Kruger Park Gets 150 New Rhino Wardens

Increased Poaching Activity in Kruger Park Results in an Increase in Rhino Wardens

Kruger national park in South Africa is stepping up their game in an effort to save their incredible rhino population from increased poaching activity. In this article we will cover just why such a drastic increase in rhino wardens was necessary and what it hopes to achieve.

What is Kruger National Park?

Kruger national park is one of the biggest game reserves in Africa; it is located in the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces in South Africa. The park itself covers an area of 7,523 square miles and was first established on May 31, 1926. The wildlife in Kruger Park is what makes it one of the biggest tourist attractions in the world in addition to being a safe haven for a number of important species. Among the most important species of the Kruger national park are the black and white rhinoceros.

The Plight of Kruger Park Rhinoceros

Rhinoceros populations everywhere are at risk of poaching, but due to the fact that South Africa is home to more than half of the worlds rhinoceros population it is the hardest hit area. With a good majority of South Africa’s rhinoceros population living in Kruger national park the park has had its own fair share of poachers. In the most recent news headline in early January, 2012 rangers of Kruger national park found eight dead rhino that had been killed by poachers for their horns.

How Kruger National Park has responded to an Increase in Rhino Poaching

Kruger national park has responded to the increased poaching of their rhinos with a two step process. The first and immediate solution has been to employ another 150 additional rangers to patrol the park and keep an eye out for poachers and the safety of the animals in the park. The addition of one hundred and fifty additional park wardens will bring the total number of wardens to six hundred and fifty. The second step, one that may take a little more time, is the construction of a ninety five mile long electric barrier to sit along the border of Mozambique. It is believed that the majority of the poachers that are slaughtering the park’s rhino population are coming in through the Mozambique border and it is their hope that such a fence will discourage poachers from entering the park.

Why Are Rhinos Slaughtered?

Rhinos are slaughtered in the most part for their horns, although occasionally poachers will also sell off other parts of the animal to make additional money off their kill. The most in demand part of the rhino however is its horn. In Asia rhino horn is believed to be something of a miracle cure all that even works in the fight against cancer. The demand for this miracle cure all drug is high and the price that people are willing to pay to get their hands on it is even higher. As these individuals offer large amounts of money, poachers accept the challenge of illegally hunting rhinos to pad their pocketbooks a little more. Rhino horn is also popularly used in ornamental daggers sold in the Middle East. It is currently believed, however, that the Asian demand for the miracle rhino horn is what is driving up the number of poached rhinos in Kruger national park.

How Can Poachers Be Stopped?

A question that has long been asked and long gone unanswered is how poachers can be stopped. For Kruger national park the current answer is to increase their park security and place an obstacle to the poachers in the form of an electrical fence. For many other local rescue groups the solution to the problem has been deterred by having their rhinos dehorned. An unfortunate process, dehorning surgically removes the horn of the rhino to make them useless to poachers who would otherwise shoot or tranquilize the rhinoceros, cut off the horn and leave the animal to die. It is a shame to remove such a majestic feature of one of nature’s most amazing animals but for some it seems to be the only way to help a struggling species to maintain a steady population.

How Are Poachers Taking Rhino Horns?

One of the most difficult questions to answer in terms of rhinos being dehorned is just how these animals lose their horns. The process is not difficult to describe because it is unknown, rather it is difficult to describe because it is so heinous. Most often poachers come in to the parks with large tranquilizer guns that they use to take down the massive rhinos. Since these poachers are not trained large animal veterinarians and they generally do not care about the welfare of the creature, they will use whatever tranquilizer they can to take the animal down. Once the rhinoceros is tranquilized the horn will be cut off by poachers using panga machetes. After the horn is removed the traumatized animal is left to die and most often they do die as they are hunted down in remote areas of game reserves and parks where they are not found in time for adequate medical intervention.

The South African Government’s Response

Currently the South African government has commissioned a study in to the legalization of the trade of rhino horn. It is believed by some that legalizing the trade of the horn will result in far fewer poachers killing off rhinos for their horn since they would be more readily available and the devastation to the rhino population would decrease significantly. Whether or not this idea is a worthwhile one for funding is still up in the air.

The Statistics on the Rhinoceros Population and Poaching

In 2010 three hundred and thirty three rhinos were poached in South Africa, three hundred and twenty three of these were black rhinos and ten were white rhinos. In 2011 over four hundred rhinos were poached in South Africa alone as the demand for rhino horn has increased. Unfortunately being that South Africa is home to nearly eighty percent of the world’s rhinoceros population it gives poachers more incentive to focus on this particular area for the animals. With Kruger national park being such a large game reserve it is home to a particularly large group of animals including both black and white rhinoceros.