Nearly 1215 rhinos poached in South Africa during 2014

#rhinohorn #poaching #krugernationalpark #southafrica It is an unimaginable situation but it has been revealed that nearly 1215 rhinos were poached in South Africa, most of these in the Kruger National Park in South Africa during 2014 – this is believed to be an increase of 21% over the figures of the previous year.
The increase in poaching is believed to be due to demands of the rhino horns from countries like China and Vietnam – these people believe that the horns have medicinal properties. Therefore, this lucrative market has brought in criminal gangs who go in for use of sophisticated technology like such as night-vision goggles and long-range rifles to kill their quarry.
As South Africa's environment minister Edna Molewa has admitted – over 100 rhinos had been moved to "more secure locations". Some of these safe locations were in neighboring countries. These actions have been taken in a bid to protect the animals. The intention is to create rhino strongholds where the animals can breed and be produced cost-effectively.
In the opinion of Dr Carlos Drews, WWF's director of global species programme, the klling on this scale shows how rhino poaching is being increasingly undertaken by organized criminal syndicates.
The situation can be controlled by South Africa intensifying its anti-poaching efforts while Viet Nam should take urgent measures to reduce the consumer demand.