Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: South Africa recorded a 16 per cent drop in rhino poaching last year, the second consecutive decline of that magnitude, the Environment Ministry said on February 10. The Ministry said in a statement that 352 rhinos were killed for their horns in 2025, down from 420 in 2024 and 499 in 2023.
Of the 352 rhinos killed, 266 were poached on state properties and 86 on privately owned parks, reserves and farms.
Mpumalanga emerged as the hardest hit province, losing 178 rhinos – a sharp increase from the 92 recorded in 2024. South Africa is home to nearly half of the critically-endangered black rhino population in Africa and to the world’s largest population of nearthreatened white rhinos.
Rhino horns – made primarily of keratin, a protein also found in human hair and fingernails – are prized in some East Asian countries for traditional medicine and jewellery. Despite the overall drop in poaching last year, there was a sharp rise in the number of rhinos killed in the Kruger National Park, the country’s flagship game reserve.
One hundred and seventy-five rhinos were killed last year in the park, much of which is remote and hard to police, up from 88 the year before. But there was a steep fall in poaching at the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in KwaZulu-Natal province, from 198 rhinos killed in 2024 to 63 last year. Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Willie Aucamp says the decrease is the result of dedicated anti-poaching and antitrafficking efforts, backed by improved tactical coordination across agencies.
