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CONTEXT
BACKGROUND
Whilst rhino poaching in many African range states remained a major problem between 1960 and 1995, particularly for the black rhino and northern white rhino, rhino poaching within South Africa was low. Between 1960 and 1980, numbers of rhinos poached were negligible, whilst between 1980 and 2007 the average rate of rhino poaching was nine animals per year. In 2008, however, a significant upsurge in rhino poaching took place in South Africa, with a reported 83 animals being killed illegally, and this trend was escalating ever since with a peak from mid 2010s followed by a decline in recent years.
THREAT POSED BY RHINO POACHING
While this rate of poaching does not yet exceed the population growth rate, should the rate of poaching continue to increase, it may eventually exceed the population growth, which would see South Africa’s rhino populations go into decline.
RHINO STAKEHOLDERS' RESPONSE TO GOVERNMENT'S INVITATION
Rhino stakeholders, very broadly defined, responded magnificently to the government’s invitation to discuss their concerns regarding the poachers’ onslaught on the South African rhino and to work together to devise strategies that could provide relief to, and rescue, the country’s embattled iconic mammal from the threat of extinction.
PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
Rhino dialogues consist of the views of organisations and individuals with an interest and stake in the sustainable conservation of the rhino population in South Africa. The aim of these dialogues is to solicit well-considered views on how best to secure the protection, safety and sustainable conservation of the rhinos in the country.
STATE OF RHINOCEROS SPECIES
AFRICA AND ABROAD
Currently, only five rhinoceros species remain in the world. Two rhino sub-species, namely, the western black rhinoceros in Cameroon and the Indochinese Javan Rhinoceros in Vietnam have become extinct. In Asia there are populations of Dicerorhinus sumatrensis, Rhinoceros unicornis or Sumatran rhino (animals categorised as critically endangered) and Rhinoceros unicornis, the Indian rhino (DEA, 2013). In Africa there are two species, namely, the white rhino and black rhino, which are critically endangered (DEA, 2013).
STATE OF RHINOCEROS SPECIES IN SOUTH AFRICA
In South Africa, the white rhino is the dominant species. According to, the Rhino Issue Management Report (2013), over 90 per cent of Africa’s white rhino occurs in South Africa. By the 1930’s the black rhino had almost disappeared in South Africa with only 110 animals surviving in game reserves.
The largest population of white rhino in the world exists in the Kruger Nationa Park (KNP). In the year 2010, estimates indicated the presence of 10,621 white rhino in the park (DEA, 2013). Since the late 1990’s, white rhino have been translocated from the KNP for biodiversity and conservation reasons and sold to generate conservation revenue. By the year 2010, 1 402 rhinos had been removed, largely to other conservation areas, with no adverse effects on the population as numbers continued to increase in the park (DEA, 2013).
OVERWHELMING CAUSE OF RHINO DECLINE AND EXTINCTION
The overwhelming cause of rhino decline and extinction in the last 50 years has been due to poaching, stimulated by demand for rhino horn used for traditional craft and traditional medicinal purposes by consumer nations in the middle-east and in Asia.
RHINO POACHING
DEMAND OF THE RHINO HORN
The rhino poaching in South Africa is largely due to the demand of the horn which has long been prized as an ingredient in traditional Asian medicine, although this has been denied recently by both China and Vietnam (Montesh, 2012).
It has been claimed that rhino horn possesses cancer-curing properties as well as the ability to cure impotence, despite there being no medical evidence to support the assertion. Each rhino horn weighs around 10kg and fetches over US$ 20,000 per kilo on the Asian market (Montesh, 2012).
SOPHISTICATED CRIMINAL NETWORKS
The current wave of rhino poaching is being committed by sophisticated criminal networks using helicopters, night-vision equipment, veterinary tranquilisers and silencers to kill rhinos at night while attempting to avoid law enforcement patrols. The criminal syndicates operating in South Africa have been described as highly organised and coordinated, using advanced technologies – this is not typical amateur poaching.
METHODS OF POACHING
The techniques used to kill rhinos have changed in recent years, the killing of rhinos typically involves shooting with guns, usually AK47 assault rifles and the skilled marksmen to kill rhinos instantly with heavy-calibre weapons, for example, point 375 and point 458 rifles are increasingly used (Montesh, 2012).
The advent of darting rhinos with immobilisation drugs either from a helicopter or from the ground and removing their horns has occurred in recent years. This method of "hunting" is silent with a lower risk of detection than the sound of gunshots.
These methods of rhino killing can only be conducted by trained professionals who have access to restricted veterinary medicines and other specialised equipment (Montesh, 2012).
RESPONSE TO RHINO POACHING
INFORMED STRATEGIC PLANNING & CRITICAL INTERVENTION STRATEGIES
NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE SAFETY AND SECURITY OF RHINOCEROS
The South African Government developed a the National Strategy for the Safety and Security of Rhinoceros Populations and Horn Stocks in South Africa which were designed to combat the increasing poaching threat.
The strategy sets out to inform strategic planning and critical intervention strategies aimed at:
- Implementing an immediate action plan aimed at mitigating the current threat to the rhino population posed by the escalation in poaching and the illegal trade in rhino horns and associated by-products;
- Securing the shared commitment of government (at national and provincial level), private land owners, local communities and international stakeholders, as well as the necessary financial and manpower resources and political will to implement this policy;
- Supporting the establishment of a national co-ordination structure for information management, law-enforcement response, investigation and prosecution;
- Developing an integrated and co-ordinated national information management system for all information related to rhino species in order to adequately inform security related decisions; and
- Investigating proactive security-related measures aimed at possibly facilitating a better understanding for any possible future regulated and controlled international trade in the species, and any associated by-products.
- South Africa has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam in the year 2012 covering a whole range of issues including rhino poaching.
SOURCES
- Department of Environmental Affairs, 2011-2012. National Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Report (NECER).
- Department of Environmental Affairs, 2013. Rhino Issue Management Report
- Montesh M, 2012. Rhino poaching: a new form of organised crime.
- Department of Environmental Affairs, 2010. National Strategy for the Safety and Security of Rhinoceros Populations and Horn Stocks in South Africa
- All departmental NECER documents
