This article may contain graphic and/or adult content unsuitable for minors and sensitive readers.
Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa says a total of 550 rhino have been killed in the Kruger National Park in the past 11 months.
She says during the past 5 years, more than 1 450 rhino had been killed for their horns in the park.
Speaking at a meeting of Parliament's environment portfolio committee in the Kruger National Park, the minister said rhino poaching posed a threat to South Africa's national security, threatened the country's national heritage and the future of the country's tourism industry.
An increase in the number of rhino deaths prompted the government to make R75 million available to South African National Parks for the employment and training of additional rangers for the 2013/14 and 2015/16 financial years.
Meanwhile, as many as 20% of Africa's elephants could be killed in the next 10 years, if illegal poaching continues at the current rate.
That's according to new data released yesterday at the opening of the Elephant Summit in Botswana.
An estimated 22 000 elephants were illegally killed across Africa in 2012, slightly lower than the 25,000 elephants poached in 2011.
A report by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species says the elephant killings took place at 42 sites across 27 African countries.
It warned that current elephant poaching in Africa remains far too high, and could soon lead to local extinctions if the present killing rates continue.
It said the situation was particularly acute in Central Africa where the estimated poaching rate was twice the continental average.
