Thursday 22 January 2015

SA rhino poaching record set in 2014

22 January 2015 Last updated at 13:06

A record 1,215 rhinos were poached in South Africa in 2014, a 21% increase on the previous year, officials have said.

More than two-thirds were killed in the famed Kruger National Park.

The last few years have all seen new records set, with poaching fuelled by the belief in countries like China and Vietnam that horns have medicinal properties.

The lucrative market has attracted criminal gangs who use sophisticated technology to kill their quarry.

South Africa's environment minister Edna Molewa said more than 100 rhinos had been moved to "more secure locations" - some of them in neighbouring countries - in a bid to protect the animals.

"Through this method we aim to create rhino strongholds, areas where rhino can be cost-effectively produced," she said.

Despite successes through the re-location programme, Ms Molewa said the figures killed each year remained "worryingly high".

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