Prison for Rhino Poachers - The Continued Plight of Rhinos in South Africa

​worldanimalnews.com/south-african-rhino-poacher-alsony-alberto-valoyi-sentenced-to-23-years-in-prison-3-more-suspects-also-arrested-for-poaching-in-kruger-national-park/

Notorious rhino poacher Alsony Alberto Valoyi was recently sentenced to 23 years in a South African prison after being convicted of multiple crimes related to rhino poaching. 3 more suspects have also been arrested and are awaiting charges / trial for their participation in the poaching of rhinos. In total, a whopping 25 incidents involving potential poaching with protected rhinos on the Kruger National Park have occurred within a span of only 7 days, indicating that the plight of rhinos is far from over. 

For reference, there are approximately 3, 800 rhinos remaining in the Kruger National Park in South Africa and in 2020, 394 were slaughtered. Despite seeing the number of rhinos slaughtered dip year after year, that number is still a whopping 10% of the remaining rhino population that's been slaughtered in only one year. This continued poaching is delaying the repopulation of rhinos and has demonstrated the true fragility of the rhino population. 

While we must applaud the decline in poaching and celebrate the tireless efforts of South African authorities in protecting rhinos and arresting poachers, there could be many factors at play in that decline. For example, covid-19 likely prevented a lot of travel to South Africa which would have likely kept out potential trophy hunters / poachers. Will that number increase again when travel is reinstated? We can only hope that the continued decline in annual rhino poachings are indicative of change but it's concerning that we are still seeing so many poachings on protected lands.

Ivory fuels a serious demand for rhino / elephant poaching. The allure of hitting the jackpot motivates those who see dollar signs and are willing to literally risk their lives to obtain ivory at any cost. Poachers have been shot and killed, arrested, or engaged in gun fights with anti-poaching units regularly, risking their lives for a chance at financial freedom. While we must obviously hold them accountable, the bigger picture is the continued value placed on ivory. I've said this multiple times before, but the only option is to devalue ivory on a global level and put all of our resources towards anti-poaching initiatives. We're talking about only 3, 800 rhinos remaining, that number is frighteningly low and as we know, extinction is permanent.

Congratulations to South Africa on their continued succes sin tackling poaching but more work is still to be done if we intend to rehabilitate rhinos before they face extinction. Devalue ivory, ban ivory from being exported / imported globally, and increase anti-poaching forces. Rhinos depend on us to protect them before they go extinct.

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