Forensics will join the fight against rising rhino poaching that has resulted in the killing of 825 rhinos in South Africa since the beginning of this year, experts said Wednesday.

The announcement was made during the first international rhino DNA sampling training workshop held between November 5-6 in Hoedspruit, northern South Africa.

The workshop was hosted by the South African Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) and the University of Pretoria's Veterinary Genetics Laboratory (VGL), in collaboration with the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC).

Law enforcement officers from each of the 11 African rhino range states, as well as from China, Thailand and Vietnam, and South African National Parks, participated in the workshop.

The purpose of the workshop was to enhance the world's enforcement capacity to address the wave of rhino poaching. The officials have been provided with focused training on the identification of rhino horn, rhino horn DNA sampling and wildlife crime scene investigation.

Participants have also been educated in the utilization of ICCWC tools and services to enhance their wildlife crime investigation capabilities.

Law enforcement officers will emerge from the DNA training better equipped with the necessary tools and knowledge to enable them to effectively counter illegal wildlife trade, the DEA said in a statement.

This includes specific investigative techniques and the increased use of wildlife forensics, which can be applied during follow-up actions that should be taken when seizures are made, crime scenes are investigated, information is being gathered or evidence is being presented to court.

The capacity of law enforcement officers has been boosted through a series of lectures and field visits to the Kruger National Park to partake in the physical DNA sampling of rhino that had been poached within the park. Special focus was given to the increased use of rhino horn DNA sampling to combat wildlife crime.

"South Africa welcomes the hosting of an international rhino DNA sampling workshop since we are the country most seriously affected by rhino poaching that is largely driven by international wildlife trafficking," said Fundisile Mketeni, deputy director- general for biodiversity and conservation in the DEA.

"The presentation of this workshop supports the decision by CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) at the 16th Conference of Parties in Thailand in March 2013 that all range States, transit and consumer States should strengthen compliance and enforcement," he said.

ICCWC is a collaborative effort by the Secretariat of the CITES, INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Bank and the World Customs Organization (WCO) to bring coordinated support to the national wildlife law enforcement agencies and to the sub-regional and regional networks that act in defense of natural resources.

The illegal trade in rhino horn continues to be one of the most structured criminal activities currently faced by wildlife enforcement authorities.

There are clear indications that organized criminal groups are involved in rhino poaching and illegal trade in rhino horn.

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