Rhino poaching getting worse as 12 rhinos dehorned by poachers

November 2012. Just when it seemed that it couldn't get much worse, it did. At least 12 rhino have been dehorned by poachers, of which at least 9 ave died and the remaining 3 are very ill. Most of the rhinos were tranquilised before having their horns cut off. Additionally, two calves of some of the rhinos that were attacked have gone missing, it is assumed that they have wondered off into the bush without their mothers, and are unlikely to survive.

On the Hartzhoogte Hunting Reserve nine rhinos were killed and three dehorned by poachers; additionally two rhino calves have not been seen since. As a consequence the owners of Hartzhoogte have moved all their surviving rhinos from the farm.

Small mercies
We believe that a further report of three more rhinos being dehorned on an Eastern Cape game farm are false. 

More than 500 rhinos killed already in 2012
By the latest count, South Africa has lost a total of 528 rhinos to poachers since the beginning of 2012; the Kruger National Park remains the hardest hit, having lost a total of 320 rhino.