South African National Parks has announced that, thanks to three highly successful operations that began on Friday morning, 14 suspected rhino poachers have been arrested. This brings the total number of poaching suspects arrested in the Kruger National Park this year to 113.
In a joint operation with the South African Police Service on the morning of October 17, SANParks rangers stopped a suspicious vehicle near Skukuza and arrested five suspects. A hunting rifle, ammunition and poaching equipment and the vehicle were confiscated. Later that same day, three more suspects were arrested in the Malelane area. 
On Saturday, October 18, in the Punda Maria section of the KNP, a joint SANParks and SAPS deployment, supported by South African National Defence Force (SANDF) air wing, encountered three suspected poachers. Two of the suspects were seriously wounded and arrested while the third was arrested unharmed. The two wounded suspects were immediately taken to hospital where one later died of his injuries. The remaining wounded suspect is receiving treatment under police guard in hospital. A hunting rifle, ammunition and poaching equipment were also recovered at the scene. Further investigations for all three operations are under way.
Reacting to the arrests, the SANParks Officer Commanding in the KNP, Johan Jooste, said: “We are in a volatile area that is under tremendous pressure and every time our joint forces make these arrests we are encouraged. This confirms that, united, we can conquer this scourge of rhino poaching. I am eternally grateful to the co-operation and dedication of these men and women in uniform who face huge challenges in their daily operations but continue to be dedicated to the cause of protecting our natural assets from greedy poaching syndicates.”