---
title: "Plants on the black market: Inside South Africa’s new poaching problem"
description: "More than 1.5 million rare succulents have been removed from the wild in the past three years."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "GROUNDUP VIDEO"
author: "Ashraf Hendricks and Liezl Human"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/ashraf-hendricks-and-liezl-human/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-03-08-plants-on-the-black-market-inside-south-africas-new-poaching-problem/"
published: "2022-03-08T15:10:05"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 66
---

# Plants on the black market: Inside South Africa’s new poaching problem

> More than 1.5 million rare succulents have been removed from the wild in the past three years.

By Ashraf Hendricks and Liezl Human · Published 8 March 2022, 17:10 SAST

## Content

Rare succulents in the most arid province in South Africa are being poached and illegally exported to Asia. Little is known about the plants once they leave the country. *GroundUp* spoke to police officials, Northern Cape locals, a nursery manager, and conservationists and people connected to poaching to get to the bottom of the black market trade in these plants. **DM**

[YouTube video: "YouTube video"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z2jf1BuB04)

*First published by*[GroundUp](https://www.groundup.org.za/article/south-africas-new-poaching-problem/).

![Image](https://thirdpartyhits.groundup.org.za/counter/hit/dailymaverick/2022-03-08-south-africas-new-poaching-problem/)