21 rhinos poached in January

2011-01-31 21:19

Johannesburg - Twenty-one rhinos were poached in South Africa in January, SA National Parks (SANParks) said on Monday.

In the same period 31 people were arrested throughout the country - 16 in North West, 10 in the Kruger National Park (KNP), three in Gauteng and two in Limpopo, chief executive officer of SANParks David Mabunda said in a statement.

Since the beginning of the year five suspected rhino poachers died during skirmishes with park rangers in the KNP, while two had been wounded and were still hospitalised.

"The loss of 333 rhinos to poaching in 2010 was a devastating loss for us but we are determined that in 2011 this should not happen.

"Anyone who is involved in poaching at whatever level will be a prime target for our investigations and we will leave no stone unturned in this respect, including going for the kingpins of these operations," he said.

Last week SANParks announced the implementation of a new tool to assist with the fight against rhino poaching.

By documenting individual rhino DNA and using this information to link recovered rhino horns to specific crime scenes, individuals would be able to be linked to a specific crime and would be prosecuted for more than the lesser crime of possession alone, Mabunda said.

- SAPA