South African rhino poaching halves in six months thanks to Covid-19 lockdown | Environment

The number of South African rhinos killed by poachers fell by half in the first six months of the year, partly helped by the nationwide coronavirus lockdown and disruption to international smuggling rings.

During the first six months of the year, 166 rhino were poached in South Africa, compared with 316 in the first half of 2019, Barbara Creecy, the minister of environment, forestry and fisheries, said on Friday, a drop of 53%.

“We have been able to arrest the escalation of rhino losses,” Creecy said.

South Africa has for years battled a scourge of rhino poaching fuelled by…