World Rhino Day – SanParks Announces Arrests of 3 of its Own

As the world comes together today – World Rhino Day – to raise awareness and rally against rhino poaching, South African National Parks (SANParks) has announced the arrest of three of their own employees in connection with rhino poaching in the Kruger National Park (KNP).

The arrests happened after yet another rhino was tragically killed in the Kruger yesterday, bringing the latest figure for rhinos slaughtered in South Africa by poachers this year to 770.

This comes just days after the good news when three South African women visiting the Kruger saved the life of a rhino by alerting SANParks officials to a suspicious vehicle – which subsequently led to the arrest of four alleged poachers.

Abe Sibiya, SANParks Acting Chief Executive Officer, said the latest three employees to be arrested were based in the Lower Sabie section of the Kruger and were captured shortly after the discovery of a freshly killed rhino in the area.

The alleged poachers were found with a hunting rifle, ammunition, a vehicle and poaching equipment.

The arrests were part of a joint operation between SANParks and South African Police Services (SAPS).

“The SANParks and SAPS officials who effected the arrests are congratulated for their outstanding work,” said Sibiya. “These arrests send a strong message that officials alleged to be involved in poaching will be arrested and face the full might of the law.”

According to Sibiya the Park has been under tremendous pressure from poachers, as it is home to over eighty percent of the global population of both white and black rhino that still roam in the wild.

“It is unfortunate that those trusted with the well-being of these animals are alleged to have become the destroyers of the same heritage that they have a mandate to protect,” he said.

The Reason behind the Poaching…

Poaching in South Africa is driven by a desire for rhino horn in some Asian countries where the horn is regarded as a status symbol and is incorrectly believed to have medicinal value.

Just last weekend the Kruger hosted a delegation of high-profile business people and celebrities from Vietnam in an effort to debunk myths and show them the harsh realities of rhino poaching…in the hope that they will take the message home to the source of the demand.

A volunteer from America, who witnessed the tragedy of orphaned rhinos in South Africa firsthand, similarly hopes to change Asian cultural beliefs by winning a National Geographic competition – please remember to vote every day until September 29 for Kim Puttman to win and help us save our rhino.

World Youth Rhino Summit

Countries around the world are hosting World Rhino Day events today to make some noise and put an end to this crisis. And this year, for the first time, the world will also hear the voices of the youth speaking out against rhino poaching as 100 young people aged 15-17 attend the three-day World Youth Rhino Summit at iMfolozi Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal which started yesterday.

The youth have been selected for their “future leadership qualities from Africa, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, UK, USA, Europe, South America and Australasia. Within Africa, teenagers have been selected from South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia, Uganda, Swaziland and Mozambique (which is a key driver of wildlife poaching in Africa, with many poachers crossing the border between Mozambique and the KNP).

Watch Video – World Rhino Day Special

This special World Rhino Day episode looks at some of the most exciting, endearing and heartbreaking rhino stories of the year – a search for the critically endangered Javan rhino, a couple of adorable zooborns, the world’s first-ever Youth Rhino Summit and a look at the escalating poaching crisis.

More #WorldRhinoDay Info

www.youthrhinosummit.com
www.worldrhinoday.org/