This Monday, Namibia expressed concern over the number of rhinos poached: 28 since the start of the year, 19 of which are in its largest reserve, Etosha National Park.
Of these 19, 10 were discovered in operations specifically aimed at removing the horns of these animals, precisely to deter poachers who sell the horns, especially in Asia, after killing them.
“[Etosha é] our emblematic park and has a high concentration of endangered rhinoceroses and other endangered species,” the Ministry of Environment said in a statement.
The government has promised that, given the “current situation and its urgency”, an assessment is being carried out at the park to “determine the exact scale of the problem” in order to strengthen interventions and improve strategies.
In 2022, 87 rhinos were killed in the country, which borders Angola, up from 45 killed in 2021.
In neighboring South Africa, home to most of the world’s rhinos, nearly 500 rhinos were killed by poachers in 2023, an 11% increase from 2022, despite government efforts to protect the animal.
Poaching in the region is fueled by demand from Asia, where rhino horn is used in traditional medicine for its supposed therapeutic effects.
On the black market, its price per weight rivals that of gold or cocaine.
At the end of 2022, there were almost 23,300 of these large herbivores on the continent, including about 15,000 in South Africa.