In a presentation to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police, KNP officials said 827 rhinos were killed in the park in 2014. This was 200 less than the 1 027 poaching-related killings predicted by the park’s authorities for the year.
The KNP attributed the decline to the success of its anti-poaching strategies and campaigns, according to a statement by the police portfolio committee.
From 2010 to 2013, the rate of increase in rhino killings in the KNP decreased from more than 70% to around 40% a year. In 2014 the rate slowed down further to 36% as the number of rhinos killed increased from 606 in 2013 to 827, according to the National Wildlife Crime Reaction Unit.
The fight against rhino poaching could be strengthened by instituting “proactive, integrated and concerted crime intelligence efforts that involve cross-border intelligence initiatives,” said the portfolio committee statement.
“SAPS intelligence services should be able to infiltrate [gangs] and neutralise whatever plans the poachers might have even before they get implemented, especially seeing that they recruit locals to carry out these plans,” said committee chairperson Francois Beukman.
Committee members asked the police to conduct regular integrity tests and lifestyle audits among police officers working in the KNP, as well as among other police members operating in the broader Mpumalanga province to circumvent possibilities of bribery.
