JOHANNESBURG: Rhino poaching in South Africa was 15 percent higher in 2021 than the preceding year as coronavirus restrictions that limited movement were eased, official figures showed Tuesday.
A total of 451 animals were killed in 2021, which is still 24 percent lower than the pre-pandemic year 2019, the country’s environment department reported.
Of the total, 327 animals were slaughtered in government national parks while 124 were targeted in private game reserves.
The government has in recent years tightened security in its large and famous Kruger National Park, which was the hotspot of most killings.
“The steady decline in rhino poaching in Kruger Park is related to an increase in the intensity of anti-poaching activities,” the department said in a statement.
Poachers have turned to other areas “for easy prey,” resulting in their targeting private reserves in the northern Limpopo and eastern Mpumalanga provinces bordering Mozambique.
South Africa is home to nearly 80 percent of the world’s rhinos. Their horns are prized in traditional medicine in Asia, and poachers have continued to mount an onslaught on the species.
Public national parks and private reserves are collaborating to protect their white and black rhinos, including sawing off their horns to discourage poachers.
The southern white rhino, one of two subspecies of white rhino, is now considered endangered with about 20,000 individuals remaining, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
It is classified as near-threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Uptick in rhino poaching as S.Africa eases virus curbs
https://arab.news/98m98
Uptick in rhino poaching as S.Africa eases virus curbs
- A total of 451 animals were killed in 2021, which is still 24 percent lower than the pre-pandemic year 2019
- Of the total, 327 animals were slaughtered in government national parks while 124 were targeted in private game reserves
Some Warren Buffett wisdom on his last day leading Berkshire Hathaway
OMAHA, Nebraska: The advice that legendary investor Warren Buffett offered on investing and life over the years helped earn him legions of followers who eagerly read his annual letters and filled an arena in Omaha every year to listen to him at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meetings.
Buffett’s last day as CEO is Wednesday after six decades of building up the Berkshire conglomerate. He’ll remain chairman, but Greg Abel will take over leadership.
Here’s a collection of some of Buffett’s most famous quotes from over the years:
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“Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.”
That’s how Buffett summed up his investing approach of buying out-of-favor stocks and companies when they were selling for less than he estimated they were worth.
He also urged investors to stick with industries they understand that fall within their “circle of competence” and offered this classic maxim: “Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1.”
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“After they first obey all rules, I then want employees to ask themselves whether they are willing to have any contemplated act appear the next day on the front page of their local paper to be read by their spouses, children and friends with the reporting done by an informed and critical reporter.
“If they follow this test, they need not fear my other message to them: Lose money for the firm and I will be understanding; lose a shred of reputation for the firm and I will be ruthless.”
That’s the ethical standard Buffett explained to a Congressional committee in 1991 that he would apply as he cleaned up the Wall Street investment firm Salomon Brothers. He has reiterated the newspaper test many times since over the years.
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“You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.”
Many companies might do well when times are good and the economy is growing, but Buffett told investors that a crisis always reveals whether businesses are making sound decisions.
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“Who you associate with is just enormously important. Don’t expect that you’ll make every decision right on that. But you are going to have your life progress in the general direction of the people you work with, that you admire, that become your friends.”
Buffett always told young people that they should try to hang out with people who they feel are better than them because that will help improve their lives. He said that’s especially true when choosing a spouse, which might be the most important decision in life.
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“Our unwavering conclusion: never bet against America.”
Buffett has always remained steadfast in his belief in the American capitalist system. He wrote in 2021 that “there has been no incubator for unleashing human potential like America. Despite some severe interruptions, our country’s economic progress has been breathtaking.”
