Kenya: for the first time since 1999, no rhinos were poached in 2020
For the first time in a long time, no rhinos were slaughtered in Kenya in 2020. REUTERS
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2 min
Hunted for their horns, highly prized in Asia, rhinos are a globally threatened species.
Over the past decade, however, a series of measures taken by the Kenyan authorities have succeeded in effectively countering poachers.
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With our correspondent in Nairobi,
Albane Thirouard
This is good news which follows on from recent years in Kenya.
If 2013 marked the worst year for Kenyan rhinos, with 59 killed for their horns, poaching activity has only declined since.
Nine were killed in 2017, four in 2018 and then zero last year.
This drop owes nothing to chance.
To protect the more than 1,000 rhinos on its soil, Kenya has put strict measures in place.
In 2013, the country passed new laws, strengthened in 2019, punishing poaching crimes with steep fines and prison terms of up to life.
The Kenyan public agency responsible for nature conservation also explains that it improved its intelligence methods last year, fearing an increase in poaching due to the pandemic and the resulting drop in tourism.
Its guards cooperate in particular with the police and local communities to obtain information and counter acts of poaching.
Microchips were also placed on the animals to better track their movements.
Measures which have also made it possible to fight against the poaching of elephants.
In 2020, only 11 were killed compared to 80 in 2018.
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To read and listen: Kenya: “BioRecue”, the project to save the northern white rhinos
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Kenya
Wildlife
Environment