Law enforcement agencies have arrested 34 suspects in an intensified crackdown on rhino poaching since the beginning of this year, the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) said on Wednesday.

Of the suspects, 13 were arrested in the past week during joint operations by anti-poaching units, the SA Police Service, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, dubbed as the Hawks, and the SA National Defense Force (SANDF), according to the department.

In an encounter with rangers, four alleged poachers were killed in the Kruger National Park (KNP) on Saturday.

But the DEA said the successful arrests came as the number of rhino poached since Jan. 1 this year rose to 96. Of the rhino poached, 66 rhino were killed in the KNP, 11 in North West, 10 in KwaZulu-Natal.

Last year, a total of 668 rhinos were lost to poaching in South Africa and 267 suspects were arrested. Last year saw the highest number of rhinos poached in the country.

In 2011, 448 rhinos were killed in South Africa, 34 percent more than in 2010 when 333 rhinos were killed, and nearly four times the 122 lost in 2009.

Poachers kill rhinos to get their horns that are in great demand in some Asian countries, particularly Vietnam, where rhino horns are superstitiously used to cure diseases.

To stop the scourge, the South African government has dispatched the SANDF to help the fight and set up a tip-off hotline. Endi

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