Four suspects were arrested near Heidelberg with a rhino horn.
Police arrested four men in possession of a freshly chopped rhino horn after a short car chase near Heidelberg. The suspects were allegedly transporting the horn from KwaZulu-Natal to Gauteng.
It is believed that two of the men killed the rhino in KwaZulu-Natal and the other two arranged the sale of the rhino horn. They were said to be driving an Audi A4.
The four-kilogram horn had been chopped off a rhino in Kwa-Zulu-Natal and was destined for Gauteng. A tip-off led members of the police and the socalled rhino dream-team to intercept the poachers and push them off the R23 road, outside Heidelberg.
It is estimated that 23 rhinos have been killed in KwaZulu-Natal so far this year.
A reported total of 232 rhinos have been slaughtered in South Africa in 2010; the figure increases to 252 including the 20 rhinos found in a mass grave at rhino horn syndicate suspect Dawie Groenewald’s farm in Musina.
Illegal rhino horn business ‘booming’
South Africa has been hit with a rhino killing scourge, and the illegal rhino horn business is booming.
Illegal rhino horn is still in high demand for traditional medicines in China and Vietnam, despite the fact that rhino horn has been extensively analyzed and found to be of no medicinal value.
Most rhino horn leaving southern Africa is destined for China and Vietnam, according to the latest research by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network.
In addition, it has been noted that the growing Chinese footprint in southern Africa has placed the demand for rhino horn dangerously close to the supply.
Source: Eyewitness News; “Eyewitness News: Rhino Poachers behind Bars.” 12 Nov. 2010.
Image: istock.com
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