POLOKWANE – The Polokwane Municipality, in cooperation with the police and the defence force, have upped their fight against rhino poachers in the Polokwane game reserve.
According to municipal environment services manager Maxwell Ledwaba, the municipality has put various security measures in place, including tracking rhinos electronically.
“We have a security plan, in which the municipality is the main roleplayer supported by other stakeholders like the police, defence force, private companies like Silicon Smelters, as well as individuals.
“The details of the plan are regarded as highly classified information and for the protection of the rhinos will not be made public,” Ledwaba explained. He added that people were very helpful when it came to raising funds for the protection of the rhinos, and in one instance a primary school learner even managed to raise R1 000 in donations for this cause.
Some 106 of the 946 rhinos killed in the past year in South Africa, were killed in Limpopo.
Rhinos are poached for their horns, which are in high demand in Asia. The horn is ground into fine powder and believed to be a cure for everything from cancer to a common cold and is sold for up to R1,1 million ($100 000) per kilogram.
The fight against rhino poaching has spread across the world, with advertising campaigns in countries such as Vietnam to educate people on the effects of poaching, and to explain that the horns are made up largely of the same material as human finger- and toenails.
South Africa and Mozambique are exploring an agreement that would allow South Africa’s anti-poaching officers to head into Mozambique while pursuing poachers.
Richard Emslie from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the poaching rate has been escalating since 2008, and will reach the tipping point where deaths start to exceed births as soon as 2014.
