Pretoria - The stricter lockdown of the last few months led to an unexpected consequence - a major decline in rhino poaching.
South Africa, home to more than 80% of African rhinos that still exist in the world, is a hotspot for rhino poaching.
The number of rhinos killed for their horns has been slowly declining over recent years, but the pandemic and lockdown quelled poaching even more, according to a report from the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries.
In April, only five rhinos were poached in the Kruger National Park, home to the majority of rhinos in South Africa, compared to 46 a year earlier.
In addition, 14 rhinos were poached across the entire country during April , the first month of the lockdown.
“We believe that the closure of our borders and the complete shutdown of international air travel removed the key-way that syndicates used to supply horn to transit and consumer countries,” Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy said.
Jo Shaw, of the World Wildlife Fund, said rhino poaching in the country peaked in 2014 when the country was losing about three rhinos a day.
In 2019, 594 rhinos were lost, said Shaw, agreeing that the lockdown contributed to declining poaching.
“People have been confined to their homes, only more recently able to get out. On top of that, movement between provinces has been restricted, and even international flights have been closed. So, there’s very little opportunity for people or rhino horn products to be trafficked.”
The shutdown of parks and tourism activity in the country had a negative side, too, Shaw pointed out.
Tourism revenue accounts for most of the operating budgets, including animal protection, monitoring and management.
“Without the income from tourists paying gate fees or paying for accommodation or game drives, our parks are seeing a really major decline, a huge loss of revenue that would normally be used to pay for the operating costs going forward. I think this is something to be very concerned about.”
*For the latest on the Covid-19 outbreak, visit IOL's #Coronavirus trend page.
** If you think you have been exposed to the Covid-19 virus, please call the 24-hour hotline on 0800 029 999 or visit sacoronavirus.co.za
Pretoria News