Nearly 500 Rhinos Killed As Poaching Increases In S.Africa

Africa had nearly 23,300 specimens of rhino at the end of 2022, a more than five-percent rise on the previous year, according to the IUCN (Credit: AFP)

Almost 500 rhinos were killed by poachers in South Africa last year, up 11 percent on 2022, despite government efforts to tackle the illicit trade in horns, ministers said Tuesday.

The country is home to a large majority of the world's rhinos and a hotspot for poaching, which is driven by demand from Asia, where horns are used in traditional medicine for their supposed therapeutic effect.