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incursions by armed poachers, the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) said in its Rhino Issue Management (RIM) report.
The poaching crisis also threatens part of the natural heritage and the future of the country’s tourism industry, said the report, which emanated from the national consultation process to facilitate a common understanding of the key issues related to the protection and conservation of South Africa’s rhino population.

The consultation process resulted in clear agreement that the country’s rhinos should be conserved for the good of all humanity, and that every effort should be made to protect the threatened species from the sustained poaching, said the report.

“It is important to note that integral to the RIM team’s findings is that there is no single solution to the rhino poaching scourge.
“From this, it is quite clear that our efforts will pragmatically require the employment of a range of strategies along several fronts,” the DEA said.

The RIM report does, however, state that there is support to include commercial international trade in rhino horn as an integral part of South Africa’s comprehensive response strategy to address the continued illegal killing of rhinos.

South Africa will submit a rhino trade proposal for consideration at the 17th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 2016.

The decision to table the proposal to CITES COP17 is one of the many interventions undertaken by the government to address rhino poaching.
The report was released as the number of rhino poached in South Africa increased to 514, with the Kruger National Park continuing to bear the brunt of poaching which led to the loss of 321 rhinos since January 1.
Meanwhile, a total of 143 alleged poachers have been arrested this year. — Xinhua.