Rhino Slaughter Continues in South Africa

Republic of South Africa has the unwanted distinction of the continent's highest rate of poaching white(Ceratotherium simum) and black rhinos (Diceros bicornis). Part of the reason for such a high death rate is that the country is home to the largest rhino populations in the world: 18,000 white rhinos, and 2000 black rhinos. However, the country has been criticized for its anti-poaching policy and for supporting a legal trade in rhino horn. Compared to Namibia which lost only 20 rhinos to poaching last year, South Africa is failing to protect the species. The butchering is merciless and rampant. Rhinos, which are incredibly tough animals, have been known to suffer for days after their horns have been cut off by criminals bent on supplying the senseless but lucrative demand for horn in Asia as a cure-all. 2014 broke a new record for the number of rhino deaths due to poaching, 1,020 by November.

local ranger spots mother & calf; Save the Rhino Trust

Experts credit Namibia's success to a community-based approach called the conservancy model. Namibia has the second largest rhino population in the world with 1750 black rhinos. Local people take responsibility for safeguarding the animals on a daily basis. The emphasis is on stopping poaching and not just catching the criminals. The natives become invested in protecting their rhinos and are much more willing to report suspicious behavior or conversations to rangers. Catching poachers is more of a paramilitary operation that is not often successful. New gadgets such as drones, may detect more illegal activity, but getting rangers to the kill scene in time to find perpetrators or collect usable evidence is still a problem in remote areas. The uptick in Namibia's poaching losses has officials concerned as previously inaccessible areas of the country are opened up to mineral exploration, primarily by Chinese companies. A number of Chinese miners have been arrested for the possession of ivory and rhino horn.  The current price for rhino horn in Vietnam is $6000/100g, more than gold.

Despite Namibia's rhino conservation success, the government has been criticized by rhino advocates because it has authorized a few black rhino to be taken in trophy hunts. Trophy hunting is controversial among conservationists for reasons beyond the ethical question of killing of an endangered animal for sport. The business provides rhino conservancies around a quarter of their income. An American big game hunter recently paid $350,000 for a permit to kill a male rhino. As we all know, some people have more money than common sense, and the hunter still does not know if he can bring his rhino carcass back to the US. The US Fish & Wildlife Service has received 15,000 public comments on his request. Namibia is moving ahead with a cull of five rhinos this year including one sold to another American hunter. From the standpoint of the species survival a limited, controlled hunt is infinitely preferable to the illegal wholesale slaughter going on in South Africa.

Completely drying up the demand in developed countries for horn and ivory is probably the best way to reduce the death toll in combination with effective community-based law enforcement. If there is no market for the animal parts, poachers are unlikely to risk life and limb attempting to collect them. The United States is considered to be the second largest market for ivory after China. California has had a law on its books for forty years to end the ivory trade but it still continues. An NRDC report says that 90 of the ivory sold in LA and 80% sold in San Francisco is illegal. A California legislator from San Diego recently introduced a bill, AB96, that will close the 'old ivory' loophole--ivory from elephants killed prior to 1977--prohibiting anyone from buying, selling or importing ivory or rhino horn. The bill is deficient in that it does not make a violation of the law a felony but only a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of to $10,000. People who cause the prolongation of this mindless slaughter by criminal syndicates need to go to prison to think about the consequences of their actions.