JOHANNESBURG (AP) – Poachers have killed record numbers of rhinos in South Africa in recent years, but some conservationists believe the toll could be higher than the official figures.
Allison Thomson, founder of a group called Outraged SA Citizens Against Poaching, said there are cases not included in the official statistics. For example, lions or other predators probably kill some vulnerable rhino calves whose mothers are poached, Thomson said.
South Africa’s environment ministry, which reported 1,215 rhino poachings last year, said Wednesday that aerial surveillance and other “concerted efforts” are made to detect carcasses of rhinos killed by poachers. Home to most of the world’s rhinos, South Africa has struggled to contain poaching syndicates because of rising demand for their horns in parts of Asia, including Vietnam.
The count includes poached rhinos “irrespective of the age of the animal or whether the horns have been removed or are still intact,” the ministry said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press.
The ministry said it is unlikely that some rhino poachings are not reported “as may have happened in the past on one or two occasions.”