According to the RSA Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), 553 rhino have been poached in South Africa to date. A spokesman for the WorldWide Fund for Nature in South Africa (WWF-SA) is reported to have said that the overall rhino population will soon begin declining.
It is expected that in excess of the 2012 tally, 668 rhino will be poached this year. Aggressive anti-poaching operations have not proved particularly successful in the reduction of poaching activities despite the arrest of approximately 150 poachers this year. It does not appear that arrests of the actual poachers will solve the problem. The WWF-SA is apparently of the opinion that success might be achieved if the perpetrators higher up the chain should be targeted by law enforcement, because they form part of international organised crime syndicates.
