however.

Between 2011 and 2020, Kruger’s white rhino population fell by 75%, from around 10,600 to 2,607. But it has metastasised, says the report, into “toxic politics, deep-seated inequality, corruption and embedded organised criminality”. This has profoundly affected the park and surrounding communities.

It has not taken place in isolation. Crime and corruption in the park, says Rademeyer, has been impacted by “organised crime in Mpumalanga, including kidnappings, cash-in-transit heists, ATM bombings, illegal mining, extortion and corruption.”

According to the report, “relations between staff and management have become strained and increasingly toxic, poisoned by mutual mistrust and suspicion”.

Illicit markets, violence and murder

More than 2.9 million people live within 50km of Kruger’s western boundary fence – and most are poor. At the end of 2022, average unemployment in the area was 46.5%. Around the park, illicit markets abound and violence and murder are common. Honest officials fear for their lives.

Local police stations, says Rademeyer, are riddled with corruption.

“They are deeply in the pockets of organised crime groups. Thus, they offer little meaningful protection. Sometimes they even serve as escorts for contraband.”

In this toxic atmosphere, poachers become heroes.

Petros Mabuza’s coffin arrived at his funeral by helicopter, draped in a leopard skin, as crowds sang his praises. The funeral of Chief Clyde Mnisi is likely to be an even grander affair. DM