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Rhino Poaching in South Africa Rises for First Time in 7 Years

  • Number of rhinos killed rises 14% to 451, department says
  • Poaching increases on private land as numbers dwindle in parks
A white rhino during a guided safari tour outside Pretoria.

A white rhino during a guided safari tour outside Pretoria.

Photographer: Micheke Spatari/AFP/Getty Images
Updated on

The number of rhinos killed by poachers in South Africa, which has the world’s biggest population of the animals, climbed for the first time in seven years in 2021 as curbs on movement related to the coronavirus pandemic eased.

The number of the animals killed illegally rose by 14% to 451, which is still below the 594 poached in 2019 ans is just over a third of the number hunted in 2014, when a record number died.