553 rhino poached, 148 arrests so far

The total number of rhino poached in South Africa since January 2013 has reached 553, as the number of people arrested for rhino poaching-related offences climbs to 148.

Image: Chris Eason via Wikimedia Commons

Since the beginning of the year, 65 alleged poachers have been arrested in the Kruger National Park, while 30 have been arrested in Mpumalanga and another 30 in KwaZulu-Natal.

In the past week 11 poached rhino were found in the Kruger National Park. The park continues to bear the brunt of rhino poaching in South Africa with 345 rhino killed for their horns since January 1, 2013.

Of the total number of rhino's poached, 56 rhino have been killed in Limpopo, 55 in North West, 53 in KwaZulu-Natal and 37 in Mpumalanga.

South Africans are urged to report incidents of poaching and tip-offs to the anonymous tip-off lines 0800 205 005, 08600 10111 or Crime-Line on 32211.

Rhino poaching statistics
SA	2010	2011	2012	2013
KNP (SANParks)	146	252	425	345
MNP (SANParks)	0	6	3	2
GP	15	9	1	3
LIM	52	74	59	56
MP	17	31	28	37
NW	57	21	77	55
EC	4	11	7	2
FS	3	4	0	0
KZN	38	34	66	53
WC	0	6	2	0
NC	1	0	0	0
	333	448	668	553

Rhino poaching arrests statistics
South Africa - Arrests	2013	2012	2011	2010
KNP	65	73	82	67
MNP	0	0	0	0
Gauteng (GP)	3	26	16	10
Mpumalanga (MP)	9	66	73	16
Eastern Cape (EC)	0	0	2	7
Limpopo (LP)	30	43	34	36
North West (NW)	11	32	21	2
Free State (FS)	0	6	0	0
KwaZulu-Natal (KZN)	30	20	4	25
Western Cape (WC)	0	0	0	2
Northern Cape (NC)	0	1	0	0
Total	148	267	232	165