Rhino to Elephant Poaching Prompts Namibia to Deploy Army Unit

Namibia has deployed soldiers to combat the threat posed by poachers to elephants and the world’s largest population of black rhino in national parks that stretch along the country’s borders with Angola and Botswana.

Poachers have killed 10 elephants and 10 black rhinos this year in parks in Kavango, Zambezi and Kunene, Environment and Tourism Minister Uahekua Herunga said in a telephone interview from the capital Windhoek today. The southern African nation has as many as 25,000 elephants, said Herunga, who declined to disclose rhino numbers for security reasons.