South Africa is in the middle of a rhino poaching epidemic. Last year the country lost 1,215 rhino to poachers. This year already 756 rhinos have already been killed. At this pace, South Africa is losing more than one rhino every seven hours. 2015 is on track for a record year.
Rhino poaching is shockingly cruel and sadistic. This young female white rhino was poached in the Kruger National Park in 2013. When the rangers found her, she was still alive. The poacher’s bullets had ripped through her body breaking her back and leaving her unable to move or breathe properly. She was still conscious when the poachers hacked her horn out of her face.
Sadly, all Rhino species are now suffering a similar fate; according to the charity Save the Rhino if poaching continues to increase at current rates "rhino could be effectively extinct in the wild by 2026". That is in just over ten years time.
In the case of the Northern White Rhino, there are now only 4 left on the earth. In Kenya, 3 of the last 4 remaining are protected by drones and armed guard 24 hours a day.
The Javan Rhino is one of the world’s most critically endangered species with only a few dozen still in existence. The Sumatran Rhino which is the smallest and weirdest of the remaining rhino species (apparently it can meow like a cat) is also critically endangered, with around 80 animals left in the wild today. According to a new study, scientists actually now consider the Sumatran Rhino extinct in the wild.
You may ask why this happening?
The answer is human greed and ignorance.
Greed
Rhinos are killed by criminals for their horns. The horn, made of keratin (the same substance in our hair and nails), can sell for $35,000 per pound, on the black market in Asia. The demand makes rhino horn as much worth as cocaine or gold for traffickers. The illegal wildlife trade is now the fourth most profitable criminal activity in the world, after drug smuggling, financial counterfeiting and human trafficking.
The demand has created “highly profitable and organised international poaching criminal syndicates” that deploy advanced technologies “ranging from night vision scopes, silenced weapons, darting equipment and helicopters to carry out the missions”. Poaching techniques have become ever more sophisticated and harder to enforce. Rangers are losing the battle to save the Rhino.
(This man was jailed for forty years by a South African court for organising illegal rhino horn expeditions.)
Rhino poaching is also linked to terrorism. The trading of illegal ivory and rhino horn has gained the interest of Islamic fundamentalist groups in Sub Saharan Africa. The trading of these commodities has "subsided a significant proportion of their funds, allowing these military groups to cover a larger area, expand in manpower, arms and machinery and to execute increasingly devastating operations within the area".
Ignorance
Rhino horn has also been an important feature of Chinese pharmacopoeia for at least 2000 years, where it is thought to have medicinal powers. Although there is no scientific proof of its medical value, rhino horn is sought after for a variety of uses such as relieving signs and symptoms of infection, and increasing sexual performance.
There is also a huge lack of awareness about the crisis in Asia. In November 2012, WildAid, interviewed 963 residents in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to better understand awareness of rhino conservation status. Over 69.9% of participants did not know that horns came from poached rhinos and 47.3% thought that Rhino Horn improved sexual competence.
Overall, the battle to save the rhino from extinction is not currently being won. Poachers have become to sophisticated, governments to corrupt, individuals to greedy and rangers to underfunded. Unless something dramatically changes within the next ten years, the future for this magnificent species could be lost forever.
There is still hope but we need to act now. Unfortunately time is now running out for the entire rhino species.
This article is dedicated to ranger Agoyo Mbikoyo who was killed by poachers earlier this year in the Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
For more information about how you can help stop the Rhino Poaching crisis please visit this site: http://savingthesurvivors.co.za/.
References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpuHXqb8gb4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdFtJbqvpJo
http://www.consultancyafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1707:elephants-and-rhinos-fund-terror-networks-illegal-poaching-in-sub-saharan-africa-funds-islamic-fundamentalism&catid=60:conflict-terrorism-discussion-papers&Itemid=265
http://www.livescience.com/51965-sumatran-rhino-extinct-in-malaysia.html
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