The WitnessSOUTH Africa has lost about 199 rhinos to illegal killings since the beginning of the year.
Latest statistics released yesterday by the Department of Environmental Affairs indicate that the Kruger National Park is still the most targeted area, having lost 119 rhinos since the start of the year. Targeted provinces include Limpopo with 27 rhino deaths and North West and KwaZulu-Natal with 22. Thus far, 122 arrests have been made of which 108 were poachers, 10 receivers/couriers and four couriers/buyers.
Report incidents of rhino poaching or any tip-offs that could lead to arrests and prevention of illegal killings to 0800 205 005. — WR.
Hyenas still on the loose in KZN | News24Durban - Two hyenas on the loose near Ulundi have still not been found, Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife said on Thursday.
"We set traps for them last night [Wednesday] but they did not come," said spokesperson Musa Mntambo.
"The traps have been left there with bait."
The animals are believed to be roaming the area between the Ophapha Game Reserve and the Intibane lodge.
Lion
Rangers realised they were on the loose after a couple reported seeing a lion.
They went to view the tracks and found they were not those of a lion, but of a hyena.
"Lion and hyena tracks are almost the same, it's just that the lion's are a bit bigger," Mntambo said at the time.
He said the hyenas were sighted at 02:00 on Wednesday when a trap was set for the 'lion'.
"They [the two hyenas] attempted to eat the bait [but] unfortunately disappeared through the bushes when they realised that they were being lured."
The hyenas had not been seen since
AFP: Whale carcass washes ashore in S.AfricaCAPE TOWN — The carcass of a 14-metre (46-foot) southern right whale has washed ashore in the south coast tourist town of Knysna, where volunteers Thursday were trying to haul it from rocks and back out to sea.
A crew from the National Sea Rescue Institute initially thought the whale was an overturned ship, spokesman Craig Lambinon said in a statement.
The whale washed up on rocks just off the coast on Wednesday afternoon, frustrating efforts to haul it back out to sea.
Volunteer crew returned to the scene early Thursday "to investigate any possibility of removing the carcass on the seaward side and possibly towing it out to sea using sea rescue craft," Lambinon said.
But the crew decided the carcass would best be removed from land, leaving it rotting on the rocks for now.
No permits for Vietnamese rhino hunters: MolewaAccording to iafrica.com, Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said applications for hunting permits would only be accepted from bona fide hunters from countries that ensure horns and hunting trophies are used only in terms of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) rules.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Vietnam has been asked to verify that white rhino trophies exported from South Africa to Vietnam were still in the possession of the hunters, "the outcome of this process will allow us to refuse all applications for white rhinoceros hunting by foreign hunters [from] Vietnam," Molewa said.
Times Live reports that Molewa said the number of rhinos poached in South Africa this year stands at an "alarming" 159. "The Kruger National Park continues to bear the brunt of these losses, with the rhinos poached in the park having reached a staggering total of 95," she said, adding that this is no longer only an environmental management problem. "It has become a matter in which we have involved all law-enforcement agencies."
Molewa said 90 people had been arrested for poaching as the government was looking at new initiatives in the fight against rhino poaching. This reflected "the coordinated enforcement efforts across the government aimed at addressing the scourge of rhino poaching." She said the first group of 75 of the 150 new rangers to be deployed in the Kruger Park is currently undergoing a six-week, intense paramilitary training course. The fence on the eastern boundary of the park was too expensive and difficult to maintain, she concluded.
Lion on the loose: latest - Newswatch - East Coast RadioNewswatch has been speaking to Ezemvelo's Musa Mntambo who has confirmed that a lion was spotted along King Dinizulu Highway at around 1am this morning.
Mntambo says rangers suspect the animal escaped from a nearby park. However, at this stage it is unclear exactly which reserve.
He says they haven't received reports of any people or livestock being threatened by the lion.
Mntambo says they brought in an expert conservationist to help track the animal.
"Our conservation officials have tracked down the lion's prints, but they haven't found anything else yet. We know it was seen between Intibane Lodge and Ophathe Game Reseve, which is along the King Dinizulu Highway in Ulundi," he said.
He says people who spot the animal should contact Ezemvelo immediately.
You can reach wildlife conservation officer Jabulani Biyela on 082-708-8860.
