Johannesburg (dpa) – Four employees of the South African National Parks (SANParks) authority have been arrested in connection with rhino poaching, officials said on Wednesday. One of the employees is a field ranger while another is a traffic officer. All worked in the Kruger National Park, one of Africa's largest game reserves at nearly 20,000 square kilometers. The arrests took place on Tuesday, after officials discovered two freshly killed rhinos in the area of the park where the four were stationed. So far this year, 11 rhinos were killed by poachers in the area under their responsibility, SANParks said. Poaching has gotten steadily worse in each of the last few years in South Africa, home to world's largest rhino population. A new record was set in 2011, with at least 448 of the animals killed. In the first two months of this year, 80 rhinos have been lost to poaching, according to data from SANParks. Police say they have arrested 50 people since the star of the year in connection with poaching. Poachers kill the animals and cut off their horns, mostly for sale to Asian markets, where some people believe the rhino horns have medicinal purposes – though most scientists say there is no merit to the claim. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/5e77w Tags: Rhino poaching, South Africa Section: Africa, Animals, Crime, Latest News
