An apartheid-era mining magnate lead poaching gang

Although I have been aware that powerful businesses engage in illegal activities related to the poaching of rhinos, a story today in the Cape Times of South Africa has surprised me.

The newspaper says that whilst a major rhino poaching syndicate was brought to trial early this year, there is a problem because another major poaching gang is believed to account for seventy percent of the rhinos killed in South Africa today.

What is really interesting is that this poaching gang apparently dates from the apartheid era, and remarkably consists of a prominent South African mining magnate, a group of white farmers from the Limpopo region, and a number of veterinarians who perversely use their skills to help find out the ways in which rhinos possess vulnerability and make killing them easier. The wealth of the syndicate has allowed them to use military rifles to kill rhinos, which must naturally be amazing in its efficiency.

There may be some hope if a trial goes ahead in October this year, but I do think it is certainly of importance to publicise the syndicate to show the world who is responsibel for the threat against rhinos.