Whilst travelling with family in a land Rover truck in the depths of the massive Kruger Park in South Africa, a friend of mine spotted an enormous prehistoric beast sprawled, snoring, in its terrain, without a care in the world. This beauty came in the form of a 2,000 kg male white rhino. All excitedly they reached for their cameras whilst exchanging comments about how wonderful it was to see such an imposing and majestic animal in its natural habitat. This rhino was lucky. They could just as easily have been reaching for a gun instead of their photography gear.
Sadly, millions of humans out there want to see rhino dead. Many of them hail from the Far East. They think the rhino’s horn can be ground down and ingested to cure cancer, improve their sex lives or ward off evil spirits. They are prepared to pay heavily-armed poachers to shoot and maim these animals, hack off their horn then ship it half way around the world to China. It is a multi-million dollar industry that commands €50,000/kg for rhino horn. An average rhino horn is about 5kg. If nothing is done to stop the continuous slaughter the entire population of both black and white rhino will be lost. From 1970 to 2000, over 90% of the world population of rhinos dropped. The major cause of this massive extinction is poaching. Many countries such as Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Nigeria have lost their rhino populations altogether.
The rhino, a creature from a bygone age, is older than mankind itself. Greed, corruption, myth and superstition are fast bringing it to the brink of extinction. For millenia the rhino's horn, its best protection, has been its worst enemy. If the killing does not stop the last rhino in the wild could disappear in less than fifteen years.
What is poaching? Wikipedia defines poaching as the illegal taking of wild plants or animals contrary to local and international conservation and wildlife management laws. Violations of hunting laws and regulations are normally punishable by law and, collectively, such violations are known as poaching. Rhino poaching is happening in almost every rhinoceros habitat, from South Africa to Mozambique, Kenya, India, Nepal, Sumatra.
What makes rhinos easy targets for poaching? Rhinos have very poor eyesight. They cannot see stationery objects even just a few meters away from them. However their hearing is very acute and they rely on their well-developed senses of smell to warn them of approaching danger.
A merciless torture. The cruelty of the attack is horrendous. Rhino poachers sneak in, with the better organized using a helicopter to search the landscape. Some often walk up to 60km, weighed down with AK47 army machine guns, explosives, anything the hunters think they would need to bring down these majestic animals. One group of poachers killed a pregnant female, hacked off her horn and left her almost full term calf to die. Some use wire cables, having them struggle to death in agony.
There are various types of poachers. Subsistence poachers usually come from poor communities and are driven by poverty and hunger. They are usually on foot and will shoot the rhino with random fire to the head and chest area, as well as the legs to immobilize the animal. They then remove the horns very roughly using an axe. These poachers take high risk for comparatively little reward. They pass the horns to a syndicate member after the job is done.
Professional poachers have well-structured operations and use high technology methods which involve tranquillizer guns, helicopters, veterinary drugs, and high calibre weapons to kill rhinos. Professional poachers may have had military training. They normally have prior access to information about the farm they intend to target. Moreover the fact that highly controlled and regulated veterinary drugs are used in certain cases of rhino poaching indicates the involvement of professional veterinarians. Professional poachers are driven by a desire for financial gain and sheer greed. This group sometimes involves experienced criminal gangs that are part of a more organized and structured group. In high-tech aerial attacks the animal is darted from the air with tranquillizer guns bringing it down in just a few minutes.
When they land, they hack of the horns with a chainsaw. The use of a helicopter allows for easy access and quick getaways. The registration numbers of the aircraft are covered up or falsified during the operation. The rhino dies either from an overdose of tranquillizers or bleeds to death. The rhinos are darted with lethal drugs which may result in a quick death. Some evidence however shows that the animal suffered great stress before death. If the drug dosage is too low to kill the rhino it is likely to wake during the brutal removal of the horns with a chainsaw. The severely maimed rhino will the attempt to breathe through a cavity in its nasal passage between its eyes. This rhino will have no sense of smell and if it survives will have a great battle to fight off any secondary infection.
Official statistics. Last year 668 rhinos were poached in South Africa alone, rising from only 13 in 2007. The worst hit is The Kruger National Park, with latest official poaching statistics stating that up to early May 2013, 73% of the 292 rhinos poached in South Africa have been killed here. Despite the intensive efforts, army deployment, helicopter patrols and increased manpower the Kruger National Park still losing rhinos at a very fast rate. It is home to the largest population of White Rhinos making it an incredibly vulnerable target for poachers. 345 rhinos have been killed as I write. The numbers continue to rise rapidly. Rhinos are fast risking extinction. What will happen to the big five?
What is expected from an anti-poaching team? There are numerous anti-poaching units in South Africa whose role is to maintain an assertive presence against poaching activities. Duties while on patrol are to arrest and apprehend poachers, remove snares, rescue trapped or injured wildlife and report on any suspicious wildlife movements. It is a dangerous and often unappreciated task. They are an absolute necessity in all areas where wildlife is threatened by poachers.
One anti-poaching unit brought to my attention recently is the Protrack Anti-Poaching Unit, the first private anti-poaching unit established in 1992 in South Africa. They train their teams in all aspects of anti-poaching. Volunteers are recruited following the completion of a minimum of 28 days training. Each team works in groups of two, a team leader and a scout, are armed with a firearm and are deployed for periods of 16 days at a time. They patrol the property, searching for any signs of suspicious activity. They work with a GPS, marking waypoints and recording information such as infiltration routes. The teams are trained to monitor roads and arrest people for poaching.
Save the Rhino International is a fundraising entity set up in 1992 and works to conserve viable populations of critically endangered rhinos in Africa and Asia. They support a number of ongoing field programmes by funding a range of activities with grants. Their goal is to deliver long-lasting and widespread benefits to rhinos and other endangered species, and to the people living in these areas.
In order to stop this massacre some have suggested poisoning the horns without affecting the rhino’s health. A red powder, known as Disperse Red 9, turns into a highly visible purple liquid when combined with water. That liquid cannot be washed off with water, soap or alcohol. The infusion device soaks a rhino’s horn under high pressure. Rhino horns consist entirely of keratin, fibrous scleroproteins bundled up like very tightly pressed hair forming a very tough horn which can be soaked with the dye from inside without being noticeable from outside.
Some people suggest legalising the trade in rhino horn. Others suggest dehorning rhinos, that is, cutting the horns of all rhinos to protect the individuals, and the species. But what is a rhino without its horn?
I discussed this issue with Mr Zayne Barkas of the Protrack Anti-Poaching Unit, who stated that ‘before we can even start thinking about legalizing the rhino horn trade we need to first ask how many rhinos do we actually still have in South Africa and the rest of Africa and would other countries with a rhino population also follow the idea and if not how will they control their problems? Secondly, we need to know what the rhino horn is being used for, eg. medicinal reasons, meaning that the horn will be consumed and therefore more will have to be supplied as compared to an ornamental/investment value where the horn will not be consumed but stored and obviously what other value does the horn have to the trade. And finally how big is this market as we supposedly only have less than 20,000 rhino left in SA and we hold 90% of the population. Once we open the market for horn trade then we will have even less control over it currently as Rhino horn "Trade" is currently legal as legal hunts still happen every year. The horn is then removed from the animal and put onto a wooden plank and shipped overseas with a legal permit as the hunter’s trophy. So if we cannot even control the legal hunting part then how are we going to control the trade of rhino horn.’ He further went on to say that ‘the de-horning aspect is not a solution and the reason we used that tactic here in Hoedspruit was to buy the farmers time to get their security in place. The reason they shoot de-horned animals in large parks is simply because there is still a lot of value on the horn and specifically to ensure that they do not track that individual down again, therefore if you are going to de-horn then you should de-horn all rhinos on property or none at all.
What can we do? How can we get involved? At this point more awareness must be raised and people need to be educated on this gruesome crime. Many are unaware of their high risk of rhino extinction. We can use the internet, social networks, the press and the media to help spread the word. There are calls for volunteers to join anti-poaching units in order to assist in this war against poaching. There are numerous fundraising organizations over the internet that support a large number of conservation activities such as anti-poaching and monitoring programmes, environmental education programmes and research. Petitions are being signed by people all over the world in a desperate attempt to stop this cruelty.
My final words to all readers are these. Let us all work together and do our little bit in helping safeguard the rhino species from extinction and help put an end to this cruel act.
Sources & references : http://www.savetherhino.org/
Photos : http://www.protrackapu.co.za/
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