Cape Town: Police in a South African province Sunday announced a reward of 500,000 rand ($65,000) for information leading to the arrest of suspects involved in the killing two rhinoceroses.
The rhinos were killed in a reserve in Limpopo province Thursday.
"We need the cooperation of each and every citizen of this province and country to bring the perpetrators to book and stop this slaughter from continuing," Limpopo provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Simon Mpende said while announcing the award.
He urged the public to assist police in the fight against rhino poaching.
At least 165 rhinos were killed in the province since 2008. In January this year alone, at least 10 rhinos were poached, according to official data. Nationwide, 448 were killed last year, including 19 black rhinos, a critically endangered species, Xinhua reported.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said the recent upsurge in rhino poaching had been linked to increased demand for rhino horn in Asia, particularly Vietnam.
IANS
