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Time to save our rhinos Clare Louise Thomas November 18th, 2010 At least 270 rhinos have been killed this year for their horns. Yes, 270. Where do we draw the line? When do we take a stand? What more does it take for us to get involved? The papers have been were littered with stories of poachers. It has now reached the stage where even the South African National Defence Force has been asked to assist. This has gone to far. It's time to get involved. It's time to stop pretending others will sort it out. It's time to stop just watching as this terror keeps clawing at our country. It is time to make a difference. One of our nation's great privileges is its wildlife. I don't know if you have ever had the experience of joining a foreign tourist on their first game experience. Have you seen how that jaw drops? Have you seen the awe in their eyes? Have you felt it too yourself sometimes? This happens, because these experiences are truly remarkable. To be in the presence of wildlife in it's natural habitat - it's a gift. It's a gift we need to protect. Take for example little Phila, a baby black Rhino. She was shot nine times and still managed to survive this Rhino War before she was transported and released into the Johannesburg Zoo in October this year. All for a horn; a horn that is falsely believed to have medicinal qualities in South East Asia where the demand for it has doubled in the last year, as have the killings in South Africa. According to the International Rhino Foundation, a rhino horn sells for round R400 000 a kilogram, making it far more lucrative than even gold. And yet, all it is made from is compacted keratin - the same stuff that makes up our fingernails and hair. Yip, scientists say it has no medicinal qualities. Our rhinos are being killed for nothing. Poaching syndicates are getting more and more advanced using helicopters, night vision equipments and mercenaries skilled at tracking rhinos. Image that perfect image of a rhino you saw when last at Kruger, gracefully poised. Imagine a group of men hunting him and hacking off his horn, with complete disregard for this animal, and leaving him to die, all alone, slowly bleeding out into our African soil. Enough! South Africa is home to 90% of the world's rhino population. This places our Black Rhinos and around 4,500, and southern white rhinos nearly 18,000. The Northern White Rhino is said to be extinct in the wild. And at the current killing rate, conservationists fear that death rate is outweighing the birth rate. The demand for rhino horn is sadly insatiable, and the emergence of fearless poachers ever growing. We have to get involved. We have to do something. We have to stop this. To join this battle against poachers, and save our rhinos, take a mere moment to visit WWF to donate whatever you can. Believe me, every little bit helps. A lot. There's a rhino out there that you can help save from this horrendous and unfair death. You can make a difference. Cheers, ~ Alan Life Member NRA Life Member SCI email: editorusa(@)africanxmag(dot)com African Expedition Magazine: http://www.africanxmag.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alan.p.bunn Twitter: http://twitter.com/EditorUSA Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. ~Keller To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful. ~ Murrow | ||
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Hi guys I just finished a meeting with guys from parksboard total tally for rhinos are 305 and that was yesterday. What do we do??? Im renovating a house for the anti poaching unit we going to put the best security systems we have control room everything and a few things i cant name still Im not telling this to get a clap on the back and a thank you im doing this because i love wildlife and i see how our parksboard suffer to get any help from goverment to indivuadals like us so guys.THATS WHAT I DID what are you guys going to do.Read ar and moan about poachers or do something worthwhile. That is a mouthfull sorry guys i think i must get a beer and go relax under a tree. Luan | |||
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I applaud your efforts, but if you want to save the Rhinos then it is time to start moving them to Texas. I don't see how they will survive with such high black market prices and the corruption endemic to Africa. STAY IN THE FIGHT! | |||
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Insert a poison into the horn? | |||
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I think injecting some sort of poison into the horns, if it could be done without harming the rhino, would be a great idea. Even better, taking some of the horns now sitting in government stockpiles, and poisoning them and then getting them into the smuggling channels so that some of the end consumers get the bad horn and die. I believe that the fear of not knowing if the next injestion of rhino horn might kill you, or not, could be a powerful deterrent...especially if some have died after injesting rhino horn and it is well publicized. Years ago, back in the 1980s, I sent 4 aimpoint sights to Zimbabwe's Parks and Wildlife Department, specifically for their anit-poaching units to use on their guns. For a while, I'd get a report here or there about poachers they'd shot with the aid of these sights. Perhaps it is time for sportsmen to do something similar again. | |||
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The president of PHASA (I think it was the president) told me last year in Reno that probably 75% of the Southern White Rhino in SA were on game ranches. I wonder how many of them have been poached. : : : | |||
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SteveGI, I don't know if it is the 'official' number, but I was recently informed that there have been a total of 305 rhinos poached so far this year. The majority killed are white rhinos because their horns are bigger and weigh more, and they are easier to find. The white rhinos live in more open terrain and the blacks live more in the dense bush. However, there were some black rhinos killed as well, but I don't have a breakdown on the exact numbers. Cheers, ~ Alan Life Member NRA Life Member SCI email: editorusa(@)africanxmag(dot)com African Expedition Magazine: http://www.africanxmag.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alan.p.bunn Twitter: http://twitter.com/EditorUSA Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. ~Keller To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful. ~ Murrow | |||
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Gator A Proud Member of the Obamanation "The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left." Ecclesiastes 10:2 "There are some ideas so absurd that only an intellectual could believe them." George Orwell | |||
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The first place we should send a load of poisoned rhino horn is to North Korea. I'd pay good money to see the video of Kim Jung Il and his son flopping around. I'd bet it would also make a hell of a racket when those North Korean generals with the coats full of medals hit the floor and started clacking and rattling. Cheers, ~ Alan Life Member NRA Life Member SCI email: editorusa(@)africanxmag(dot)com African Expedition Magazine: http://www.africanxmag.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alan.p.bunn Twitter: http://twitter.com/EditorUSA Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. ~Keller To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful. ~ Murrow | |||
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Agreed! -eric " . . . a gun is better worn and with bloom off---So is a saddle---People too by God." -EH | |||
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