Kruger National Park's own staff arrested over 'rhino poaching' after police discover sniper rifle
A ranger and two employees at Kruger National Park have been arrested
They were found with a hunting rifle and ammunition in Lower Sabie area
Arrests came after a recently killed rhino was found in the nearby area
The park in South Africa has been hit hard by rhino poachers in recent years
By JENNY AWFORD FOR MAILONLINE 22 September 2014
A ranger and two park workers have been arrested on suspicion of rhino poaching in South Africa's flagship wildlife reserve. They were found with a hunting rifle and ammunition in the Lower Sabie area of Kruger National Park on Sunday after a recently killed rhino was found in the area.
The arrests came after an anti-poaching intelligence operation that included police and park employees.
A ranger and two park workers have been arrested on suspicion of rhino poaching at Kruger National Park. This carcass was found at the Satara camp in April 2013 in a separate incident
CEO of South African National Parks, Abe Sibiya, said: 'It is unfortunate that those trusted with the well-being of these animals are alleged to have become the destroyers of the same heritage that they have a mandate to protect.'
Reynold Thakhuli, a spokesman for the parks service said the alleged corruption was extremely disturbing.
'These are the people that we entrusted with the welfare of these animals,' he said.
'These are just elements that unfortunately have allowed themselves to be used by syndicates.'
Kruger Park lies in the northeast part of South Africa and is nearly 20,000 square kilometres, almost the size of small countries such as Israel and El Salvador.
Hundreds of rangers patrol the park with some air support and backing from the South African military, but conservationists say more resources are needed to adequately protect Kruger's wildlife.
The park has been hit hard by rhino poachers, many of whom cross over from neighbouring Mozambique.
Home to most of the world's rhinos, South Africa is struggling to stem a surge in rhino poaching in recent years as demand for rhino horn rises in some parts of Asia, including China and Vietnam.
Some people view rhino horn as a status symbol and a healing agent, despite a lack of evidence that it can cure. The horn is made of keratin, a protein also found in human fingernails.
Rhino poacher Mandla Chauke has been sentenced to 77 years in prison after being arrested in Kruger National Park in 2011.
Rhinos were once common throughout Africa and Asia with an approximated worldwide population of 500,000 in the early twentieth century. But despite intensive conservation efforts, poaching of this species is dramatically increasing, pushing the remaining rhinos closer and closer towards extinction.
The Western black rhino was declared extinct by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) in 2011, with the primary cause identified as poaching.
All five remaining rhinos species are listed on the IUCN Redlist of threatened species, with three out of five species classified as critically endangered.
South Africa is home to 83 per cent of Africa’s rhinos and 73 per cent of all wild rhinos worldwide.
A staggering 668 Rhinos were killed by poachers in South Africa in 2012, almost two a day.
In April 2013, more than 203 rhinos had been poached and 60 poachers had been arrested in South Africa. Of those arrested, 36 were caught in Kruger National Park. By August that year, Kenya reported that it had lost 34 rhinos to poaching since the start of 2013.
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