South Africa Rhino Poaching War Curbs Decade of Rising Death
- Department of Environment says 1,175 rhinos killed in 2015
- Relocation program that saw 124 animals moved will continue
Rhinoceros horns are displayed in Hong Kong's Customs and Excise Department Offices on November 15, 2011. Hong Kong Customs on November 14, 2011, seized 33 unmanifested rhinoceros horns, 758 ivory chopsticks and 127 ivory bracelets, worth about 17.4 million HKD (2.23 Million USD), inside a container shipped to Hong Kong from Cape Town, South Africa. AFP PHOTO / AARON TAM (Photo credit should read aaron tam/AFP/Getty Images)
Photographer: Aaron Tam/AFP via Getty ImagesSouth Africa has gained ground in the war against poaching, with the number of poached rhinos declining in 2015 following a surge in their slaughter over the past decade.
About 1,175 rhinos were killed for their horns in South Africa last year, including 826 in the country’s biggest game reserve Kruger National Park, which is home to the largest population, Environment Minister Edna Molewa told reporters in the capital, Pretoria, on Thursday. About 1,215 of the animals were killed by poachers in 2014.