A KwaZulu-Natal conservation agency is using lie detector tests to determine if field rangers are involved in poaching or tipping off syndicates about the location of rhinos at its game reserves.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife is employing the tests to weed out corruption and protect KwaZulu-Natal’s dwindling rhino population.
The agency revealed this week that the sprawling Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, in the north of the province, has seen an 80% drop in poaching thanks to its anti-poaching measures, which include polygraph testing, smart fences, mass dehorning and intensified surveillance.
According to Global Conservation and the Wildlife Conservation Network, the park is regarded as a rhino conservation hotspot and the oldest proclaimed game reserve in Africa.
More than 100 staff at the park — mainly field rangers — go through random independent integrity testing to combat potential corruption.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife spokesperson Musa Mntambo said the polygraph tests are facilitated by an external service provider. “It involves asking them questions aimed at determining if they know about or were ever involved in rhino poaching. It’s conducted as and when the need arises. The last tests were focused on rhino reserves.”
Mntambo said the polygraph testing is part of Ezemvelo’s staff policy.
The 2025 “State of the Rhino” report compiled by the International Rhino Foundation (IRF) found that South Africa’s persistently high crime levels, dysfunctional government systems and steep budget cuts compound the country’s poaching.
“Organised crime thrives in this environment, bolstered by embedded corruption, including among reserve staff, limited investigative and prosecutorial capacity, slow court proceedings and the routine granting of bail to repeat offenders,” the report says.
It says corruption among reserve staff can take the form of rangers or other park staff providing information on the location of rhinos to poaching syndicates or standing down when poaching operations are happening. “In some cases, rangers have engaged in poaching.”
Elise Serfontein, the IRF’s South Africa adviser and founding director of Stop Rhino Poaching, said: “Rhino reserves are not only fighting poaching on the ground but are also left to contend with broader issues such as poverty, entrenched criminality and collapsing municipal services in communities along their boundaries.”
Ezemvelo says it has set ambitious goals to mitigate poaching and conserve rhino by increasing anti-poaching patrols and surveillance, improving boundary fences, integrity testing of field staff and mass dehorning.
“A cornerstone of this strategy was the large-scale dehorning initiative launched in April 2024,” said Dumisani Zwane, an officer heading game capture field operations at Ezemvelo.
He said that in less than three months 1,071 rhinos were dehorned — “a strategic intervention that has proven highly effective”.
“We are now down to only single monthly digits in poaching incidents, which is a significant turnaround. The work does not stop until poaching is eliminated entirely from our reserves.”
From 2009 to 2024, 40% of the park’s rhinos were lost, with a peak loss of 1,000 rhinos nationwide annually.
Dehorning started in 2016 in smaller reserves and within some private reserves.
After realising that dehorning was proving a successful deterrent for poachers, operations began at Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in partnership with WWF South Africa last year.
Vuyiswa Radebe, Ezemvelo’s head of biodiversity conservation operations, said the park is now expanding a R40m smart fence with funding from the department of forestry, fisheries & the environment.
In 2020, Ezemvelo teamed up with Wildlife ACT to construct the first phase of the smart fence after receiving funding from the Global Conservation and the Wildlife Conservation Network.
The smart fence detects any incursions or tampering along its length, and any attempt to infiltrate the fence triggers an automatic alert at Ezemvelo’s control centre. A rapid response team is deployed, allowing rangers to intervene and confront poachers before a rhino is killed.
Radebe said cameras are also used for various conservation purposes, including wildlife monitoring, understanding human-wildlife interactions and to combat rhino poaching. “Additionally, the park has deployed vehicle trackers, drones and helicopters with advanced night-vision capabilities. Operational strength has been significantly enhanced through advanced, specialised training that sharpens K9 reaction and tracking capabilities. A dedicated wildlife prosecutor now stands at the forefront, tackling wildlife crime cases across the province.”
Nina Fascione, the IRF’s executive director, said: “Despite global bans and increased protection efforts, poaching and illicit trafficking persist, raising critical questions about enforcement, education and international co-operation.”
She said persistent demand, primarily from China and Vietnam, is at the heart of the crisis.
“The largest driver of demand is for decorative carvings and trinkets like cups, bracelets and pendants,” says the IRF report. “In traditional Chinese medicine, the horn is believed to have curative properties, primarily for reducing fevers. There is no scientific evidence to support this belief.
“On the transit side, in ports of exit and entry, officials will ensure cargo or luggage is not inspected so horn can pass through customs. At international borders, law enforcement will look the other way as horn is smuggled through.
“After rhinos are poached in Africa, their horns are often shipped out of Mozambique and Angola and might pass through United Arab Emirates and Qatar, which have common routes for international flights, as well as Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Malaysia.”
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