Green Scorpions take aim at airport smugglers

The fight against rhino horn smuggling is being taken to the airports.

It was announced yesterday that the Green Scorpions will soon be stationed at Johannesburg's Oliver Tambo International Airport as part of a new plan to fight rhino poaching, which claimed 1215 animals last year.

The environmental enforcement body will take over from the Gauteng department of agriculture and rural development on April 1 in an effort to intercept more illegally traded wildlife loot at the airport.

"This programme is aimed at increasing the number of detections at ports of entry and exit, and reducing the risk of illicit trade while better understanding the routes being used by the syndicates to move the goods, Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said.

In the past couple of months 56 Kruger National Park rhino have been moved to an intensive protection zone within the park. To date no animals had been poached in this zone, Molewa said.

Another 100 rhino have been translocated to neighbouring states to increase population sizes.

This year, 200 rhino are to be translocated abroad and to local private owners.

Molewa announced the introduction of a number of anti-poaching initiatives, including increased funding for forensic technology and a police environmental forensic laboratory.

"Working in partnership with the CSIR, Denel and other partners, we are at an advanced stage of evaluating cutting-edge technologies being used to combat poaching internationally, such as unmanned aerial vehicles," she said.

Although the number of rhinos killed last year is the highest ever, there were more arrests of poachers, 386.

The conviction rate for the 2013-2014 financial year, Molewa said, was 61%.

She said there had been a number of important arrests, including those of members of overseas syndicates. Sixteen alleged members of a rhino poaching syndicate were arrested in Prague, in the Czech Republic, last month.

General Johan Jooste, commander of the Special Projects unit at SANParks, said the war against poaching was not being won but the rate of poaching at Kruger National Park had dropped.

There were still as many as 80 poaching incursions a month into the park, he said.

WWF South Africa called for a more integrated approach.

"There is no single solution to this complex global crisis," said Jo Shaw, rhino programme manager for WWF SA.