News

South African National Parks (SANParks) will enhance surveillance at all Kruger National Park (KNP) entry gates as part of the Festive Season Crime Prevention Drive. There will be increased spot checks of vehicles inside the park to root out possibilities of contraband as well as to verify occupant identity and booking receipts.  Other technologies in use include vehicle number plate recognition, remote vehicle monitoring, and radar surveillance.

In addition, there will be increased ranger and security services patrols and the use of dedicated dog units supported by free-running tracking hounds. KNP also continues to implement its Integrity Management Plan which includes Polygraph Testing and supporting investigations.

The SANParks Environmental Crime Investigation Unit (ECI) will work with other law enforcement agencies to improve crime intelligence in the surrounding areas. They will be working hard with local communities to create a culture where “no bad deed goes unnoticed”, and criminals are brought to book.

The ongoing collaboration with the Mozambican authorities continues to yield positive results with some of the crime kingpins now behind bars. Regular meetings, operation planning, and sharing of intelligence have resulted in successful arrests of poachers.

These security measures will also respond to the recent spike in poaching, especially snaring and poisoning which is indiscriminate, and hugely impacting.  There has been an increase in snaring inside the park, which really is the most heinous crime – resulting in the slow and painful killing of animals. The SANParks Honorary Rangers have assisted rangers with snare removal campaigns – removing up to a thousand snares from the KNP boundary in the past quarter.

Collaborations with the private sector, SAPS, provincial government departments, local municipalities, and private security companies alongside routes leading to the KNP are in place and will continue as well, and thus far have yielded positive results.

Visitors are advised to be security conscious when checking in at the gates and ensure their cars are locked whilst checking surrounding areas for signs of any suspicious behaviour.

SANParks wishes everyone a safe and enjoyable festive season.