After revealing that 28 rhinoceroses had been murdered by poachers since the year’s beginning, including 19 at the nation’s largest animal reserve, Namibian officials increased their anti-poaching alert on Monday.
An “urgent high-level meeting” with security authorities has been convened, according to the environment ministry of the country in southern Africa, to deliberate ways to counter the “barbaric” poaching epidemic.
In addition, the government requested public assistance “in this difficult fight” against a phenomena that is resurrecting throughout southern Africa. The government also stated that no arrests have been made as of yet.
The recent spate of murders has particularly badly affected Namibia’s Etosha Park.
Of the 19 rhinos slain in the park, 10 were recovered during a campaign in March to dehorn rhinos to lessen the chance of them becoming poached targets, the ministry said.
After the animal is killed, the horns are sold in Asian markets for use in traditional medicine.
“This is our flagship park and has a high concentration of rhino conservation and other high value species making it a major attraction of tourists,” the ministry stated in a statement.
According to authorities, there were 87 rhinoceroses killed in Namibia in 2022 compared to 45 the year before. The numbers for 2023 are still unknown.
The greatest number of rhinoceroses is found in neighboring South Africa, where poachers murdered around 500 of them last year, an increase of 11% from 2022.
By the end of 2022, there were roughly 15,000 rhinos in South Africa and 23,300 rhinos overall in Africa.
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