The state of a nation's health can be gauged by its capacity and willingness to protect its vulnerable in society. Women, children, the sick and the infirm but also its wildlife.
Those are things that cannot be replaced. Decades of diligent conservation work is at risk if the government does not care for our natural resources.
South Africa is renowned for its abundant wildlife. Tourism is a big money earner for South Africa and we need to spend money to keep this asset safe from going under like so much of the country.
South Africa's rhino populations are under threat from poachers, with KwaZulu-Natal game parks reporting that at least 12 White Rhino have been killed since January.
An investigation, the details of which are under wraps, is under way in the Kruger National Park and it is believed by some that as many as 20 rhino may have been killed this year.
Four rhino were killed over the past weekend in the Masinda section of the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park, said Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife (EKZNW) spokesperson Jeff Gaisford.
Rangers in the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park had initially found only one rhino, but subsequent investigations had revealed a further three carcasses.
"The horns of all four animals had been cleanly removed with a sharp instrument, indicating that someone with considerable experience had been at work," said Gaisford.
Post-mortems conducted the next day by the EKZNW veterinary surgeon revealed that all four animals had been shot with a heavy calibre rifle, some five days previously.
Gaisford said that up until last year poaching numbers had been extremely low and that in some years not a single rhino had been lost.
"We had a long quiet run," he said. Raymond Travers, spokesperson for Kruger National Park, said that poaching of rhino had "increased dramatically" over the past year. He declined to comment on how many cases had been reported in the past year.
South African National Parks spokesperson Wanda Mkutshulwa said: "There is an investigation under way. Until we have made headway and got a handle on it we have decided as an organisation not to talk about it." Police have been called in to investigate the case.
Dr Jacques Flamand, leader of environmental agency WWF and Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife Black Rhino Range Expansion Project, said he believed that more than 20 rhino had been killed this year.
Private game parks had so far not been affected by the surge in poaching, he said. There were concerns that a Vietnamese or Chinese syndicate were possibly behind the poaching. Most of the rhino that had been poached were White Rhino.
Flamand said that demand for the rhino horn corresponded with the increasing economic wealth in China. Ground into a powder, the rhino horn is used in traditional Asian medicine as a fever-reducing potion. The horns are also in demand for use as dagger handles in Yemen and Oman. South Africa has nearly 14 000 White Rhino and less than 4 000 Black Rhino..Source
Poachers in South and Southern Africa are on the increase and their most prized booty and fauna and flora are rhino horns, tortoises, local flowers and plants and shellfish. Source
Poaching levels in the Table Mountain National Park have rocketed, with 8 665 poached marine species confiscated by rangers last year, nearly double the2006 figure of 4 578 and almost triple the 3 378 in 2005.
The Kruger National Park, South Africa's flagship conservation area, has also been heavily targeted by poachers, with at least 44 white rhinos and 31 buffaloes among the 249 animals found killed over the past four years. Source
Abalone, crayfish, prawns and at least 20 other types of sea creatures that fetch high prices on the international market have been dangerously exploited, marine authorities say. Many species have been driven to the brink of extinction. Source
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