South Africa’s Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Ms Barbara Creecy, has released the rhino poaching numbers for 2019. According to the Minister, a total of 594 rhinos got illegally killed by poachers in South Africa in 2019. This is a decrease of 175 rhino compared to 2018 when 769 rhinos were killed for their horns. Out of the 594 killed rhinos, a total of 327 rhinos were poached in the Kruger National Park.
From January to December 2019, 178 alleged poachers were arrested within Kruger National Park. At a national level, 332 arrests were effected in respect of both rhino poaching and rhino horn trafficking and in excess of 57 major investigations were undertaken across the country. A total of 85 firearms were recovered during the year.
| Provinces and National Parks | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| South African National Parks (SANParks) | 504 | 422 | 328 |
| Gauteng | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| Limpopo | 79 | 40 | 45 |
| Mpumalanga | 49 | 51 | 34 |
| North West | 96 | 65 | 32 |
| Eastern Cape | 12 | 19 | 2 |
| Free State | 38 | 16 | 11 |
| Northern Cape | 24 | 12 | 4 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 222 | 142 | 133 |
| Western Cape | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 1028 | 769 | 594 |
With regard to elephant poaching, South Africa’s Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries reports that 31 elephant have been poached in South Africa in 2019 – 30 animals in Kruger National Park and 1 in Mapungubwe National Park. This is a decrease in the number of elephant poached in 2018, when 71 were killed for their tusks.
