NPA prosecutes along rhino poaching supply chain

More than 160 people involved in the complex supply chain stretching from South African parks to Southeast Asian consumers are currently before the courts, said Joanie Spies, a prosecutor with the Rhino Project.

Petty hunters, corrupt wildlife officials and Asian traffickers have all been snared in South Africa's crackdown on rhino poaching as special prosecutors battle syndicates feeding the trade in horns, Times Live reports. "Slowly but surely," Spies said "we're moving upwards and getting higher people who did not pull the trigger."

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) set up team to help combat the dramatic surge in poaching that has seen more than 200 rhinos killed so far this year. The cases have exposed corruption within the systems meant to protect the animals. Private game owners, national park rangers and veterinarians have been arrested. Authorities have also caught pilots who flew helicopters to spot and dart the rhinos, and both small-time and professional hunters who shot them. "There is a great level of organisation involved," Spies said.

Whoever does the shooting, she said, the horns can end up in the hands of the same Asian kingpins. South Africa is stepping up its efforts by creating a combined task force of police, military, prosecutors and environmentalists. "You get better convictions, better sentences," Spies said, according to Times Live.

Read the full article on www.timeslive.co.za.