405 Rhino poached .. sad !

405 rhino poached this year

Johannesburg - Poachers have killed a record 405 rhinoceros in South Africa since the start of the year, the national parks board said on Tuesday.

"The number of rhino poached is up by approximately 21.6% from the 333 of the previous year," said South African National Parks (SANparks) in a statement posted on its website.

Rhino killings have spiked from 13 in 2007 as poachers hunt for rhino horn, made of the same substance as human fingernails.

It is popular for use in Asian medicinal treatments - especially in China and Vietnam, where it is believed to cure cancer despite scientific evidence to the contrary.

Authorities arrested 210 people for poaching in 2011, compared to 165 in 2010, according to SANparks.

Booming demand has driven the price up to record levels of half a million dollars for the largest horns, according to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

The conservation bodies have responded to the surge by dispatching army troops to fight poachers and stepping up arrests.

Authorities have struggled to stop poaching syndicates that use helicopters, night vision equipment and high-powered rifles to hunt their prey.


Source: News24.com

Kevin Robertson wrote a article in Sports Afield saying that we need to start ranching rhinos. There horns are made up of hair! You can cut the horns off every few years and start selling the horns to the Chinese for crazy amounts of money. It made a lot of sense to me.

That's exactly right except that the poor things breed so slowly! But yes farming them would be the right way to go! Just like the Lion population has now exploded in SA! Breed them up!

Well the street value of a rhino horn is $100,000.00 per kilogram (2.2 pounds). But then the Chinese turn around and sell it for $700,000 per kilogram in traditional medicines. All for compacted hair like strands of keratin, the same stuff you hair and fingernails are made of. "Those are words quoted by Dr. Kevin Robertson"

Female rhinos are sexually mature at 4 years old...16 month gestation period. They calve every 3-4 years....life expectancy 40 years. He said a rhino could produce 40 kilograms of horn in a lifetime. A lot of money to be made.

100% Enysse! the problem is that 'common sense' just isn't so common anymore!

Wasn't there a place(farm) in SA that sedated and cut the horns of their rhinos and sold the horns and got huge problems with the law this year or last year?

Update ...... :-(


3 rhino dehorned in Eastern Cape

Port Elizabeth - A rhino has been killed and two of the creatures critically injured after poachers struck in the Eastern Cape on Friday morning, the Hawks said.

The attack took place on a game farm near Kenton-on-Sea, Hawks spokesperson McIntosh Polela said.

"Rangers at the Kariega Game Farm were patrolling this morning when they found three dehorned rhinos," he said.

Vets and the police were called immediately.

"The police have cordoned off the scene and are investigating," he said.

Earlier this week, four suspects were arrested for killing and dehorning two rhinos in the Kruger National Park. The suspects included three park employees and a traffic officer.

They appeared in the White River Magistrate Court on Thursday, on charges of rhino poaching and defeating the ends of justice.

Their case has been postponed to March 8 for a formal bail application, Polela said.

- SAPA



Source: news24.com

It takes a special kind of Ole Baly to be that smartcwhack:, I agree 100% it is a matter of convincing the rest of the audience that this will be the right course of action, while it might be the most intelligent way to solve the problem, we are facing one serious obstacle, and that is the fact that most of the crowd we are dealing with can not grasp this simple solution.

Or is it a matter of not wanting to understand.

Makes you wonder how deep the evil is rooted.

My best always.

I found this: Montreal Gazette

"India's northeastern state of Assam on February 21, 2012. Shoot-on-sight orders have now reduced poaching in the park, with nine recorded rhino poaching incidents in 2010, down from 48 in 1992. "

If this quote it true, and Rhino poaching is this out of hand in Africa, I would suggest following India's lead here. The poachers know the risk now, so they have no one to blame but themselves. While in SA I recall one of the gentleman around us complaining about the influx of Chinese in SA. SAP opperate by a different set of rules than what I am use to, but, put 2 and 2 together. An influx of Asians and a drastic rise in poaching????? Hmmmmm

Shoot on sight would definitely get a jump on the problem. The Asian markets for rhino horn aren't going to be taken care of. It will have to be on the supply side.

Gentleman I believe that there is a shoot on sight policy, for one TRT a tactical team made of old miletary guys do have this policy they have been assembled spesifically to get the mes under control unlike India we have rhino scattered all over the country on hundreds of ranches. Need I say more.

Establishing which rhino's are to be targeted next is virtually impossible to determine.

My best always.

Gentlemen,
Let's not forget who is creating this problem in the first place. The Chinease, Korians, Japanese, etc... They are not only pillaging the rhino, they are doing the same to every ocean in the world with their massive appetite for shark fin, billfish, etc... While I agree with "shoot on site" policies, stiff jail times, etc... for the actual scum that are performing these deeds,(in my opinion, there will always be someone to take their place) the world needs to go after the people responsible for the demand. We could all do this by refusing to buy products manufactured in the countries that produce this demand. When the revenue is impacted for these countries, their politicians will get involved. When the loss of revenue impacts their pocket books more than the bribes from the horn traffickers, things will be different in a big way. The world is horrified over the manner in which the rhinos are being slaughtered, yet nothing is done against the countries ultimately responsible........maybe the first to adopt this should be the worlds hunting faternity. Maybe this is nothing more than a "pipe dream", but it has to start somewhere..................just my two cents. (I currently purchase NOTHING coming from these countries. Cars, electronics, clothing....nothing)

Zim has had a shoot to kill (armed poachers) policy in Intensive Conservations Areas since the early 90's. It did help, but the poachers just get smarter..they now use drugs to kill the Rhino.
Buff Buster...nice sentiment my friend but 99% of what you own originates in China! Even my favourite Cabelas brand boots are made in China. They don't ACTUALLY make much in the US anymore. It's all made under licence in China. They are the scourge of the planet but unfortunately like one of them once said...we may be small but count us!
A solution to Rhino poaching is creating a toxin that can be impregnated into the Horn (whilst on the live Rhino) that is deadly to humans! Well advertised and marketed! The poison scare a little while ago created exactly the right kind of uproar!

Ole Bally - I like the way you think my friend! "Poison the horn"...beautiful! ..........Believe it or not, I do research where products are manufactured. I may not catch all of them, but at least I try. You are right, it limits my choices severely and impacts the price in a negative way but I sleep better at night.

"Once you leave Africa, it never leaves you"

Buff-Buster said:

Ole Bally - I like the way you think my friend! "Poison the horn"...beautiful! ..........Believe it or not, I do research where products are manufactured. I may not catch all of them, but at least I try. You are right, it limits my choices severely and impacts the price in a negative way but I sleep better at night.

"Once you leave Africa, it never leaves you"

Click to expand...

+1 Ole Bally,

It would make them stiff, just like Rhino horn is suppose too.

All of the above metods would be great. It's amazing how people like us can figure out a cure for the problem. Maybe we have to offer this ight to the heads of countries and maybe? Just maybe they will figure it out.

Hey Calhoun,

What you said makes me think , sometime ago i read something about some guys in SA trying to get permission and funds to buy heavy weapons ( automatics , night vision other goodies too ) and carry out combat teams in the bush to fight rhino poachers as "charity work " they wanted no pay all they needed was some funds to start it up and get some legal documentation in case of human fatalities etc.. I read that it was like a recruitment process kind of like special forces work. I doubt they ever will get it setup because of some Gov complications and so on .. anyway would be good though.

Buff-Buster said:

Believe it or not, I do research where products are manufactured.
"Once you leave Africa, it never leaves you"

Click to expand...

What kind of products do you research?

I am restating.... the problem is the number of private properties that own rhino, it is virtually impossible to monitor an area with such a spread out population, farming is the right option, government involvement is another issue, we are faced with a pretty complex problem.

If our rhino population was limited to National parks for the most part,... it would have been way easier to patrol and monitor, unfortunaly they are not. Out of 405 the majority has been poached of private land, parks have the resource to monitor allot better than what they are curently doing, another fact is that we can not rely on the police to control this on private land as they do not even have the man power or training to police our streets not even to mention a well organised well trained poaching syndicate.

It would be interesting to get a south african legal expert in on this as I can guarantee you that if I was to deck a Rhino poacher with a 375 bullet in the face!!!! I would be feeling the wrath of the South African law!!!! Anti poaching units have a shoot to kill policy in parks,... regular civillians do no have this not even on their own property.

My best always!

Outrage over rhino horn act

March 25, 2012 Outrage over rhino horn act

Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and Angola are heading for a collision with rhino conservationists after it emerged that their governments had agreed to the sale of rhino horn powder in clinics and pharmacies.

The governments of the five states that form the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (Kaza) met in Namibia last week and resolved to sell rhino horn powder in their fight for the survival of the species which is fast heading for extinction.

Francis Nhema, Zimbabwe's Minister of Environment and Tourism, said: "We agreed that we will demystify the rhino issue by selling horn powder in clinics as well as pharmacies in all the Kaza member states. We hope this will shift the attention of the poachers.

"Instead of going through dangerous operations where one is likely to die, or even killing the animals, walking into a pharmacy will be a safer decision," he said.
However, the Kaza member states have ignored the fact that the market for rhinoceros horn is in Asia. Selling the powder in regional pharmacies will not do much in the fight to protect white and black rhinos.

Rhinoceros horn powder is mainly used in Asia to treat fevers, rheumatism and gout, as well as being used as a so-called aphrodisiac. However, trade in rhino horn was banned in China in 1993, leading to trade on the black market . Usually dealers prefer rhino horns from Asia, which are more pricey than the African rhino horn. But the rapid decline in the rhino population in Asia has forced illegal dealers to look to Africa as a source.

Johnny Rodrigues, of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, said the Kaza states' decision was ill-advised and would only make the situation worse.
"It's not good for the conservation of the rhino. We will live to regret this decision. We will try to engage the stakeholders and come up with better methods of conservation," he said.

Rodrigues maintains the only way to deal with poachers at present is to poison rhino horns.
"Once it is known out there that the rhino horn in Southern Africa is poisoned, there will be no takers for it - and eventually poachers will shy away because the stock would lose value, whether they like it or not.

"Even if it takes someone to die then the message will be noted, because consuming the horn will be life-threatening," he said.

If rhino horn powder was to be made available in clinics and pharmacies, Rodrigues said, it would escalate poaching, because the poachers would race to beat the middle man with lower prices.

"Poachers will simply decide to push volumes with lower prices for the horn as they try to beat the middleman [clinics and pharmacies]. Besides, there is nothing that can beat the original raw material and the underground dealers will always prefer the horn as raw as it comes," he said.

In recent years the concept of dehorning rhinos was mooted in some of Africa's game parks. However, the killing of rhinos for their horns continued unabated.
Research also showed that dehorning disadvantaged the animals in the wild. The horn is part of the rhino's defence mechanism.

"Dehorning did not work because eventually the rhino would grow its horn back, and then the process would have to be done again with the animal enduring stress and heavy loss of blood," Rodrigues said.

In some reserves in South Africa, where more than 130 rhinos have been killed this year, rhinos have microchips and tracking devices inserted into them.