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Thursday, 1 September 2011

Poaching in South Africa

What is Poaching?

Poaching is the killing or taking of any wildlife.  Wildlife belongs to the people and is protected by state, provincial  and federal resource laws. A person that takes wildlife illegally is stealing that animals from you. If it is a trophy deer taken out of season it deprives someone else the opportunity to legally harvesting the animal. Poaching might also involve the illegal taking of an animal for sale in international trade of illegal wildlife and wildlife products.  Poaching are not poor who are merely trying to feed their families. Putting food on the table is one of the least common motives.

Rhino Poaching in SA:

210 Rhinos have already been killed by poachers in South Africa since the start of this year.  This is up 70% from all the rhinos killed in South Africa last year.


The Black market demand for rhino horn has experienced a huge surge recently. The horn is mostly for medicinal purposes. Each horn which weighs around 10 kg currently fetches over US$ 20. 000 per kilo in Asian

Even Nobel Peace prize winner Desmond Tutu made a public statement last week about the importance of protecting rhino from poaching.
“It is robbing our people of their precious natural heritage, robbing our nation of its ecological diversity, and severely embarrassing our nation abroad.”





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