Five soldiers die in helicopter crash in South Africa protecting rhinos against poachers
Worldwide, Daily news | ankakh | April 1, 2013 14:58Five South African soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash as they patrolled for rhino poachers in a national park.
The troops were taking part in Operation Rhino, the army’s mission to halt the illegal slaughter of the animals for their horns.
Rhino horn can reach prices of £50,000 a kilo – making it more valuable than gold or cocaine.
It comes after three suspected poachers were killed last week in a shoot-out with rangers in the vast Kruger park, where the killing of rhinos is now rampant.
So far this year, 188 rhinos have been poached in South Africa, 135 in Kruger alone.
Last year, 668 were killed illegally in the country, a 50 per cent rise on the previous year.
Surging demand from the Far East, where the horn is falsely believed to have medicinal value, is responsible.
A defence department spokesman said the cause of yesterday’s crash is being investigated.
As rhinos in the wild have been hunted to the brink of extinction, with just 29,000 remaining, poaching gangs have even been turning to museums and zoos Europe in their attempts to get the horns.
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