By Khanyisa Tabata
26 March 2011
Some 800 rhinos have been killed in Africa in the past three years alone and conservationists say the animals face their worst crisis in decades from crime syndicates.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature said today poaching was on the rise in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya due to well-equipped and sophisticated crime gangs.
Rhinos are hunted as trophies and their horns sell like gold on the black market. Each kilogram can fetch tens of thousands of dollars in Asia where the horns are thought to have medicinal value.
Meanwhile, a suspected rhino poacher has been shot dead in a clash with Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife rangers at the Ndumo Game Reserve in Mganu.
The incident occurred late yesterday afternoon soon after the discovery of a freshly killed adult female white rhino.
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