Windhoek, Sep 1 (IANS): Namibia is experiencing a surge in poaching, with the number of poached rhinoceros rising to 48 this year, Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism spokesperson Romeo Muyunda said.

In a statement, Muyunda added on Wednesday that of the poached rhinoceros, 32 were black rhinoceros and 16 were white rhinoceros.

"We are facing this hurdle head-on to ensure that we effectively fight to poach. As was noted before, poaching has become more prevalent in private farms as well as black rhino custodianship farms. We are busy implementing new measures across the board to counter this surge," he said.

Muyunda said Anti-Poaching Units in private farms are being strengthened while police and ministry law enforcement officials are being roped in to assist private farmers with intelligence, law enforcement and patrols, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We will also be availing the services of our helicopter for aerial patrols in hotspot areas," he added.

According to Muyunda, the figure included three carcasses discovered in June and recently confirmed as poached after a thorough assessment in the Etosha National Park while the Ministry also discovered two more carcasses last week, bringing the total to 20 poached in Etosha.

He said that 12 black rhinos were poached on custodianship farms while 16 white rhinos were poached on private farms.

"We want to assure the public that the Ministry with its stakeholders will pull resources together in stopping this new surge of poaching," said the spokesperson, urging members of the public to remain vigilant and report any suspected case of poaching and other wildlife crimes.

Namibia boasts the largest population of free-roaming black rhinoceros in the world and has rebuilt the white rhinoceros population after local extinction during the colonial era.

The country recorded 44 rhinoceros poached in 2021, 42 in 2020, 57 in 2019, 83 in 2018, and 55 in 2017.