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Mail & Guardian
18 hours ago
- General
- Mail & Guardian
Rhino poaching in Africa at lowest level since 2011, but white rhino numbers plunge
Despite lower poaching incidents of only 2.15% in 2024, overall rhino numbers declined by 6.7%. (Photo Archive) This mixed picture comes from a Produced by the The report said in 2024, poaching was responsible for only 2.15% of Africa's rhino losses, which represents the lowest recorded rate since 2011. This progress is attributed to enhanced site-based protection, intelligence-driven enforcement and stronger collaboration with local communities and governments. But overall rhino numbers declined by 6.7%, down to an estimated 22 540 animals — a drop driven largely by steep losses among white rhinos. The total includes 6 788 black rhinos, whose population grew by 5.2%, and 15 752 white rhinos, which declined by more than 11%, reaching their lowest numbers since 2007. Contributing factors include poaching pressure in certain areas, prolonged droughts and management limitations. In total, 516 poaching incidents were recorded in Africa in 2024, down slightly from 540 in 2021, with In Asia, Although the illegal trade in rhino horn has declined since peaking in 2019, it remains a serious threat. From 2021 to 2023, more than 750 seizures were recorded globally, involving an estimated 1.8 tonnes of horn — equivalent to 716 whole horns. The largest seizures included 160kg by South African authorities, en route to Malaysia, and 139kg by Vietnam, originating from South Africa. The country accounted for 66% of global seizure weight and 90% among African range states. Most seizures involving the country were made locally, with South Africa frequently cited as the origin point in trafficking networks, the report said. Malaysia and Vietnam were identified as key destination countries, followed by Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which served as transit hubs. Angola also featured as a notable trade link. For the first time, a trafficking route from South Africa to Mongolia was detected in 2023 Although the number and total weight of horns seized have dropped by 81% and 77%, respectively, since their peak in 2019, this trend may reflect methodological changes rather than actual reductions in poaching. The The report noted the 'significant discrepancies' between the total rhino horn stockpile data reported to the Cites secretariat (36.2 tonnes) and that submitted to the This was 'primarily due to underreporting by South Africa of privately held stocks and the absence of Namibian stockpile data from the Cites database shared for this analysis'. South Africa holds 72% to 78% of the region's horn stockpiles. Data from the African Rhino Specialist Group indicated that 48% of The report notes, too, how a 2023 horn theft from a private stockpile was uncovered through open sources. Open source intelligence, or publicly available information, has helped uncover various aspects of rhino poaching, including the digital trail of trafficking networks. The study said the African Rhino Specialist Group reported the theft of 712 horns in 2024, 'none of which were disclosed in the country's official submissions to Cites'. Hurdles in curbing rhino poaching and trafficking include corruption, limited resources, slow prosecutorial processes and the presence of organised, well-armed poaching and trafficking networks. Effective rhino conservation requires political will, sustained funding, intelligence-led enforcement, improved inter-agency coordination and inclusive community-based approaches that provide tangible incentives for conservation, it added.
Fox News
03-08-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
FCC seeks to shift power from national programmers to local broadcasters in public interest push
With trust in legacy media allegedly crumbling, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr suggested the solution is clear — shift influence away from the national gatekeepers and back into local hands. "Something has to change…" Carr said during "MediaBuzz" on Sunday. "What the FCC is charged with is making sure that broadcast media – not cable – [operates in the public interest], so I think that's one of the things that we're pushing for is how do we re-empower these broadcasters who actually serve the interests of their local communities?" "So much of this now is driven by the national programmers, whether it's ABC, CBS, or NBC," he continued, "So one of things we're trying to do with the FCC is how we empower local, constrain the power of those national programmers so that these broadcasters can actually serve their local communities." Carr's comments come after his agency approved a takeover of Paramount and CBS by the entertainment studio Skydance last month. The approval came on the heels of CBS announcing the upcoming demise of Stephen Colbert's "Late Show" and President Donald Trump's legal saga with the network over "60 Minutes" interview editing, fueling allegations of backroom dealings and political pressure behind the merger approval. Skydance has denied any role in the cancellation of Stephen Colbert's late-night show, saying it was notified after the decision and had fully complied with anti-bribery laws. The defense came in a letter from Skydance General Counsel Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon to Senate Democrats, who raised questions about political pressure ahead of the Paramount acquisition. Carr, however, framed the moment as part of a seismic change in how media power is structured, and who controls the narrative, as he lauded Skydance's commitment to bring more balanced news. "There are seismic changes taking place right now across the legacy media landscape. There's a lot of reasons for that, but fundamentally I think it goes back to President Trump," Carr said. "He ran directly at the legacy national media, and he smashed the facade that they get to decide what we think and what we get to say… Up to now, they were gatekeepers, and no one had the courage to call them out on it, number one. And number two, we didn't have access to the wide variety of information, the internet, streaming services, social media, to realize that we don't have to take what the media is saying. "There's a real credibility crisis right now for legacy media, whether it's from COVID origin stories, whether it's shutting down Hunter Biden laptop, whether it's Russiagate. The list goes on and on and trust in mainstream media is falling, so I think a lot of these people who've made business models off of their gatekeeper status are worried, so they're looking to blame Trump. And, to some extent, President Trump is the reason why their business models are failing, but not for exactly the reasons that they think."
