Rhinos allegedly poached in St Lucia's Western Shores

Wildlife poaching, and rhino poaching in particular, appears to be spiralling out of control, with more than 300 having been slaughtered in 2013 and we're not even halfway through the year. 

Just three short weeks after a letter from KZN Wildlife CEO Dr Bandile Mkize to the KwaZulu-Natal public was published, in which he applauded the province on its low rhino poaching statistics, it appears that during a poaching frenzy, 14 rhinos in South Africa were slaughtered in 48 hours, with four alledgedly poached in St Lucia's Western Shores reserve. At the time of print, we await confirmation from the park authority and will publish their response, once received.

While poachers appear to be armed with state-of-the-art equipment, St Lucia News would like to remind the public to take note of the 'crime hotline' contact numbers, to which ANY suspicious activity must be directly reported so it can be investigated by the team of professionals. Those numbers are: 32211 (SMS) and 08600 10111 (telephone). SMS' charged at R1. Crimeline's website: https://www.crimeline.co.za . Everybody, from members of the public visiting our parks on a one-off basis to guides who frequent our reserves, please keep these numbers handy and keep your eyes peeled for suspicious activity and suspicious vehicles. 

Our province saved the rhino from extinction in the past, surely we can do it again.