Johannesburg, Feb 9 : A total of 451 rhinoceroses were killed for their horns in 2021 which is 24 per cent less than the pre-Covid period in 2019, said Barbara Creecy, South Africa's Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries. A total of 327 rhinoceroses were killed in government reserves and 124 on private property, Xinhua news agency reported. Creecy on Tuesday attributed the decline in poaching to collaboration between the parks rangers and other law enforcement agents. "Over the last year, conservation and anti-poaching efforts have intensified countrywide as a joint effort is made by state-owned conservation areas, government, and private landowners to reduce the poaching of rhinoceros in South Africa," she said. In 2021, there were 189 arrests in connection with poaching activities, in comparison with 156 arrests made countrywide in 2020. In the 38 verdicts, handed down by the courts, 37 cases resulted in the conviction of 61 accused rhinoceros poachers or traffickers. /IANS