NAMIBIA’S RHINO POACHING SURGES BY 93 PERCENT

Tue 31 January 2023:

As per official government data, 87 rhinos were slaughtered in Namibia last year, an all-time high compared to the 45 rhinos killed in 2021.

The demand for rhino horn, which is valued in East Asia as a purported medicine and as jewelry despite being made of the same material as rhino hair and fingernails, has caused a decimation of the rhino population in Africa over the years.

According to Romeo Muyunda, a spokesman for the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, poachers killed 61 black and 26 white rhinos, mostly in Etosha, Namibia’s largest park, where 46 rhinos were discovered dead.

“We note with serious concern that our flagship park, Etosha National Park, is a poaching hotspot,” Muyunda said, adding that the ministry and law enforcement officials have stepped up efforts against wildlife crime in the park to curb poaching.

The Southern African country is home to the only free-roaming black rhinos left in the world and also accounts for a third of the world’s remaining black rhinos.

Since South Africa and Botswana, which are neighbors, have been particularly hard hit by rhino poaching, anti-poaching programs have been implemented, including tough law enforcement and rhino dehorning to deter poaching.

The second-largest number of white rhinos in the world, after South Africa, is found in Namibia.

About 200 black rhinos are thought to be roaming freely in Namibia, mostly in the northeast, according to the Save the Rhino Trust.

The number of elephants poached in Namibia has also decreased over time, from a peak of 101 in 2015 to a low of four last year.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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