Poaching statistics released by the South African government reveal 668 rhinos were slaughtered—a 50% increase over 2011 and a staggering 5000% increase since 2007. Already, an additional five rhinos have been killed since the beginning of this year.

On October 16, 2012 South African authorities confirmed that a record 455 rhinos have been lost to poaching this year. The number exceeds the 448 rhinos killed for their horns during all of 2011.

Rhino poaching crisis in South Africa is at an unprecedented level. A new report details how the fate of South Africa’s rhinos is inextricably linked with market demand in Vietnam—a country that recently saw its own rhino population slip into extinction.

As the threat to rhinos grows, help comes to a rhino population via an airlift and relocation.