The sickening attack on the Fundimvelo Rhino Orphanage at Thula Thula in South Africa in recent weeks, (see our earlier report on the work of the orphanage) and the worrying escalation of violation in poaching incidents this latest episode suggests, together with the shocking poaching incident in a French zoo in the last few days, […]
Project: African Rhino
Project: African Rhino was a multimedia photojournalism project which aimed to raise awareness of rhino conservation issues such as poaching and the illegal horn trade, forensic research, community involvement in conservation and much more. The specific project has concluded, but we are leaving the blog material online as a reference archive for interested readers.
Latest poaching stats
South African rhinos poached in 2016: 1054.
South African rhinos poached in 2017 Jan-Jun: 529
Updated: July 2017
Source: SA Dept of Environmental Affairs
The Department has ceased (controversially) publishing regular monthly updates of poaching incidence.
Official figures are, in any case, widely considered to be a significant underestimate of actual poaching numbers. Some carcasses are never found, some injured rhinos later die and by the time they are found cannot positively be identified as poaching victims, and some private rhino owners do not report poaching incidents for various reasons.