White rhino faces extinction

January 27, 2012 | Filed underPopular News,Previous news | Posted by editor

Defacing a treasure … Haunting images of butchered rhinos have become commonplace in the media as the country’s rhino poaching crisis deepens.
 Fetching prices as high as that of gold, rhino horn is a scarce commodity which has cost the lives of more than 400 of these majestic animals in 2011.

Even though the Free State has escaped the brunt of the rhino poaching that has been plaguing the country, a few of the province’s residents are allegedly involved in a multinational syndicate and have added to the threat that this rare species is under.
Rhino are hunted for their horns, which are believed to hold medicinal value by some people in countries such as China, Japan, and Thailand.
Conservation authorities say nine rhinos have been poached in the province in recent years.
One of the first rhinos killed last year was in the Free State.
The white rhino was killed in the Willem Pretorius Game Reserve, near the town of Senekal, in January. Both of its horns were taken.
In October, two more white rhino were illegally shot at a nature reserve in the province. The carcasses of an adult pregnant cow and another younger cow were found at the Sandveld nature reserve near Bloemhof.
Police have yet to arrest the culprits.
Game farmers are now careful not to disclose the number of rhinos they have on their property.
This has made it difficult to know exactly how many animals are in the province.
They have also deployed more guards who keep a closer watch over the creatures.
The chairperson of Wildlife Ranching South Africa’s provincial chapter, Jess de Klerk, believes the poaching of rhinos in the province continues.
“Our Department of Environmental Affairs as well as members of the South African Police Services is involved in investigations of rhino poaching. We are working in conjunction with the department to legalise the trade in rhino horn as that is the only way to curb the poaching.”
Meanwhile, a Free State game farmer Marnus Steyl has been linked to a rhino horn smuggling ring.  Steyl and his two co-accused from Thailand will stand trial in June. As part of a trophy hunting scam, young Thai women were reportedly trafficked into South Africa to pose as “rhino hunters” and to work in brothels and strip clubs. Steyl allegedly helped organise these “hunting” trips.
Chumlong Lemthongthai and Punpitak Chunchom face charges of contravening the Customs and Excise Act and fraud. Steyl and Lemthongthai were also charged with contraventions of the Biodiversity Act. Chunchom is expected to turn state witness.
The Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, has expressed concern over the fate of the rhino.
Law enforcement officials were able to make 232 arrests relating to poaching in 2011, compared to 165 in 2010.
The sentence imposed for this crime is up to 16 years in prison.
South Africa is home to 80 percent of the world’s rhino population. According to statistics, there are 2 000 black and 19 000 white rhinos in the country. There were just 100 white rhinos in 1910. The dramatic increase has been attributed to good care and management of the species.
However, the level of poaching has escalated recently.
In 2007, South Africa lost 13 rhinos to poaching. By 2010, the number had increased to 333. In 2011, 450 rhinos were poached in South Africa.
If this trend continues, 805 rhino could be poached by the end of this year, according to analysts.
Only 15 rhinos are shot in true trophy hunts in South Africa every year. The rest are shot purely for their horns under the pretence of trophy hunting.
Conservationists believe that if the scale of poaching continues, it will see the majestic rhino back on the red list of critically endangered species in no time.
Experts have proposed beefing up anti-poaching measures, tougher sentences for offenders, education about fallacies surrounding the medicinal value of rhino horn, and even regulating the trade.
However, none of these measures have had significant results as yet and time is running out.
Investment analyst Michael Eustace expressed his concern in the Business Day newspaper that anti-poaching efforts are
extremely costly.
“Assuming that half the park needs to be patrolled intensively, because rhinos are concentrated there, then
1 000 rangers would be needed. The cost, including overheads, of an additional 600 rangers would be about R80-million a year, more than the annual surplus of South African National Parks, which was R52.6-million for the year to March 2011.”
SANParks chief executive David Mabunda has echoed Eustace’s sentiments.
There is a ratio of 50 000 hectares of park land per ranger. The ideal, he said, would be a ratio of 10 000 hectares per ranger, although this would mean increasing the workforce to 1 600 people.
Mabunda added that crime intelligence is key in the fight
against poaching.
Free State game farmer Marnus Steyl and his co-accused are to stand trial for smuggling in June.
Another concern for Eustace is that the rewards reaped from rhino poaching far outweigh the penalties.
“In Zambezi valley, the experience was that it did not matter how many poachers were shot and arrested. The rewards of poaching to those involved are said to be high. At the bottom level it is estimated to be R160 000 for a horn-set of 4kg, meaning only one horn as African rhinos have two horns. This amount can be made in one night by two poachers. This represents six years of wages for the two poachers, at Mozambique rates.”
The Asian market is also reported to be making big money out of rhino horns, especially the traditional medicine market. It is used to allegedly cure a range of ailments.
Only about two grams is used in each dose. Less than 0.1% of the Chinese population use it and that is because of the prohibitively high price.
“The traditional doctor demands to see the retailer shave the horn in front of him as he fears substitutes. The Vietnamese ‘trophy hunter’ pays R80 000 per kilogram for horn. This price probably doubles by the time it reaches the wholesale market and doubles again in the retail market,” Eustace said.
Recently, two suspected poachers were killed and two arrested in the Kruger National Park.
A spokesperson for the park, Reynold Tlhakudi, said park rangers were conducting routine anti-poaching operation where they spotted the suspects.
These poachers were said to be from Mozambique. They arm themselves with hunting rifles, axes, and dart guns or poisoned cabbage.
The Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, has expressed concern over the fate of the rhino.
Alarming rhino poaching facts
-More than one rhino per day is poached in South Africa.
-Horns are brutally hacked off after the rhino is immobilised or killed.
-Wire noose snares are often employed to strangle the rhino to death or hold it until it dies of thirst or loss of blood.
-Poachers deploy hundreds of snares which maim and kill indiscriminately.
-More and more inexperienced locals are engaging in rhino poaching activities as a result of poverty and low risk/high reward.
“I would like to express my dismay and strong condemnation of the on-going scourge of rhino poaching in our country, which has seen the staggering number of 448 rhinos illegally killed in South Africa in 2011. This on-going poaching of our rhino population is a source for great concern to government and the various stakeholders. It requires of us all as a collective to take drastic measures to help combat it.”
Molewa added that a dehorning impact study had recently been completed.
“The study identified the need to urgently conduct further research, with cooperation of private rhino owners. It will also gain empirical data on the efficacy of rhino dehorning as a means of reducing poaching threat, and on potential impacts on social behaviour and reproductive output.
“In essence… the dehorning impact study revealed that dehorning cannot be considered as the only security intervention. The decisions to dehorn a rhino population or not will therefore depend on a number of factors.”
Some of these factors include the level of the poaching threat and the security in place. It also includes the availability of funds, the size, location, and distribution of the rhino population.
The department has initiated different initiatives to help the rhino in its fight for survival. These include a National Biodiversity Investigators Forum, an Interim National Wildlife Reaction Unit, 150 additional rangers for the Kruger National Park, implementing a decision to deploy conservation specialists to key designated ports of entry, and an Operation Rhino Agenda item for the National Joint Committee.
At a National Press Club briefing in Pretoria, Molewa also called on South Africans to assist in stopping the slaughter, which has already claimed the lives of at least 11 rhinos this year.
“It is clear that this is an organised crime of the highest degree. And in dealing with organised criminals, we need inputs and actions from all
South Africans.”
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