[ti:Rhino Poaching Hits Record Numbers in South Africa] [ar:Marsha James] [al:Environment and Science Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, this is the Environment and Science Report. [00:06.74]The poaching, or illegal killing, [00:09.69]of rhinos in South Africa is growing worse each year. [00:14.37]The government recently reported [00:17.71]that a record number of rhinos were poached in 2014. [00:23.29]The killings continue even though the government [00:27.43]has increased efforts to try to stop poachers. [00:31.17]Edna Molewa is South Africa's environmental issues minister. [00:36.75]"During 2014, we (are) sad to say this, [00:40.60]the number of 1,215 rhinos were killed. [00:44.60]This is a rise in the number of poached rhino from 1004 in 2013. [00:50.98]This is indeed very worrying," Molewa said. [00:53.08]That is an increase of 21 percent from 2013, [00:58.36]a year which had more rhino killings [01:01.76]in South Africa than ever before. [01:04.90]The World Wildlife Fund, or WWF, [01:09.44]estimates 20,000 rhinos live in South Africa. [01:14.28]That is more than 80 percent of the rhinos in the world. [01:19.00]The animals are hunted for their horn. [01:22.51]Many people in Asia believe the horn has healing power. [01:26.94]But there is no scientific evidence for this belief. [01:31.53]The horn is made of keratin. [01:34.66]That is the same substance as human hair, [01:38.45]fingernails and toenails. [01:40.82]Ms. Molewa said 386 suspected poachers were arrested last year, [01:48.25]an increase from the year before. [01:50.94]But rhino protection workers say [01:54.59]poachers often go unpunished after arrest. [01:58.37]South Africa's legal system is inefficient. [02:02.83]Ms. Molewa said more needs to be done. [02:06.41]She said South Africa is taking strong measures to protect rhinos. [02:12.19]She said efforts include moving some of the animals [02:17.08]to secret places in neighboring countries. [02:20.42]"Now, in the last quarter -- which is last year, [02:23.76]2014 -- 56 rhino have already been moved out of poaching hot spots [02:31.63]and translocated from certain areas [02:34.78]within the Kruger National Park to what we call [02:37.52]an intensive protection zone -- ITZ -- [02:39.76]as well as to other, more secure areas. [02:43.76]And over and above that, [02:45.70]approximately 100 rhinos have been translocated [02:49.78]to neighboring states in the SADC region during 2014," Molewa said. [02:54.38]She said 200 more rhinos will be moved this year. [03:00.00]Jo Shaw is the rhino program manager at the WWF. [03:05.93]She spoke to VOA on Skype about the record number [03:10.81]of rhino killings last year in South Africa. [03:14.29]"It's obviously extremely worrying news. [03:17.80]We're, we're talking about a loss of a hundred rhinos a month, [03:21.04]or, or more than three a day. [03:22.53]We really need to see strategic, [03:25.72]concerted action not just at a national level but internationally," Shaw said. [03:30.89]She says officials should find the criminal groups [03:34.90]responsible for the poaching and punish them. [03:37.93]Conservationists and government officials are to meet in Botswana [03:43.48]in March at the Inter-governmental Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade. [03:49.38]And that's the VOA Learning English Enviornment and Science Report. [03:55.53]I'm Marsha James. [03:57.65]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51voa.com