My apologies in advance… this post might make gloomy reading. If you feel like a good giggle, I suggest you stop reading this now and come back to it another time.
Apparently, more than 800 rhinos were poached across Africa last year, including 333 in South Africa alone. (For more on this story, follow the link below)
With figures like that, can there be any hope for rhinos in the wild? South Africa is light years ahead of the rest of Africa in the sophistication of its anti-poaching. Terrifyingly, we even lost one from our tiny Serengeti population, soon after a trumpeted reintroduction of five animals from South Africa.
There are persistent rumours that more of the Serengeti rhinos were poached around this time, but nothing concrete.
The simple fact of the matter is that rhino horn is an incredibly valuable commodity: ounce for ounce, it is dearer than gold. With many people living on less than a dollar a day, the temptation to cash in on the goldmine on the nose of this bumbling blind behemoth is just too great to resist.
Here’s a scary quote for you: ‘Tanzania’s elephant population declined by more than 30,000 elephants between 2006 and 2009, primarily from poaching to supply black-market ivory to Asia.’ http://appablog.wordpress.com/2010/03/12/elephant-poaching-and-illegal-ivory-trade-out-of-control-proposed-ivory-sales-increase-threat-to-conservation-efforts/
One of the main forces driving this new upswing in trophy poaching is rapid economic growth in the Far East; many Asians are finding they have cash to burn for the first time, and ivory and rhino horn are among the products they covet. It is fair to assume that this will change: as time goes by, the younger generations will turn against this trade, much as has happened in the West. Political correctness will come to the rhino’s rescue. But how long will this take, and what will be left of our wild places by then?
The crucial thing is awareness. International outrage is the only force that can hope to put a stop. On this front the tide is beginning to turn, with people like the artist / photographer Nick Brandt using his powerful images to publicise the massacre:
Several of you sent this link to me - many thanks to all of you.
No pictures from me this time: if you don’t mind, I think I’ll just let Nick’s photos do the talking.
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