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Who Could Resist This Face?

Kelly Russo - noemail@rhinos-irf.org — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:34:05 GMT

Chocolate, roses, certificates for free backrubs; you’ve done it all before.
This year give your sweetheart a rhino!

Well, we can’t actually send a rhino - their weight makes timely shipping a bit of a problem. Plus, they eat almost their weight in plants in a week’s time, so there goes your garden. But, for $30 you could adopt a rhino for your Valentine and help pay for that food. We’ll send a special Valentine’s Day adoption certificate, bio, and picture of your rhino too. Sumatran rhinos are one of the most endangered mammals on Earth. Show your love. Bet you might even get a free backrub for yourself in return!

Order before February 8th to be sure your rhino Valentine arrives in time.

7-Feb-12 9:34 AM

Rhinoceros Strays Into Assam Tea Garden

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Dhekiajuli, Assam, Jan 29: A rhino from Orang National Park strayed into Dhekiajuli tea estate located in Sonitpur district this morning.

The tea estate workers panicked as the rhino was spotted roaming inside the tea estate.

Divisional forest officer of Orang, Sushil Daila said two rhinos, a male and a female, had strayed out of the park on January 26.

While the male rhino returned to the park the same night, the female rhino moved further away from the park. It is the same rhino which was spotted at Dhekiajuli tea estate today.

The tea estate is about 20 Km from the national park, the smallest rhino habitat in the state. Daila said the rhino was spotted in the Borsola area yesterday but it had moved further away today.

Efforts are on to chase the rhino back to the park and Orang staff and forest personnel from Sonitpur are taking all necessary steps in this regard.

A forest official engaged in the operation to chase back the rhino said at least two rounds were fired in the air early this morning to scare the rhino and make it move towards Orang.

”The rhino is very close to Dhekiajuli town. Our aim is to stop it from straying into the town area.” He said the rescue team was facing a big problem as a large number of people had gathered to see the rhino and the rescue team was finding it difficult make the rhino take the right path back to the national park.

“There are people all around and the rhino is stranded in the middle of the tea estate”. He said help from police had been sought to control the crowd. “Unless the people move away from the area, it would not be possible to chase back the rhino.”

The forest staff at Orang had managed to bring back a rhino which had strayed out of the park and entered the Chapori area, considered to be a poacher’s den, on January 23.

The rhino had crossed the Brahmaputra and taken shelter in places considered to the breeding ground of poachers.

At least 15 forest guards from Orang and Morigaon district had to struggle for an entire day to bring the rhino back to the park.

In the last couple of years, there have been at least four cases of rhinos straying out of the national park and each time, our staff has managed to bring them back safely, at times after two to three days.

6-Feb-12 9:00 AM

Rhino lovers' dedication pays off

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Staff make sacrifices to find elusive animal

Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA) chairman Dr Abdul Hamid Ahmad (third from left), BORA executive director Datuk Dr Junaidi Payne (left) and board member Cynthia Ong (fifth from left) join staff in admiring Puntung, the rhinoceros, at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve. Photo courtesy of BORA

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THE capture of the elusive female rhino named Puntung at the Tabin Wildlife reserve last month, may have not happened had it not been for the dedication of the field staff under the non-governmental organisation, Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA).

For these field staff, working under the supervision of the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD), it is more than just work as they are willing to spend extended periods away from home in a remote rainforest.

BORA field staff Justine Segunting, 33, said it took them almost two years to find Puntung.

"I was one of the first to see her, and nothing can describe how I felt at that time.

"We worked around the clock from when Puntung was found on Dec 18 to when she was brought to the interim facility on Christmas Day. We sacrificed our Christmas leave as we could not go home to celebrate, but it did not matter," said Justin who is from Telupid, about 200km from here.

Rajimah Kasran, one of only two women involved in field work, said it was a relief that Puntung was not captured by poachers who prized rhino horn for traditional medicine.

"We were worried that poachers might get her. I am so glad that she is now with us and doing well in the interim facility," she said.

Rajimah, 26, who is also from here, only returns home about five times a year as she is very involved in her work in rhino conservation.

Last Friday, BORA organised a function to present 21 of its field staff with certificates of appreciation for their hard work.

BORA chairman Dr Abdul Hamid Ahmad said the successful capture of Puntung required various types of resources and effort.

"Most important of all was the hard work over months and years among people working on the ground. Our staff worked at all times in collaboration with SWD staff in Tabin," said Dr Hamid.

"At any one time, BORA had about 20 people involved in one way or another in the capture of Puntung, as well as taking care of rhinos Tam and Gelogob who were already at the interim facility."

The NGO is currently helping SWD in the development of the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary, a Sabah government programme that kicked off in 2009, to prevent the extinction of rhinos in Sabah through captive breeding.

The BRS programme aims to bring rhinos from non-viable situations where the mammal exists but is not breeding, to a facility that will maximise chances for reproductive success.

Pending tests, Puntung is potentially a mate for Tam, a rhino that walked out of a forest in 2008.

6-Feb-12 9:00 AM

Minnesota Zoo biologist works in Namibia to save endangered rhinos

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:00:00 GMT

"Sota," a black rhino calf born a few years ago in the desert Muntifering patrols, is named after Minnesota. A Save the Rhino Trust patrol captain came up with name after seeing the Minnesota Zoo logo on Muntifering s shirt. ( Courtesy Photo: Minnesota Zoo/Save the Rhino Trust, Namibia)

Jeff Muntifering, a Minnesota Zoo conservation biologist and native of Sartell, Minn., spends 10 months of the year in Africa, where he works with Save the Rhino Trust to protect Namibia s black rhino population. ( Courtesy Photo: Minnesota Zoo/Save the Rhino Trust, Namibia)

The hot, dry Namibian desert may seem a world away from Minnesota, in distance and landscape.

But while central Minnesota native Jeff Muntifering is traversing the barren African landscape to study endangered black rhinos, he often is reminded of home.

"The stillness in the north woods, it's the same in the desert," said Muntifering, a conservation biologist at the Minnesota Zoo. "There's no human, no manmade sounds. It's just the wind blowing. It's peaceful, therapeutic."

Muntifering, of Sartell, Minn., has been involved in rhinoceros conservation in Africa for the past 10 years. In 2008, the Minnesota Zoo offered him a job as a conservation biologist.

Having grown up visiting the Apple Valley zoo and working as a conservation intern there, Muntifering jumped at the chance to work for his childhood muse.

"The zoo definitely made an impression on me and helped inspire my conservation ethic," he said.

Muntifering, who lives in Africa 10 months of the year, had worked with wolves in Minnesota, grizzly bears in Alaska and cheetahs in Africa before studying rhinos.

But he said he will never forget the first time he saw one of the massive beasts up close.

"Seeing this timeless animal in this timeless landscape, it's really sort of a life-changing experience," Muntifering said. "I've been there 10 years now, and every sighting is still really amazing to me. It puts you in your place, humbles you a lot."

THREAT FROM POACHERS

Though rhinos

worldwide face threats from habitat loss and poaching, Namibia is by all accounts a bright spot for conserving the species.

Save the Rhino Trust, a Namibian organization Muntifering partners with, works to monitor and keep watch over a black rhino population that was nearing extinction in the early 1980s.

Rhino poachers fill a demand in traditional Chinese medicine for the animal's signature horn, even though science has disproven any medicinal use for the rhino horn, which Muntifering

Minnesota Zoo conservation biologist Jeff Muntifering, center left, and workers from Save the Rhino Trust plan a route to patrol in the Namibian desert, where they study the African country's endangered black rhino population. Muntifering said efforts to combat poaching are working. Communities are now begging to get rhino back on their land, he said. ( Courtesy Photo: Minnesota Zoo/Save the Rhino Trust, Namibia)

likened to a fingernail clipping.

But in Namibia, poaching has ceased, mainly because of the government involving local residents in organizations such as Save the Rhino Trust, which at one point bailed poachers out of jail on the condition that they help patrol and save the rhinos.

"It makes sense, because these are the people that know exactly where the animals are and they know their behaviors," Muntifering said.

Minnesota Zoo Director Lee Ehmke said the program is notable because it is "perhaps the only demonstrably successful effort to protect rhinos anywhere on Earth."

Local residents are invested in the animal's safety, partly through education and incentives, but also because the beasts draw tourists.

"Communities are now begging to get rhino back on their land," Muntifering said.

Since there's a high value to the community on preserving rhinos, poaching is unthinkable to most Namibians.

Besides, Muntifering said, villages in Africa are like his hometown, especially in that "everyone knows everyone's business."

"If anyone poaches in northwest Namibia, they are going to get caught," Muntifering said. "Someone is going to find out."

'AFRICAN BADLANDS'

Though Muntifering's job these days revolves more around the science of conserving the majestic animals, he does get out in the field to monitor and study rhinos.

Field teams of local workers, with donkeys or camels and dogs, patrol the Namibian desert, which Muntifering describes as "the

African badlands."

The dogs, he said, provide an "alarm clock" if a wild animal is lurking in the distance.

"Usually, the lions don't come out," Muntifering said. "But we do see hyenas and jackals. They're mainly just curious, but it does make your heart beat faster to see those glowing eyes 10 feet away."

On patrol a few years ago, the team, including Muntifering, knew a female rhino was about to give birth but hadn't seen her for a while.

When they found her, she had a young male with her. As the team bandied around names for the calf, the patrol captain said, "Sota."

"At first, I thought he was talking about a cool drink," Muntifering said.

But the man persisted, pointing to the Minnesota Zoo logo on Muntifering's shirt and repeating, "Sota."

Muntifering said he has enjoyed checking up on the calf named after a cold, faraway land, and his doting mother.

"As cantankerous as rhinos are, they're actually extremely good mothers," Muntifering said. "The mom gives clear, loving care to that little rhino calf that doesn't even have a horn yet. I've seen rhino mothers stand up to a whole pride of lions."

Muntifering said his employment with the Minnesota Zoo has been a happy surprise.

"I was very surprised when I got offered the job, especially because they don't have rhinos," Muntifering said.

But Dr. Paul Boyle, senior vice president for conservation and education at the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, said direct involvement in conservation is a goal of many zoos across the country.

Though Boyle said fewer zoos help to conserve species outside their own collections, many modern zoos are interested in being global leaders in conservation.

"(The Minnesota Zoo) sees a responsibility that's greater than itself, even in places that are far flung from Minnesota," Boyle said.

Minnesota Zoo Conservation Director Dr. Tara Harris conducts research on another Namibian species not exhibited at the zoo - the Hartmann's mountain zebra.

Zoo director Ehmke said the projects, funded by the Minnesota Zoo Foundation, the zoo's nonprofit fundraising arm, are just a few of the conservation efforts at the zoo, most of which are linked to animals at the zoo.

He hopes that rhinos, which he called "inherently fascinating," eventually have an even greater link to the zoo.

"(Rhinos) are among my favorite animals, and it is my hope that in the future we will develop a rhino exhibit at the zoo, as part of a larger African zone," Ehmke said.

6-Feb-12 9:00 AM

British zoos put on alert over rising threat of rhino rustlers

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:00:00 GMT

British zoos have been warned their rhinos may be attacked by poachers because of the soaring value of their horns in the Asian medicine market.

After a rumour that it could cure cancer, the horn is now worth more than $40,000 a kilo, and gangs have been breaking into museums and auction rooms in Britain and Europe to steal trophy rhinoceros heads. The fear is zoos – and live rhinos – may be next.

In an unprecedented alert, all 15 British zoos and wildlife and safari parks which hold rhinos – they have 85 animals between them – have been warned by the National Wildlife Crime Unit to tighten security and report anything suspicious to the police at once.

"We have warned British zoos to be on their guard against the possibility of being targeted by criminals seeking rhino horn," said the head of the unit, Detective Inspector Brian Stuart.

Concern is growing that criminals will try to break into a British zoo at night, kill or tranquillise rhinos, and cut off the horns. The potential profits might be very tempting, as a single big horn could weigh more than 5kg and be worth more than $200,000.

In the past four years rhino poaching has exploded in Africa – South Africa especially – going from a total of 13 animals killed for their horn in South Africa in 2007 to 448 in 2011, the highest number ever recorded. Twelve have already been killed in South Africa this year.

The head of Biaza (the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariaums), Miranda Stevenson, said she was "horrified" at the threat, but that, while security made it difficult to get into zoos, "it isn't impossible. Rhinos are big animals and in good weather most zoos will leave them out at night."

A source from a big zoo in southern England said: "We are aware of the warning but our security is pretty tight. We have keepers living on site and they make night patrols."

Detectives first became aware of the threat to zoos after a man was caught trying to smuggle a rhino horn out of Britain to Asia – which turned out to have come from an animal which had died of natural causes in Colchester Zoo.

Powdered rhino horn has long been used as an ingredient in traditional Asian medicine, where it is reputed to lessen fevers.

However, an urban myth about a senior Vietnamese politician who reputedly had his cancer cured by rhino horn swept across Asia in 2008, even though the politician has never been identified or come forward.

Andrew McVey, Species Programme Manager at WWF-UK, said, "A lot of effort is going into addressing the poaching, but we have not been as successful as we would like to be," he said.

The knock-on effects have involved almost 50 targeted burglaries of museums holding rhino heads in Britain and the Continent.

Last July, burglars broke into Ipswich Museum and sawed the 18in horn off Rosie, the head of an Indian rhino that had been there since 1907.

In February, the mounted head of a black rhino was taken from Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, and in May a similar head was taken from the Educational Museum in Haslemere, Surrey.

6-Feb-12 9:00 AM

Can hunting endangered animals save the species?

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Watch the Segment »

Some exotic animal species that are endangered in Africa are thriving on ranches in Texas, where a limited number are hunted for a high price. Ranchers say they need the income to care for the rest of the herd. Animal rights activists want the hunting to end.

Web Extras

(CBS News)

The scimitar horned oryx . . . the addax . . . the dama gazelle - three elegant desert antelope that you'd hope to see on a journey through Africa, except that their numbers are dwindling there. Which is why Lara Logan went to Texas -- yes, Texas. There, on large grassland ranches, some exotic species that are endangered in the wild have been brought back in large numbers. But there's a catch: a percentage of the herd is hunted every year by hunters who pay big money for a big catch. The ranchers say this limited "culling" gives them the money they need to care for the animals and conserve the species. But animal rights activists don't buy that argument, claiming the hunts are "canned" and that hunting is wholly inconsistent with conservancy.

The following script is from "Big Game Hunting" which aired on Jan. 29, 2012 at 7 p.m. ET/PT. Lara Logan is the correspondent. Max McClellan, producer.

Where can you find some of the best big game hunting in the world? It's a place that may surprise you. Tonight, we're going to take you on a journey into a world that many people don't even know exists.

To get the best view, we flew by helicopter over this vast terrain. From the air, we could see herds of African antelope and zebra charging across the wide open spaces. It looks remarkably like Africa, but it's not. This is Texas.

Here in the Lone Star State the iconic Texas longhorn now shares the range with more than a quarter million animals from Asia, Africa, Europe. Today, Texas has more exotic wildlife than any other place on earth.

Lara Logan: How many exotics do you have in Texas?

Charly Seale: I think our last count there's like 125 different species here in Texas.

Charly Seale is a fourth generation rancher and the executive director of the Exotic Wildlife Association based here in the heart of the Texas hill country. It's his job to represent the interests of some 5,000 exotic ranchers across North America.

Logan: So would you say Texas has the most non-native species of animals?

Seale: Oh, yes, absolutely.

Logan: It's amazing that you had this really dramatic change in the Texas landscape going on almost unnoticed by the rest of the country.

Seale: A lot of folks have noticed it. But it's been a well-kept secret.

It all began more than half a century ago with surplus animals from zoos. These images were filmed on Texas ranches back in 1975. The ranchers liked the novelty of these strange animals on their properties. But what started as a curiosity has evolved into a major achievement in wildlife conservation, by helping to bring back three African antelope from the brink of extinction, according to Charly Seale.

Seale: Our members own more numbers of rare and endangered species than any other association in the world. Three of our biggest successes have been the scimitar horned oryx, the addax and the dama gazelle. Our numbers have absolutely just skyrocketed in the last, last 15-20 years.

Logan: So, these animals are thriving in Texas while they're still endangered or extinct in their native lands?

Seale: Yes.

Logan: So are they still endangered in your view?

Seale: Absolutely not, not in Texas.

How did thousands of Texas ranches become home to the largest population of exotic animals on earth?

It's thanks to trophy hunters like Paul, who come here in the thousands to hunt these animals every year, sold on the idea of an African hunting experience in Texas. It's open season on close to 100 species of exotic game all the time here because exotic animals are considered private property. Paul allowed us to come with him as he went on this hunt if we agreed to use only his first name.

[Paul: I've been looking forward to this hunt for several months now and I'm just pumped.]

Here, he and a guide are searching for a scimitar horned oryx for him to take home as a trophy. If they find one, it'll cost Paul $4,500. Other animals, like this dama gazelle, cost around $10,000. And the rarest, a cape buffalo, has a $50,000 price tag. Exotic wildlife has become a billion dollar industry in Texas supporting more than 14,000 jobs.

For two days, Paul and his guide searched this 30,000 acre ranch just two hours outside San Antonio for an oryx, but they didn't find any. Animal rights groups accuse the ranchers of making the hunts too easy, but that's not what we witnessed in this case. Six months later, we met up with Paul when he came back to try his luck again on another ranch.

We were curious to know whether it bothered him that the animal he was hunting is officially extinct in the wild.

Logan: Do you care about this species? Do you care if this species goes extinct?

Paul: Oh yes I do.

Logan: Why do you want to kill them?

Paul: The money that I spend to hunt these animals keeps these animals alive on these ranches.

You may be surprised to learn that the U.S. government agrees with that. For years it's allowed the scimitar horned oryx and two other endangered antelope to be hunted on U.S. soil. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has concluded that "hunting...provides an economic incentive for...ranchers to continue to breed these species," and that "hunting...reduces the threat of the species' extinction."

On ranches like this, they say they don't allow more than 10 percent of a herd to be hunted per year. After six hours, Paul and his guide have finally spotted some oryx. They were about 150 yards away, and they thought they had found a suitable target. He got ready to take a shot.

[Paul: Okay, is that the one, Are you sure?]

Paul hit the target with one bullet.

Seale: Hunters are the, are the main conservationists in this whole equation.

Logan: Can you call yourselves conservationists when your purpose, your intent, the thing that's driving it is to hunt the animals and to kill them?

Seale: Absolutely. That's, that's why these animals thrive it's because of that, that value that they have to the hunting community.

Logan: You know, just because people are willing to pay large amounts of money for those trophies doesn't make it right.

Seale: I can't let these animals just freely roam around my ranch. I can't do it. I won't do it.

Logan: Do you love these animals?

Seale: Absolutely.

Logan: How can you kill something you love?

Seale: I can do that for the simple reason that I know it's for the welfare of every one of those animals, you sacrifice one so that many more are born and raised from calves all the way up to the big trophy male or the big trophy females that we have.

Priscilla Feral: I think that's ludicrous. I think it's immoral. And I don't think anybody's entitled to do that.

Priscilla Feral is president of Friends of Animals, an international animal rights organization. For the past seven years, she's been fighting in court to stop these rare African antelope from being hunted in Texas.

Feral: They're breeding these antelopes, they're selling the antelopes, and they're killing the antelopes. And they're calling it conserving them. They are saying it's an act of conservation and that's lunacy.

Logan: You would rather they did not exist in Texas at all?

Feral: I don't want to see them on hunting ranches. I don't want to see them dismembered. I don't want to see their value in body parts. I think it's obscene. I don't think you create a life to shoot it.

Logan: So, if the animals exist only to be hunted...

Feral: Right...

Logan: ...you would rather they not exist at all?

Feral: Not in Texas, no.

Seale: Our biggest enemy are the animal rights people. They don't understand what we do.

Logan: What's to understand, I mean, you're hunters? You hunt these exotic animals. That's pretty simple.

Seale: It is, but there are a faction of people out there that would just as soon see these animals go extinct as to have us use them for sp- to hunt and after all, that is the bottom line. That's what these animals are all about. That's why they are here in the numbers that they're here today.

[David Bamberger: You're at the first place that this, this is where it all began.]

83-year-old Texan David Bamberger has spent more than 30 years fighting to save one of these antelope, the scimitar horned oryx, from extinction. He brought us to where it all began, in this small pasture which he calls the Sahara on his 5,500 acre ranch.

Bamberger: Here they go!

Logan: Look at that, they're beautiful. Oh, look at the babies in the front.

You almost have to remind yourself that this is not Africa. It's Johnson City, Texas. This beautiful animal has horns that can grow as long as four feet and resemble the curved blade of a scimitar. It's believed by some to have inspired the myth of the unicorn.

Bamberger: They tell me it's the only African antelope known to be able to kill a lion.

They vanished decades ago from the deserts of Egypt, Senegal, Chad - all the places where they first walked the Earth more than two million years ago.

Bamberger: They wouldn't be here and alive if we hadn't taken some action 30 years ago.

In the late 1970s, Bamberger offered to devote more than 600 acres of his property to save an endangered animal at his own expense. American zoos sent him nearly all of the remaining known genetic stock of scimitar horned oryx in the world and from that he raised hundreds of animals. He's since sent some to African reserves for eventual reintroduction into the wild, but he believes the best hope to sustain the species today lies on the Texas range.

Bamberger: I've got ranchers that I started them out on with half a dozen animals that got 200 now.

Logan: But if you're a conservationist, and you've given up your land, you've given up thousands, millions of dollars to save this species. Yet you're not against hunting them?

Bamberger: Well, I wouldn't do it here. I'm not fond of it at all, but I'm wise enough, smart enough to know if there's no incentive, if altruism is the only incentive you're not gonna get a great deal of participation on someone whose livelihood depends on bringing in dollars.

[Logan: You'd think you were in Africa, look at the giraffe sitting there]

We turned to one of the world's top conservationists, Pat Condy, who lives in Texas, to find out what he thought.

Pat Condy: That's the scimitar horned oryx. Altogether, on different ranches, many different ranches, there are somewhere between six and 10 thousand of these animals.

Pat Condy has devoted his life to saving animals and he showed us around the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center outside of Dallas which he runs. It's a world leader in breeding rare and endangered animals.

And it's also a place where tourists can get closer to these beautiful creatures than they ever could in the wild.

Logan: Do you think that Texas ranches are saving animals from extinction?

Condy: There's no question about it, that they are.

Logan: What gives you the confidence to say what you're saying?

Condy: What gives me the confidence is when you look at the numbers, the animal numbers, okay, and you see that they're not declining, that they're either stable or growing.

Logan: The numbers, you can't argue with that?

Condy: When you're talking about conservation, it's the numbers that are the bottom line.

But for Priscilla Feral, the bottom line is that these animals should not be hunted. She's helped create a reserve in Senegal for 175 orxy and in court, she's winning the legal battle she's been fighting for years to stop them from being hunted in the U.S.

In the coming weeks, a new rule issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will take effect, making it a crime to hunt the scimitar horned oryx - and two other endangered antelope - without a federal permit that will be difficult, if not impossible, to obtain.

Seale: Just since the announcement of that rule the value of those animals has probably dropped in half. You've got to understand, I'm a rancher to make a profit, just like any business.

Logan: How does this rule change affect that?

Seale: I will say that in five years you'll see half the numbers that you see today. And I would venture to guess in 10 years they'll be virtually none of 'em left.

Feral: The future for oryxes is Africa. It's not Texas.

Logan: Can the future not be both? Don't they have a greater chance of survival the more of them there are?

Feral: In their native lands.

Logan: Regardless of where they are?

Feral: I don't think you can say regardless of where they are. A Texas hunting ranch is not the same as being in a reserve in Senegal.

Condy: Put the hunting aspect to one side, and take a 50,000 foot view over this, this resource of a species that is extinct in the wild is going to disappear now from Texas, slowly but surely.

Logan: So who's winning the day here?

Condy: I don't think anybody's winning the day. One thing is for sure, they are losing it. Those species are losing it.

6-Feb-12 9:00 AM

SA to get tough in the fight against rhino horn poaching

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:00:00 GMT

ABOUT 328 rhinos will be illegally hunted for their horns in South Africa this year, unless efforts are stepped up to curb the $20-billion (about R156-billion) trade.

A total of 780 white and black rhinos were hunted and killed for their horns in 2010 and 2011, forcing the government to step up protection of the species from syndicates that sell the horns on the black market, mainly in the Far East.

Fundisile Mketeni, deputy director-general for biodiversity and conservation at the Department of Environmental Affairs, said criminal syndicates were using Mozambican nationals as poachers who breach the Kruger National Park fence to hunt for rhinos.

He was addressing Parliament's water and environmental affairs portfolio committee which yesterday held public hearings on solutions to rhino poaching.

Mketeni said South Africa was working closely with countries where much of the poached horns find their way, especially Vietnam and China.

Police arrested 194 poachers last year, another 24 people were taken to custody for illegally transporting of rhinos that had been poached, while 12 other people were also arrested.

The government has also placed extra measures to monitor and control canned hunting of rhinos after it emerged that some of the legal operators in canned hunting were in bed with crime syndicates.

According to a Global Rhino Ultimatum - which has drawn 11500 signatures worldwide - 69% of rhino trophy hunting activities have fronted for illegal trafficking and trade in horns.

Figures also show that 176 rhinos were hunted between 2009 and mid-2011 in North West. In July members of a Thai syndicate were arrested on charges of illegal hunting in that province. Most of the 176 hunting permits were issued to Asians.

In KwaZulu-Natal, 47 permits were issued between 2009 and 2011.

Some conversation groups have called on the government to place a moratorium on the trade in rhino horns.

Others want the government to destroy stockpiled rhino horns.

Mketeni raised committee chairman Johnny de Lange's ire when he admitted that the government was not aware of the amount of stockpiles in private hands.

6-Feb-12 9:00 AM

East Africa: Rhino Endangered As Horn Price Escalates

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:00:00 GMT

THE rhinoceros has become the world's most endangered species, amid booming business of the animal's horn, the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Mr Ezekiel Maige, has said.

"The rhino's horn in the contemporary market is a very expensive commodity being sold at over USD 5000 per kilo. A single rhinoceros horn can weigh up to 4 kilograms," he said.

Mr Maige was speaking shortly after he had attended an international roundtable discussion in Dar es Salaam on Thursday on how to prevent illegal trade in endangered species.

The meeting was hosted by him in collaboration with the visiting Swedish Minister for Trade, Dr Ewa Bjorling. The minister noted that in 1965, rhinos were found in 20 African countries but, currently, they are in only four countries, Tanzania being one of them.

He noted that the meeting, which brought together key actors in the war against poaching, aimed at coordinating efforts to prevent illegal trade in endangered species.

"The purpose was to enhance partnerships for the enforcement of national legislation and international treaties and promote global, regional and local actions aimed at preventing illegal trade in endangered species," he said. Mr Maige noted that in 2011 alone, South Africa, which is the leading country in Africa in as far as the rhino population is concerned, has lost 448 of the animals at the hand of poachers.

"For a country like South Africa which is well advanced in matters related to security against poachers, losing 448 rhinos per annum raises an alarm that we as Tanzanians need to put more efforts," he said. Earlier, Dr Bjorling said that she was impressed with the measures being undertaken by the government of Tanzania in dealing with poachers.

"I am impressed by the measures taken by the government here and this meeting has opened up more opportunities of collaboration in ending the illegal trade in endangered species," she said. Commenting on the would-be reasons for the booming trade in rhino's horns, Dr Bjorling noted that there is a belief among people with cancer that the animal's horn can stop the progress of the illness.

"Legislation is in place and, in many countries, efforts are also supported by a formal organization and structure... what is needed now is leadership to ensure that the tools at our disposal are used in practice," she said. Tanzania is among 175 countries in the world which have signed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES), to protect endangered species and guarantee biodiversity.

6-Feb-12 9:00 AM

Farm manager 'dedicated to conservation'

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Cape Town - The Entabeni Safari Conservancy in Limpopo on Friday disputed a police report stating that the reserve’s manager, Jan Lessing, had been arrested for possession rhino horns and elephant tusks.

Lessing, 54, appeared in the Naboomspruit Magistrate's Court on Thursday. He is out on R3 000 bail.

The conservancy’s Pete Richardson said 54-year-old Lessing had “dedicated his life to conservation” and is unsure how the police came to believe that the rhino horns in their possession were illegal.

He said the arrest could have arisen from Lessing possibly not filling out all the necessary paperwork.

Richardson said the horns found were from a rhino that had died eight years ago and from a baby rhino that died last year. The tusks were also from elephants that died some years ago on the reserve.

“Autopsies were carried out on all of them and certified autopsy reports were filed and the horns placed in the reserve safe for safe-keeping,” Richardson said.

The baby rhino, Yster was an orphan that had been “hand-raised” by Lessing and his team after they were asked by the environmental affairs department to look after it.

As per regulations, Yster’s horn was micro-chipped and removed by a certified veterinary surgeon.

It was kept in a safe with the tusks as it is illegal to bury a rhino horn or to sell it.

He also stated that Lessing had not been charged with illegal possession of firearms.

“All necessary paperwork to resolve this matter is being urgently undertaken so this can be laid to rest and all at Entabeni Safari Conservancy can get on with the work of saving, rehabilitating and protecting Africa’s heritage,” Richardson said.

6-Feb-12 9:00 AM

Call to refuse hunters permits

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:00:00 GMT

CAPE TOWN — Hunters from certain countries should be refused permits to hunt rhinos in SA if their laws cannot guarantee their trophies will remain in their possession, Parliament was told yesterday.

At issue is the fact that the rhino horn is more valuable than the cost of shooting a live animal. This has seen a growth in so-called "pseudo" hunters who legally hunt a rhino only to sell the horn on the black market once they return home.

While no countries were specifically mentioned during public hearings of the water and environment affairs committee, the usual suspects are Vietnam, China and Thailand, where the horn is used in a variety of ancient medicines.

A number of submissions to the committee said tough diplomatic action was needed from the government to forge effective agreements with the countries that are the recipients of rhino horn.

Joseph Okori, the manager of the rhino programme at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), said one of the weaknesses of the current initiatives was that there was no strong political drive with "implicated rhino consumer countries to address the root cause and take decisive action on those driving the illegal rhino poaching and trade in rhino horn".

"A strong diplomatic, political drive is required by the government of SA to address the illegal trade, impact of rhino poaching and implications for the survival of the species with … states directly and through international bodies."

Southern African Development Community Rhino Management Group chairman Mike Knight said the very high black-market prices and demand for horn in southeast Asia were fuelling the escalation in poaching and pseudo hunting. He said the object was to reduce the black-market prices in Asia in order to reduce demand and poaching.

Dr Knight said legal trade in rhino horn had been suggested as a way of reducing the black-market price of rhino horn and increasing incentives for successful conservation but this could happen only with two-thirds support from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, known as Cites. Currently there is a moratorium on trade in rhino horn in SA.

6-Feb-12 9:00 AM

RARE SUMATRAN RHINO PREGNANCY AT INDONESIAN SANCTUARY

noemail@rhinos-irf.org — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:00:00 GMT

Indonesia - Scientists around the world are following the pregnancy of one of the world's most endangered species, the Sumatran rhino. At the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Indonesia's Way Kambas National Park, Ratu has just completed the 11th month of her pregnancy. The expectant Sumatran rhino's pregnancy will probably last four to five months longer. In February 2010, Ratu's first pregnancy was diagnosed but she miscarried after two months. Her second pregnancy did not even last a month. A hormone supplement was prescribed when she became pregnant this third time. Ratu is one of four resident rhinos at the 250-acre Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary, which was established in the late 1990s by the International Rhino Foundation, the Rhino Foundation of Indonesia and Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry. Two other females of breeding age, Rosa and Bina, are also maintained at the sanctuary. The young male, Andalas, who bred Ratu in early March 2011 is located at the sanctuary as well. ...

IRF Calls for Support of Rhino Security Experts to Combat Poaching Crisis in Southern Africa

noemail@rhinos-irf.org — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:00:00 GMT

YULEE, FL- The numbers are staggering. Since 1970, nearly 90 percent of the world's rhino population has been wiped out. In the last two years, more than 800 rhinos have been killed worldwide. In 2011, almost 400 rhinos have been savagely poached in South Africa. And fewer than five percent of poachers are actually convicted. The International Rhino Foundation (IRF) is taking a stand against the poaching crisis through the Operation Stop Poaching Now initiative. IRF has partnered with security experts in South Africa to improve anti-poaching operations in eleven highly threatened rhino habitats in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Funds donated in support of the campaign will go toward providing rangers with training in investigative techniques, intelligence gathering, evidence collection, communications, and rhino identification and monitoring. They will also receive scene-of-crime kits containing basic investigation equipment including a camera, metal detector, GPS,...

Vulnerable Indian Rhinos Successfully Moved to New Habitat

noemail@rhinos-irf.org — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 16:00:00 GMT

Assam, India -For only the second time in India's history, two female Indian rhinos, an adult female and a juvenile,have been successfully translocated from Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary to Manas National Park in Assam. The two females join two males that were moved to Manas in 2008. Translocating the rhinos will help create a viable population of this vulnerable species that has recovered from fewer than 200 animals in the early 1990s to more than 2,800 today. Pobitora, where the two rhinos were captured, boasts the highest density of rhinos in the world, with more than 90 rhinos in less than 18 square kilometers (4,450 acres) of rhino habitat. To minimize the chance of loss from disease and other disasters, the rhinos need to be spread among other parks. IRV 2020 will lessen pressure on Pobitora's rhinos for food and space, and hopefully reduce the number of rhinos straying into nearby villages. Moving a rhino is no easy task. It requires months of...

Conservationists Race Against the Clock to Save Critically Endangered Javan Rhinos

noemail@rhinos-irf.org — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:00:00 GMT

Indonesia - An international partnership is racing against the clock to ensure the survival of the last 48 Javan rhinos on earth by carving out a safe haven in the dense jungles of Indonesia's Ujung Kulon National Park. The species' entire viable population, living on the island of Java, is quite literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. In 1883, Ujung Kulon and the surrounding areas were decimated by the eruption of Krakatau, one of the most violent volcanic events in modern times. Anak Krakatau (son of Krakatau) remains active in the area causing great concern for conservationists. Over the next two years, the Javan rhinos' habitat at the Park will undergo improvements to help protect the species from extinction caused by a single natural disaster or introduced disease. The International Rhino Foundation (IRF) and its partners are creating 9,884 acres (4,000 ha) of expanded habitat for Javan rhinos in Ujung Kulon, which should encourage population growth. ...

Conservationists Race Against the Clock to Save Critically Endangered Javan Rhinos

noemail@rhinos-irf.org — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:00:00 GMT

Loss of a Second Critically Endangered Javan Rhino Points to Dire Need for Conservation Action

noemail@rhinos-irf.org — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:00:00 GMT

Indonesia – The world’s most threatened large mammal species, the Javan rhino, suffered another devastating setback when a carcass was discovered in Indonesia’s remote Ujung Kulon National Park last week. Ujung Kulon holds the only viable population of the critically endangered species; no more than 48 Javan rhinos remain on the planet, and at least 44 of those are found in Ujung Kulon. Fewer than four animals of unknown sex and age may remain in an isolated population in Cat Tien National Park in Vietnam, where the carcass of a poached Javan rhino, with its horn removed, was found last month. This recent loss reinforces the critical need for bold action to save this species. “These two deaths represent a loss of four percent of the global population,” said Dr. Susie Ellis, executive director of the International Rhino Foundation. Javan rhinos persist in Ujung Kulon because they are carefully monitored and guarded by Rhino Protection Units, elite...

Despite pregnancy loss, conservationists still hopeful for Sumatran rhinos

noemail@rhinos-irf.org — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 20:00:00 GMT

Yulee, FL/Cincinnati/Indonesia -- Conservationists across the world are saddened by the loss of the first pregnancy of Ratu, a young female Sumatran rhino at Indonesia’s Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Way Kambas National Park. Ratu and male Andalas, brought together through international goodwill and cooperation in an effort to save this critically endangered species, bred successfully in January, and a pregnancy was announced in February. Ratu, born in Indonesia, wandered into a village just outside Sumatra’s Way Kambas National Park in 2006. Andalas, the first of only three Sumatran rhinos born in captivity in more than 112 years, was born at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden in 2001, grew up at the Los Angeles Zoo and was transferred from the L.A. Zoo to the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in 2007. Three years after Andalas’ successful transition to the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary, he and Ratu mated. The breeding followed months of gradual introduction by scent, sound,...

Rare Rhino Pregnancy Gives Hope to Species

noemail@rhinos-irf.org — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Cincinnati/Los Angeles/Indonesia -- Conservationists across the world are celebrating a pregnancy in one of the world’s most endangered species, the Sumatran rhino. The pregnancy of female Ratu, born in Indonesia, and male Andalas, the first of only three Sumatran rhinos born in captivity in more than 112 years, is giving hope to international rhino biologists. The breeding occurred at Indonesia’s Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Way Kambas National Park after international efforts led to the pair’s introduction. The calf is expected to be born in May 2011. This is no ordinary pregnancy. Andalas and Ratu were brought together through international goodwill and cooperation in an effort to save this critically endangered species. Ratu wandered into a village just outside Sumatra’s Way Kambas National Park in 2006; Andalas was born at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden in 2001, grew up at the Los Angeles Zoo and was transferred from the L.A. Zoo to the Sumatran...

International Spotlight: Zimbabwe Rhino Poaching Court Case a Turning Point?

noemail@rhinos-irf.org — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:00:00 GMT

Zimbabwe– This month, Tichaona Mutyairi, a Zimbabwe rhino poacher with the infamous Mazhongwe gang, was sentenced to 17 years in jail after being captured during an exchange of gunfire with the police in October 2009. Although a regional court in the town of Masvingo took a strict stance, punishing the poacher to the full extent of Zimbabwe’s wildlife and firearm laws, this sentence remains a rare occurrence among captured poachers. International conservationists are watching the Mutyairi case given the highly varied outcomes in several court cases against members of rhino poaching gangs that have recently been finalized or are still underway. In previous court cases, many poachers have been released from jail escaping punishment instead of facing strong, consistent sentences that would deter them from hunting down Zimbabwe's remaining rhinos. “After so much conservation effort and funding has been ploughed into rhino protection in Zimbabwe, we look to the...

RHINOS: SPECIES ON THE BRINK

noemail@rhinos-irf.org — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:00:00 GMT

(HOUSTON) December 22, 2009 … The Houston Zoo’s 2010 Call of the Wild Speaker Series resumes January 28, 2010 with a very special guest – Dr. Susie Ellis, Executive Director of the International Rhino Foundation, the leading non-governmental organization for rhino conservation in the world. Rhinos have existed on earth for more than 50 million years. Today, from Africa to Indonesia, all but one of the world’s 5 surviving species of rhinos is on the verge of extinction. Join us on January 28 in the Houston Zoo’s Brown Education Center auditorium as Dr. Ellis weaves a fascinating story about a species on the brink with first hand accounts from the field of efforts to save these amazing creatures. Dr. Susie Ellis takes a hands on approach to rhino conservation. In fact, on January 22, just six days before her Call of the Wild Speaker Series presentation, Dr. Ellis will be returning from near two weeks of field work in Indonesia to protect the few...

Valentine's Day Gift Ideas

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:19:49 GMT

Chocolate, roses, certificates for free backrubs; you've done it all before. This year give your sweetheart a rhino! Well, we can't actually send a rhino - their weight makes timely shipping a bit of a problem. Plus, they eat almost their weight in plants in a week's time, so there goes your garden. But, for $30 you could adopt a rhino for your Valentine and help pay for that food. We'll send a special Valentine's Day adoption certificate, bio, and picture of your rhino too. Sumatran rhinos are one of the most endangered mammals on Earth. Show your love. Bet you might even get a free backrub for yourself in return! Order before February 8th to be sure your rhino Valentine arrives in time. The Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary, a 250-acre complex located within Way Kambas National Park in Sumatra, Indonesia, is currently home to five rhinos that are part of an intensively managed research and breeding program aimed at...

International Rhino Foundation Board of Directors

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:47:06 GMT

The IRF Board consists of 15 individuals from three continents and many major conservation organizations: Rick Barongi - The Houston Zoo - Houston, Texas, USA - Vice President Rick Barongi is the Director of the Houston Zoological Gardens and has served as IRF's Vice-President since 1998. He has been working in the zoo and wildlife conservation field for over 35 years. He has a B.S. from Cornell University and M.S. from Rutgers University. Prior to Houston, Rick held the position of Director of Animal Programs for Walt Disney World. He played a key role in the design, construction and opening of Disney's Animal Kingdom, a one billion dollar theme park. He created the first Disney Advisory Board for the Animal Kingdom park and helped to engineer the concept and formation of Disney's Wildlife Conservation Fund. Prior to Disney, Rick held managerial positions at the San Diego Zoo and the Miami Metrozoo. He currently serves on several AZA and conservation boards, has...

International Rhino Foundation Staff & Advisors

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:55:17 GMT

STAFF Susie Ellis, PhD Executive Director Natasha Anderson Zimbabwe Rhino Monitoring Coordinator Sarah Brown Program Assistant Bill Konstant Program Officer Chap Masterson, DVM African Rhino Veterinarian Sectionov (Inov) Indonesia Liaison Bibhab Kumar Talukdar, PhD Asian Rhino Program Coordinator Raoul du Toit African Rhino Program Coordinator PRO-BONO STAFF AND ADVISORS Much of the administrative and creative support for IRF is donated pro-bono (i.e., without cost) by the generous institutions and organizations represented on the IRF Board. This allows administrative costs to be kept to minimum and for other donations to directly fund IRF field conservation programs. Amira Cook The Bass Companies Laura Hess The Bass Companies Susan Murphy White Oak Conservation Center Frank Roberts White Oak Conservation Center Dana Stayton Kelly, Hart &...

Ranger Wish List

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:52:06 GMT

IRF is helping embattled rangers in South Africa and Zimbabwe get the training and equipment they need to stop rhino poaching now!

Purchase an item from our rangers' wish list to help out these valiant rhino warriors in their work to protect rhinos from poaching.

Ranger Wishlist

Greater One-Horned Rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis)

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:43:41 GMT

Common Names Greater one-horned rhinoceros: referring to the single large horn Indian and/or Nepalese rhinoceros: referring to the species' range Scientific Name and Origin Rhinoceros unicornis Rhinoceros: from the Greek rhino, meaning nose and ceros, meaning horn and unicornis from the Latin uni, meaning one and cornis, meaning horn IUCN Red List: Vulnerable CITES: Appendix I The greater one-horned rhino is one of the two greatest success stories in rhino conservation (the other one being the southern white rhino in South Africa). With strict protection from Indian and Nepalese wildlife authorities, greater one-horned rhino numbers have recovered from fewer than 200 earlier in the 20th century to as many as 2,850 today. However, even with population increases, poaching pressure has remained high in both India...

IRF Corporate Partners

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:08:23 GMT

IRF is extremely grateful for the donations we receive from our corporate partners, such as rhinocarhire.com. Financial and promotional support from businesses such as these helps us run rhino conservation programs around the world, and enables us to reach even more people with messages about the importance of protecting rhinos and other endangered species.

If your company is interested in partnering with IRF, please contact us at s.ellis@rhinos.org.

Rhino Car Hire

www.rhinocarhire.com

International Rhino Foundation Programs in Asia

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:58:31 GMT

The International Rhino Foundation concentrates its Asian Programs on the Sumatran rhino and Javan rhino. IRF also assists conservationr efforts for greater one-horned rhino and is working with other organizations on a major program to protect this species in the wild. IRF programs emphasize protection in the wild and propagation in captivity or semi-captivity. No more than about 160 Sumatran rhinos remain on Indonesia's Sumatra island, where the population has declined at a rate of 50% over the past 15 years, largely from deforestation and habitat fragmentation. IRF focuses its work in heavily encroached areas near Way Kambas and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Parks. Only one poaching events have been recorded in the past 5 years because of the remarkable work and dedication of the Rhino Protection Units providing active security throughout their range. In the coming years, we plan to maintain intensive protection efforts while also seeking to reduce the threat to rhinos by...

Adopt a Rhino

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 23:08:36 GMT

The Sumatran rhinoceros is one of the most endangered mammals on Earth. No more than 200 animals survive in small, isolated forest fragments in Indonesia and Malaysia. Many of our generous donors, like Rhinocarhire.com, are helping protect the Sumatran rhino from extinction by adopting the rhinos at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary! The Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (SRS), a 250-acre complex located within Way Kambas National Park in Sumatra, Indonesia, is currently home to four rhinos that are part of an intensively managed research and breeding program aimed at increasing the Sumatran rhino population in the wild. At the sanctuary, the rhinos reside in large, open areas where they can experience a natural rainforest habitat while still receiving state-of-the-art veterinary care and nutrition. You may choose to adopt any of the five rhinos at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary for as many days as you would like, either in your own name, or as a gift for a relative or friend who...

Ways to Give

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 17:44:35 GMT

The International Rhino Foundation's success in saving rhino populations around the world depends on communities, businesses, and people like you. There are several methods by which you can help: DONATE ONLINE Make an online donation over our secure server using your credit or debit card. DONATE BY MAIL Mail a check made payable to International Rhino Foundation and mail to: International Rhino Foundation 581705 White Oak Road Yulee, Florida 32097-2145 DONATE BY PHONE Call 703.980.4267 to make a donation over the phone using your credit or debit card. MAKE A MONTHLY DONATION When you make a monthly commitment to IRF, you will help to provide the stable flow of support that is vital for our critical conservation efforts. To establish regular monthly payments on your credit or debit card, please call 703.980.4267. GIVE A GIFT MEMBERSHIP Giving a gift membership is a great way to show someone you care and to spread...

Levels of Support

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 17:43:44 GMT

By joining IRF today, you will be welcomed into a family of dedicated individuals committed to saving rhinos throughout their range states. Not only will you have the satisfaction of knowing that you're helping to ensure the long-term survival of all five living rhino species, you'll also have the opportunity to learn more about rhino conservation and interact with scientists working to save rhinos in the wild. Make a gift to the International Rhino Foundation, and you will join one of the following giving circles: Levels of Support Friend ($1 to $99) All donors to the International Rhino Foundation will be recognized on IRF's website and other publications, and will receive a subscription to our regular e-newsletter. Advocate ($100 to $499) In addition to the benefits of a standard membership, Advocates will also receive IRF's annual report. Supporter ...

E-Newsletter Online Survey

noemail@rhinos-irf.org — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:00:00 GMT

Objectives:

Release Date: 14-Oct-09 9:00 PM
Expiration Date: 30-Oct-10 9:00 AM
Please take a few moments to give us your feedback on our e-newsletter. The International Rhino Foundation wants to know how we can best keep you updated on our news. The survey will take approximately five to ten minutes to complete.

Lorem ipsum survey

noemail@rhinos-irf.org — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 14:51:57 GMT

Objectives:

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Duis autem dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit au gue duis dolore te feugat nulla facilisi.

Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci taion ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex en commodo consequat. Duis te feugifacilisi per suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex en commodo consequat.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diem nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut lacreet dolore magna aliguam erat volutpat.

Ut wisis enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci

Release Date: 31-Aug-07 9:51 AM
Expiration Date: 30-Nov-07 9:51 AM

Ut wisis enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci

12 December

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:11:01 GMT

December: We’ll end the year where we began, in India. Our IRV 2020 team is preparing for another round of greater one-horned rhino translocations, this time from Kaziranga National Park to Manas National Park. Stay tuned!

9 September - nursery

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:11:01 GMT

September: Another major focus in constructing the Javan Rhino Study and Conservation Area is restoring good habitat for the rhino. Much of the park has been taken over by the invasive Arenga palm. Workers created the pilot sites where we are testing two different methods for removing Arenga palm and regenerating rhino food plants. Local workers have also developed a nursery area, where they are collecting seeds of rhino food plants. They have already collected nearly 15,000 seeds from 99 different species of food plants, and have started growing seedlings. These seedlings will be used to replant the former Arenga infestation areas with rhino food plants.

10 October - Daytime camera trap Javan from Cat Tien II

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:11:01 GMT

October: Sadly, two subspecies of rhino were declared extinct: the Vietnamese Javan rhino and the western black rhino, which was last found in Cameroon. Even though both of these announcements were expected, this alarming news makes everything else we are doing to save the remaining rhinos on Earth all the more important. Photo by WWF.

11 November - crime scene

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:11:01 GMT

November: IRF launched a partnership with security experts in South Africa to improve anti-poaching operations in eleven highly threatened rhino habitats in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Our security experts will assess the current operations in each protected area, and will then provide targeted training and basic equipment to rangers. Rangers will be trained in investigative techniques, intelligence gathering, evidence collection, communications, and rhino identification and monitoring, among other topics. They will also receive scene-of-crime kits containing basic investigation equipment including a camera, metal detector, GPS, finger-printing materials, and sealable evidence bags. Photo of rhino crime scene by Mark Brightman.

8 August - Orphans Blondie with Millie sleeping

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:11:01 GMT

August: Last year, the Lowveld Rhino Trust successfully released four rhino orphans back into the wild. “Blondie”, “Millie”, “Oli” and “Sassie” were all orphaned when their mothers were killed by poachers, and since all were too young to survive on their own, our team took them in, treated them and hand-reared them until they were old enough to provide for themselves. The four young rhinos were released in Bubye Valley, where they have established a consistent home range at the release site. The four occupy the same range and are still seen together, but they tend to live in the two close pairs they established in the “bomas” (Blondie with Millie and Sassie with Oli). All four are growing well and putting on weight now that the Lowveld has had good rains.

7 July -1079 e

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:11:01 GMT

July: A total of 35 rhino immobilizations were undertaken during the Lowveld Rhino Trust rhino management operation in Save Valley Conservancy. Some immobilizations involved multiple procedures - i.e. the animal may have been ear notched, partially or fully dehorned and transmitter implanted. In summary there were 19 ear notchings, 20 dehornings and 8 transmitter implants made. The transmitters were inserted (with partial dehorning) to facilitate ongoing monitoring of the more insecure rhinos, as well as to enable rapid follow-up of rhino horns that might be taken by poachers, with dehorning done to reduce the reward to poachers.

6 June - P1020855

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:11:01 GMT

June: Work to establish the Javan Rhino Study and Conservation Area in the Gunung Honje area of Ujung Kulon National Park in Java, Indonesia, is progressing well. (This project is expanding the habitat available for the world’s only population of Javan rhinos, numbering no more than 44 animals.) Early steps include building one base camp and four new guard posts to provide for the security of the area. Construction of the guard posts is underway; one has been completed in the Cilantang area of the park.

5 May - Tiger skin confiscated from arrested illegal traders

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:11:01 GMT

May: In partnership with park rangers and local police in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, in Sumatra, Indonesia, our Rhino Protection Units there undertook joint intelligence operations resulting in the arrests of 7 suspects for trade in illegal wildlife parts. Two of these suspects were arrested in possession of small pieces of ivory and tiger and leopard skins; five were arrested in possession of spears, deer antlers, and two large pieces of ivory (which they had advertised for sale at US $5,000 each).

4 April - Torgamba in wallow

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:11:01 GMT

April: Unfortunately, in April 2011, Torgamba, the elderly male Sumatran rhino (estimated to be 32 years old), died at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary, following a long illness which appeared to be associated with chronic renal disease. Torgamba was one of the first wild-born Sumatran rhinos to become part of an international Sumatran rhino breeding effort. In November 1985, Torgamba was rescued by an organization working to capture displaced rhinos using sophisticated pitfall traps constructed so as to avoid any possible injuries to the animals. Although he bred numerous times with two female rhinos at the SRS, Bina and Ratu, neither became pregnant. Despite several years of treatment for his chronic illness, and the best efforts of the Sanctuary’s keepers and veterinary staff in consultation with international rhino experts, Torgamba passed away. SRS vets and staff worked around the clock for several months to make Torgamba’s last months comfortable.

3 March - RPU next to replanted area

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:11:01 GMT

March: Our five Rhino Protection Units in Way Kambas National Park in Sumatra, Indonesia, worked overtime planting rhino and elephant food plants in the park. This work is being carried out in an area that park authorities seized back from encroachers. In a large collaborative effort with park authorities, police, and local people, the RPUs helped remove around 500 ‘squatters’ from the park and destroyed about 300 temporary houses. An illegal fishing village also was relocated from the mouth of the Way Kanan River. Our team helped to regenerate the land previously cleared by the encroachers by planting native plant species that will provide food for Sumatran rhinos and elephants. The Sumatran rhino population in Way Kambas Sumatran rhino population appears to have grown to 33 animals and there have been signs of new rhino calves.

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2007-08-31T14:51:57Z

Instructor: Instructor

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Intl Rhino Foundation RSS Feed

Who Could Resist This Face?

Chocolate, roses, certificates for free backrubs; you’ve done it all before. This year give your sweetheart a rhino!

Rhinoceros Strays Into Assam Tea Garden

Rhino lovers' dedication pays off

Staff make sacrifices to find elusive animal

Minnesota Zoo biologist works in Namibia to save endangered rhinos

British zoos put on alert over rising threat of rhino rustlers

Can hunting endangered animals save the species?

Watch the Segment »

Web Extras

SA to get tough in the fight against rhino horn poaching

ABOUT 328 rhinos will be illegally hunted for their horns in South Africa this year, unless efforts are stepped up to curb the $20-billion (about R156-billion) trade.

East Africa: Rhino Endangered As Horn Price Escalates

Farm manager 'dedicated to conservation'

Call to refuse hunters permits

RARE SUMATRAN RHINO PREGNANCY AT INDONESIAN SANCTUARY

IRF Calls for Support of Rhino Security Experts to Combat Poaching Crisis in Southern Africa

Vulnerable Indian Rhinos Successfully Moved to New Habitat

Conservationists Race Against the Clock to Save Critically Endangered Javan Rhinos

Conservationists Race Against the Clock to Save Critically Endangered Javan Rhinos

Loss of a Second Critically Endangered Javan Rhino Points to Dire Need for Conservation Action

Despite pregnancy loss, conservationists still hopeful for Sumatran rhinos

Rare Rhino Pregnancy Gives Hope to Species

International Spotlight: Zimbabwe Rhino Poaching Court Case a Turning Point?

RHINOS: SPECIES ON THE BRINK

Valentine's Day Gift Ideas

International Rhino Foundation Board of Directors

International Rhino Foundation Staff & Advisors

Ranger Wish List

Greater One-Horned Rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis)

IRF Corporate Partners

International Rhino Foundation Programs in Asia

Adopt a Rhino

Ways to Give

Levels of Support

E-Newsletter Online Survey

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12 December

9 September - nursery

10 October - Daytime camera trap Javan from Cat Tien II

11 November - crime scene

8 August - Orphans Blondie with Millie sleeping

7 July -1079 e

6 June - P1020855

5 May - Tiger skin confiscated from arrested illegal traders

4 April - Torgamba in wallow

3 March - RPU next to replanted area

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Chocolate, roses, certificates for free backrubs; you’ve done it all before.
This year give your sweetheart a rhino!