Garden Route National Park Operations Amid Ongoing Severe Weather
The Garden Route region continues to experience heavy rainfall, although wind conditions have subsided compared to yesterday, 11 May 2026. Damage asse...
The Kruger National Park, Limpopo, North West and KwaZulu-Natal remain the hardest hit by rhino poachers- collectively accounting for 207 of the rhinos killed this year alone.
The department, our provinces and its public entities such as SANParks view this illegal killing of our national treasure in a very serious light and will continue to prioritise our fight against this crime jointly with our security cluster Ministers and their departments.
The total number of arrests for 2012 is now 146.
Total number of rhinos killed this year:
| SA | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|
| KNP (SANParks) | 146 | 252 | 133 |
| MNP (SANParks) | 0 | 6 | 3 |
| GP | 15 | 9 | 0 |
| LIM | 52 | 74 | 31 |
| MP | 17 | 31 | 6 |
| NW | 57 | 21 | 20 |
| EC | 4 | 11 | 3 |
| FS | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| KZN | 38 | 34 | 23 |
| WC | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| NC | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 333 | 448 | 220 |
Number of arrests:
| SA | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|
| KNP (SANParks) | 36 | 82 | 67 |
| MNP (SANParks) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gauteng (GP) | 14 | 16 | 10 |
| Limpopo (LIM) | 19 | 34 | 36 |
| Mpumalanga (MP) | 44 | 73 | 16 |
| North West (NW) | 16 | 21 | 2 |
| Eastern Cape (EC) | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Free State (FS) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| KZN | 10 | 4 | 25 |
| Western Cape (WC) | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Northern Cape (NC) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 146 | 232 | 165 |
South Africans are urged to report incidents of rhino poaching or any tip-offs that could lead to arrests and prevention of illegal killings to 0800 205 005
Issued by:
The Department of Environmental Affairs on 21 May 2012
For media queries:
Albi Modise on 083 490 2871