As more rhinos were poached, calls emerged on Wednesday for the re-erection of a 150-km border fence between Mozambique and South Africa.

This came after the Department of Environmental Affairs released the latest update on rhino poaching statistics which showed that another 24 rhinos were lost since last week, bringing to 146 in the total number of rhinos slaughtered this year.

"The SANParks (South African National Parks) Board has recommended to the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs that the boundary fence between South Africa and Mozambique be reconstructed," said SANParks CEO David Mabunda.

The fence is expected to bar poachers from neighboring Mozambique from entering into the South African Kruger National Park which bears the brunt of rhino poaching.

The park has lost 107 rhinos since the beginning of this year. Most of the rhino poaching took place in the south of the park near camps such as Lower Sabie and Pretoriuskop bordering Mozambique. The park lost 425 rhinos to poaching last year.

Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa said the reintroduction of the border fence is strictly dependant on an analysis of the rhino poaching situation in the Kruger National Park, and a lack of positive results emanating from the creation of a buffer zone within the Limpopo Transfrontier Park region bordering Mozambique.

There have been worries that erecting the fence would pose a threat to the movement of animals in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which incorporates national parks in South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. Endi

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