Webinar: South African poaching stats – what do they really mean?
Join us at 6pm on Thursday 5th March 2026, for the second in this year’s series of online webinars, where we bring together experts from around the world of conservation to discuss the biggest, most relevant topics of the day.
In February, the South African Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Mr Willie Aucamp, announced that 352 rhinos were illegally killed in South Africa in 2025. While this is a decrease of 16% from 2024, that is the equivalent of nearly 1 rhino killed per day for the whole year.
While there were some encouraging signs, for example, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in KwaZulu-Natal recorded a drop of more than two thirds from 2024 to 2025, the number of rhinos illegally killed in Kruger National Park nearly doubled from 88 to 175.
Is this a case of these illegal criminal units moving from one location to another? Does this data indicate that rhinos are harder to find as there are fewer of them?
Our CEO, Jo Shaw, will chair a panel to answer these questions and more. She will be joined by:
- Julian Rademeyer, award-winning investigative journalist and author of Killing for Profit.
Julian is a writer and research consultant focusing on organised crime. He previously worked as Director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime’s East and Southern Africa research observatory. Prior to joining the Global Initiative, he was a Project Leader at TRAFFIC, the international wildlife trade monitoring network. His best selling book Killing for Profit – Exposing the Illegal Rhino Horn Trade was shortlisted for the 2013 Alan Paton Award.
- Vuyiswa Radebe, Head of Biodiversity Conservation Operations at Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife
Vuyiswa is the Head of Biodiversity Conservation Operations at Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. Prior to that she worked as a Regional General Manager for South African National Parks (SANParks) in Western Cape.
- Karen Odendaal, Chief Operating Officer at Zululand Conservation
Karen began her career in 2005 as a Black Rhino Monitor at Manyoni Private Game Reserve. Her role evolved from General Manager at Manyoni and Zululand Rhino Reserve to becoming COO of the ZCT in 2015, focusing on community and conservation projects. She played a crucial role in establishing the Zululand Rhino Orphanage in 2017 and continues to drive initiatives like the range expansion.