The criminal rhino horn trade between South Africa and Viet Nam. Poachers Have Already Killed Eleven African Rhinos in 2012. Written by Stephen Messenger It’s been just a little over two weeks since the new year began, but it’s already shaping up to be another deadly year for South Africa’s imperiled rhinos. In just the last half-month alone, poachers have claimed the lives of at least eleven rhinos for the purpose of removing their horns — with eight found dead in just one day — putting 2012 on track to be one of the worst years for rhinos ever.
Ground zero for rhino poaching in South Africa has been Kruger national park, a sprawling 7,523 square mile big game reserve along the country’s border with Mozambique. In 2011, over half of the 448 rhinos killed in South Africa resided within Kruger, despite the presence of some 500 park rangers. Faced with the the recent poaching spike, South African authorities plan to add 150 more rangers to patrol Kruger and install a 95-mile electric barrier along the area most trafficked by the illegal hunters, reports the BBC. The number of rhinos slaughtered in 2010 was 333.
Western Black Rhino Declared Extinct. Sad news today: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has declared the Western Black Rhino (Diceros bicornis longipes) of Africa extinct. Even worse, two other subspecies of rhinos are also close to becoming extinct. The Northern White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) of central Africa has been declared “possibly extinct” in the wild and the Javan Rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) is now “probably extinct” in Vietnam. In 2010, poachers killed the last Javan Rhino outside of Java. The animal was found dead in April 2010 with a bullet in its leg and its horn removed in Vietnam in Cat Tien National Park; an analysis of 22 dung samples affirmed the sad truth, that it was the last of its kind in Vietnam. The Indonesian island of Java still has a small but declining population. Rhinos have been targeted by poachers for their horns which are believed to have medicinal and other properties, such as curing cancer, in traditional Eastern medicine.
Related Care2 Coverage. Inde: des braconniers tuent 13 rhinocéros à une corne. Les rhinocéros du parc Limpopo au Mozambique sont tous morts. La survie des rhinocéros en Afrique menacée par les braconniers. Huit cornes de rhinocéros volées au musée de Dublin.
Des cornes de rhinocéros © AFP/Archives Aaron Tam DUBLIN – (AFP) – Huit cornes de rhinocéros d’une valeur estimée à 500.000 euros (650.000 dollars) ont été volées dans des locaux du musée d’histoire naturelle de Dublin, a annoncé jeudi l’établissement. Elles « ont probablement été dérobées pour approvisionner le trafic illégal de cornes vendues sous forme de poudre, et utilisées en médecine traditionnelle en Extrême-Orient », selon un communiqué du musée. Les cornes ont été volées mercredi soir dans les réserves du musée d’histoire naturelle de Dublin, où elles étaient conservées. Elles n’étaient plus exposées depuis un an pour éviter précisément d’être la cible des voleurs, a indiqué le musée. « A 22H30 (21H30 GMT), trois hommes masqués sont entrés dans le bâtiment avant de ligoter le gardien », selon la police, qui a ouvert une enquête.
Worst rhino poaching year on record for South Africa. At least 688 rhinos have been poached in South Africa this year, surpassing last year's record of 668 with more than three months remaining in 2013, reports the country's top environmental official. In a speech given September 21 — the day before World Rhino Day — Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa presented statistics showing a sharp rise in rhino poaching over the past four years.
Her data also revealed a decline in the number of rhino-related arrests, suggesting increased sophistication of the illegal trade, where horns from source countries in Africa and Asia is generally trafficked to urban markets in Vietnam and China, where rhino horn is believe to cure a range of ailments and is also viewed as a status symbol. Rhino poaching has surged in recent years due to rising demand from a growing middle class in East Asia. Efforts to combat the trade has largely fallen flat. Related articles Poaching jumps since South Africa announced support for legal rhino horn trade. Afrique du Sud: Dans quatre ans, les rhinocéros pourraient avoir disparu.