South Africa released rhino & elephant poaching statistics for 2019!

South Africa's Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Ms Barbara Creecy, has released the rhino poaching numbers for 2019. According to the Minister, a total of 594 rhinos got illegally killed by poachers in South Africa in 2019. This is a decrease of 175 rhino compared to 2018 when 769 rhinos were killed for their horns. Out of the 594 killed rhinos, a total of 327 rhinos were poached in the Kruger National Park.

From January to December 2019, 178 alleged poachers were arrested within Kruger National Park. At a national level, 332 arrests were effected in respect of both rhino poaching and rhino horn trafficking and in excess of 57 major investigations were undertaken across the country. A total of 85 firearms were recovered during the year.

Provinces and National Parks	2017	2018	2019
South African National Parks (SANParks)	504	422	328
Gauteng	4	2	5
Limpopo	79	40	45
Mpumalanga	49	51	34
North West	96	65	32
Eastern Cape	12	19	2
Free State	38	16	11
Northern Cape	24	12	4
KwaZulu-Natal	222	142	133
Western Cape	0	0	0
Total	1028	769	594

With regard to elephant poaching, South Africa's Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries reports that 31 elephant have been poached in South Africa in 2019 – 30 animals in Kruger National Park and 1 in Mapungubwe National Park. This is a decrease in the number of elephant poached in 2018, when 71 were killed for their tusks.