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International Rhino Foundation Newsletter

noemail@rhinos-irf.org — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:02:48 GMT

Hello [firstname],

We hope your year is off to a good start – 2010 has already been busy for IRF, and we’d like to fill you in on some rhino news from around the world.

But first, we’d like to thank all of you who contributed to IRF in 2009. We know that 2009 was a difficult year for many individuals and organizations, but because of your generosity, IRF was able to continue protecting the world’s most threatened rhinos, and the ecosystems on which they depend.

Your support enabled the Lowveld Rhino Trust to translocate 49 black rhinos out of high-risk areas in Zimbabwe, significantly reducing poaching losses. With your help, our Indonesian Rhino Protection Units arrested more than 100 people for illegal poaching, logging and encroachment in Way Kambas, Bukit Barisan Selatan and Ujung Kulon National Parks (home to the Critically Endangered Sumatran and Javan rhino, respectively.) In India, your donation helped build and maintain an 8-kilometer fence along the southern boundary of Manas National Park – preventing newly translocated greater one-horned rhinos from leaving the park and wandering into areas where they could be killed.

Thank you to all of our 2009 donors!

Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas

Flowers wilt, and that box of chocolates just could go straight to your hips!

So do something different for your nearest and dearest this Valentine’s Day – “adopt” a Sumatran rhino (or perhaps a pair!) for your loved ones, and give a gift that will last for years to come.

(Please submit your adoption request by February 9th to ensure delivery by Valentine’s Day!)

Rhino News

Indonesia
In 2007, Cincinati-Zoo-born Andalas made the historic journey to the other side of the world, a trip that spanned more than 10,000 miles and 63 hours by plane, truck and ferry. In early December, 2009, Andalas mated for the first time with Ratu, a subadult Sumatran rhino female who wandered into villages near Way Kambas National Park in late 2006. The pair have not yet conceived, but the stage is now set for a pregnancy at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary. Plans are being drawn up for a maternity pen at the Sanctuary. We’ll keep you posted on Andalas and Ratu’s progress – and please keep your fingers crossed for these rhino sweethearts!

Zimbabwe
Last 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. 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. We hope the Mutyairi case will a turning point in the conservation battle. Just last week, three would-be poachers were arrested before they had the chance to shoot a rhino, and each was sentenced to 5 years in jail. This sentence will undoubtedly be appealed, but it is a positive first step for a judicial system that has often looked the other way where poaching in concerned.

Along a similar note, a poacher who had poisioned a waterhole, killing a number of rhinos as well as other wildlife, was sentenced to 9 years in prison, and the person who supplied the poison received a 4 year sentence -- another first for the Zimbabwean courts!

Kenya
A fecal DNA study carried out by Antony Wandera has revealed that the Chyulu Hills' black rhino population numbers a minimum 14 animals. Of these, 12 are very closely related - the population has been pretty isolated since the poaching epidemic of the 1970s and 80s - but two are different. It turns out that two animals escaped from the Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary in Tsavo West National Park, to the south of the Chyulus, and somehow found their way to the north end of the hills. The genetic diversity is welcome and much-needed. The Maasailand Preservation Trust (a local NGO and IRF partner) is working with Kenya Wildlife Services to protect and expand the Chyulu Hills rhino population. (One possible option is to translocate more rhinos into the Chyulus to increase the genetic mix and ensure a more viable breeding population.)

South Africa
South African National Park officials announced that during the first two weeks of January, poachers killed 14 rhinos – seven in Kruger National Park (home to one of the world’s largest populations of black and white rhinos). The government has begun military patrols in Kruger, specifically targeting the park’s borders with Zimbabwe and Mozambique. IRF has recently funded a series of workshops in South Africa to help address poaching on private lands.

India
The Indian Rhino Vision 2020 program (in which IRF partners with WWF and the Government of Assam) has obtained all necessary government clearances to import the drugs needed for another found of rhino translocations. Plans are shaping up to translocate up to 18 greater one-horned rhinos from Kaziranga National Park and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary to Manas National Park in March and April 2010. Dr. Susie Ellis, IRF’s Executive Director, will travel to India this month to meet with partners to ensure all the necessary plans are in place.

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4-Feb-10 4:02 PM

Surprise Rhino Birth Spotted on Webcam

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:00:00 GMT

Staff at a Scottish wildlife park were alerted that one of their rhinos had gone into labour by someone watching online in Cyprus.

Staff at a Scottish wildlife park were alerted to one of their rhinos going into labour by a phone call from somebody in Cyprus.

Dot the Southern White Rhino was being watched on a webcam at Blair Drummond’s Safari Park, Stirling by someone watching thousands of miles away when she took workers by surprise.

The quick-thinking animal lover called the park to let them know that the calf was on its way.

Happily, keepers quickly attended to the beast and she gave birth to a healthy 50kg female without any problems.

Staff were caught on the hop because she went into labour in the afternoon which is highly unusual. Normally the animals give birth in the early hours of the morning.

Born in December during the coldest winter in Scotland for the last 30 years, it is only now she has been able to venture out of her highly heated house and into a covered outdoor enclosure.

She now shares the enclosure with her father Graham, sister Mazumba (or Maz), and another 10-year-old unrelated female called Jane.

It will be a few months before she is old enough to mix with the rest of the herd.

Members of the public have been keeping tabs on the rhino’s progress on the webcam since her birth.

News items on this page are from external sources and the International Rhino Foundation cannot be held responsible for the authenticity of their content, nor for the continuing presence of original links.

4-Feb-10 12:00 PM

Poachers Kill One-horned Rhino at Kaziranga Park

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:00:00 GMT

Kaziranga, Feb 4 (PTI) A rhino was killed by poachers today in the world famous Kaziranga National Park (KNP) in upper Assam's Golaghat district, making it the fourth such incident in the state in the past one month, forest officials said.

Park foresters heard gunshots around 6 am in the Agratoli Range and immediately went to the area to find a bullet-injured female rhino in pain with her horn still intact, the officials said.

Though medical care was immediately provided to the endangered one-horned species, she succumbed to her injuries, they said.

The horn could not be taken away by the poachers as the foresters arrived at the site as soon as they heard the gun-shots, they said.

Agratoli Range of KNP has been cordoned off and over 100 forest staff were combing the forest to prevent the poachers from escaping, they said.

Many rhinos have become victims of poachers in the state this year.

News items on this page are from external sources and the International Rhino Foundation cannot be held responsible for the authenticity of their content, nor for the continuing presence of original links.

4-Feb-10 12:00 PM

Rhinos Robbed of Horns

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:00:00 GMT

Two white rhinos in the Free State were apparently drugged and robbed of their horns at the Willem Pretorius nature reserve near Ventersburg, environmental authorities said on Thursday.

Free State environmental affairs spokesperson on law enforcement, Werner Boing, said it was suspected the two adult white rhino cows were darted and drugged over the weekend.

A power-saw or grinder was used to remove the horns.

Officials said one of the reserve's rhino watchers reported on Wednesday that one of the pregnant cows had no horn.

Conservation authorities organised a chopper pilot and a veterinarian to find the rhino to inspect her.

They also found another cow, with a calf, without a horn.

The animals were drugged to treat the wounds and to take samples for a criminal investigation.

Boing said while the animals were not killed, the situation was tragic.

He said the pregnant cow had been kicked out of the herd, while the other cow cannot protect her calf.

Boing said both animals had been put under extreme stress through being drugged twice within a couple of days.

He urged the public to come forward with information about the incident.

4-Feb-10 12:00 PM

Rhino Project Gets Funds

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:00:00 GMT

The Zambezi Society will continue its work alongside the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority in monitoring the endangered black rhino in the Matusadona National Park Intensive Protection Zone. “Members of our new management team made two trips to the Matusadona during December 2009 and January 2010 to assess the situation on the ground and to meet with the new Area Manager, Hardwork Chikumba and his staff,” read a report by the organisation.

Thanks to extremely generous donations from Redan Petroleum and the girls of Chisipite Junior School, members of the society were able to hand over a total of 580 litres of fuel and 56 mosquito nets for the staff at the station.

The major problems for ground operations in this important Intensive Protection Zone are that funding provided by the Parks Authority is woefully inadequate, access is difficult to this very remote area, there are insufficient vehicles and very little fuel for field operations and there is no mechanic on station to repair broken equipment.

During its recent fact-finding visits, The Zambezi Society made a list of priority requirements for assistance to this very important Intensive Protection Zone.

“We discussed these with the Parks Regional Manager, Doris Tom, who is happy that, in addition to our continuing role of closely monitoring the black rhino in the Park, we will seek help from local and international donors and the business community to assist the station to achieve at least the basic tools it requires to function adequately in protecting the Park's black rhinos. In doing this, we will work closely with other conservation organisations so that effort is not duplicated or wasted,” read the statement.

3-Feb-10 1:00 PM

Meet the London Animal Police

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:00:00 GMT

They are not the flying squad, but many of the inhabitants of London they serve and protect are.

The Metropolitan Police have two officers devoted to fighting crimes against animals, protecting everything from swans, stag beetles, dormice and water voles, all the way through to tigers.

People who trap and serve up goldfinches in restaurants, or behead and eat swans are in their sights.

As are greedy developers who sweep bat nests and badger setts away, risking a £50,000 fine but standing to make millions on property deals.

And while protecting animals may initially seem like the fluffy side of policing in London, the job throws up some strange situations and people with links to serious organised crime are involved.

Criminals are often attracted to hare coursing or badger baiting, police say. When the team raided a packed east London, notorious for the illegal sale of birds, many of the men picked up had other criminal interests linking them to serious crimes.

Sergeant Ian Knox said: “People really do like their wildlife and when they see people behaving like this and it happening in their own back yard they are upset and don’t feel comfortable or safe. This is something we need to tackle.”

Another challenge faced is the persistence of the criminals and collectors. In Kingston, egg collectors, the sale of wild caught finches, shooting deer and attacks on swans and other birds have all been reported to the team.

Peregrine falcons are protected but at least one obsessive collector and repeat offender has shown they would rather face a six month stint in prison rather than put an end to the illicit thrill of adding to their catalogue of eggs.

Even pigeons fall under the protection of the law. If councils let pigeon nets fall into disrepair and pigeons are trapped and starve they can be liable. Shooting pigeons, as Kingston town centre managers resorted to several years ago, is legal though.

Chinese medicine practitioners who use rhino horns, tigers, elephants, tortoises, seahorses and a number of endangered plants, have been a big focus for the team in south-west London, and legitimate traders have opted to go herbal.

The Federation of Traditional Chinese Medicine supports the police’s Operation Charm campaign, which asks shops to display a sticker to show they do not sell products from endangered species.

According to Professor Boying Ma, chairman of the federation, in Upper Mulgrave Road, Sutton, traders have adapted.

He said: “Now we know endangered species are in a very dangerous situation. Before the 1980s in Chinese medicine we used quite a lot - tiger bones, sea horses for impotence.

“Chinese medicines are very flexible, so we can use other herbs and things. But police have told me there is a black market.”

31-Jan-10 1:00 PM

Fake Rhino Horns: A Saving Grace

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:00:00 GMT

THE ILLEGAL trade of rhino horns in Northeast India, especially in the state of Assam is getting murkier with every passing day. Now some unscrupulous elements have gone to the extend of duping customers with fake replicas. When the customers are often in a hurry to grab the prize and fade away, these traders mint some quick bucks passing on the fake replica.

According to investigations, the cloak-and-dagger dusky market of animal parts is flooded with such fake items. And even experts get bemused at the ingenious skill adopted by these traders. Usually these fake rhino horns are crafted out of wood or dry bamboo root and purified with lakh to look like the real ones. What's more these are then smeared with flesh of some common animals like frogs to give the smell. It is believed that rhino horns are identified by its distinctive odour. And these conmen have even come up with this idea of duping their customers in their sense of smell.

The rhino horns are in great demand in South Asian countries and also in the Middle East for supposedly for its medicinal values, a theory never substantiated by science.

This clandestine fake trade was exposed after a replica of rhino horn was recovered at Bokaghat town near the famed Kaziranga National Park known world-over for the one-horned rhino, around 245 km from capital city of Guwahati. Two of the conmen were also apprehended by the police. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. With the recent spurt in demand for rhino horns, criminals in the trade are formulating unique ways to mint money. The state of Assam has already witnessed the killing of five rhinos, two each at the Kaziranga National Park and the Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park, while one was slaughtered just a few days ago in Sonitpur district.

However, there is a silver lining to every dark cloud. With such fake replicas doing the rounds, criminals in the form of the buyers will execute caution while buying and this might in a way to save the poor animals from being butchered by poachers.

29-Jan-10 1:00 PM

Rhino Found Dead in Kaziranga

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:00:00 GMT

GUWAHATI: An endangered one-horned rhinoceros was found dead with its horn gouged out at the famous Kaziranga National Park in Assam, in the fourth
such incident in the past one month, officials said Thursday.

A wildlife official said the latest killing was reported late Wednesday from inside the sanctuary, 220 km east of Guwahati.

"The rhino carcass was found from near a sandbar on the fringe of the park. Its horn had been gouged out. Poachers used automatic weapons to kill the rhino," a park ranger said over telephone from Kaziranga.

On Monday, poachers at the Orang National Park in northern Assam gouged out the horn of another rhino. The horn was extracted while the animal was still alive. It later succumbed to the wounds.

"We are indeed worried about the spurt in incidents of rhino poaching inside Kaziranga and elsewhere," a senior wildlife official said, requesting anonymity.

At least 18 rhinos were killed in 2008 and 14 in 2009.

Between 1980 and 1997, some 550 rhinos were killed by poachers in the wilds of Kaziranga, the highest being 48 in 1992.

As per the 2009 census report, some 2,048 of the world's estimated 3,000 one-horned rhinos lumber around the swamps and grasslands of Kaziranga, their concentration here ironically making the giant mammals a favourite target of poachers.

Forest rangers complain about poor infrastructure and obsolete weapons compared to the poachers armed with sophisticated assault rifles.

"First of all, the number of forest guards in Kaziranga is far less than what is actually required to protect the wildlife, then you have World War II weapons compared to AK series rifles and carbines used by the poachers," a senior forest guard working in Kaziranga for more than 15 years said.

Poachers kill rhinos for their horns, which many believe contain aphrodisiac qualities, besides being used as medicines for curing fever, stomach ailments and other diseases in parts of Asia.

Rhino horn is also much fancied by buyers from the Middle East who turn them into handles of ornamental daggers, while elephant ivory tusks are primarily used for making ornaments and decorative items.

Profits in the illegal rhino horn trade are staggering, A rhino horn sells for up to Rs.1.5 million per kilogram in the international market after the horns are smuggled to clandestine Asian markets.

Once extracted, the rhino horn is routed to agents in places like Dimapur in Nagaland, Imphal in Manipur and Siliguri in West Bengal.

A possible route of rhino horn smuggling is to Kathmandu via Siliguri and then from Nepal to China and the Middle East. The other possible route is from Imphal to Moreh on the Manipur border with Myanmar and then via Myanmar to Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and China.

29-Jan-10 11:00 AM

Poachers Shoot Zambia's Last Two White Rhinos

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:00:00 GMT

Poachers have shot the last two white rhinos in Zambia, killing one and wounding the other, in a night operation at the Mosi-Oa-Tunya national park in Livingstone, an official said today.

The shooting of the two endangered animals in a heavily-guarded zoological park near Victoria Falls in Zambia's tourist resort town of Livingstone took place last week.

"I can confirm that one of the white rhinos was shot dead by suspected poachers. The other one was wounded and is undergoing treatment," said Maureen Mwape, spokesperson of the Zambia Wildlife Authority, which would be investigating the shooting.

The dead female rhino's horn was apparently removed.

Zambia's white rhinos were all killed by poachers but the government managed to acquire six from South Africa in 1993, of which the injured male is the last to survive.

29-Jan-10 11:00 AM

Rhino Carcass Without Horn Found in Kaziranga

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:00:00 GMT

Guwahati, Jan 27 (PTI) A rhino carcass with its horn removed was found at Kaziranga National Park today, wildlife officials said.

The carcass of the male rhino was found near Mandi Chapori in Agratoli range of the Park and officials suspect that the animal was killed and its horn removed last night by poachers.

A search operation has been launched in the area to nab the poachers, the officials said.

Rhinoceros horns fetch a huge price in the world of traditional medicines especially in China and is believed to have aphrodisiac properties.

This is the first rhino death in Kaziranga National Park this year and third in the state with two of the pachyderms killed in Orange National Park during this month.

More than 40 rhinos were killed in different national parks of Assam by poachers last year.

27-Jan-10 9:00 AM

Rare Kenya Rhinos De-horned to Frustrate Poachers

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:15:00 GMT

NAIROBI — Four extremely rare Northern White rhinos recently transferred to Kenya from a Czech zoo have been dehorned to protect them from poachers, a conservation group said Tuesday.

"With the increase of poaching in Kenya, we are simply not taking any chances," Elodie Sampere from the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, which is overseeing the animals' acclimatisation told AFP.

"Without a horn, these rhinos are of no value to poachers," she said.

The rhinos, two males and two females, are among only eight members of a very rare sub-species of white rhinos known to be alive worldwide and were transferred back to Kenya with the hope they would reproduce.

Kenyan wildlife rangers earlier this month arrested 12 men from an illicit game trade syndicate suspected of killing a 10-year-old white rhino and hacking off its horns.

The east African country, which has the world's third largest rhino population -- around 600 black and 300 white rhinos -- suffered its worst year for rhino poaching in 2009, when 12 black and six white rhinos were killed.

The illegal trade is driven by Asian and Middle Eastern demand for ivory used in traditional medicines for fevers, convulsions and as an aphrodisiac.

Sampere said that sawing off the four Northern White rhinos' horns would also allow them to grow back straight.

"All the rhinos had horns that didn?t grow upright. This is a result of them being in the zoo and not having trees to rub against," she said.

The conservationist also said that a radio-transmitter the size of a matchbox was screwed into the base of the hacked off horn to enable the tracking of the animals as they are released back into the wild.

News items on this page are from external sources and the International Rhino Foundation cannot be held responsible for the authenticity of their content, nor for the continuing presence of original links.

26-Jan-10 9:15 AM

Injured Rhino Found, Forest Guards Exchange Fire with Poachers

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:00:00 GMT

GUWAHATI: An injured male rhino was found with horns removed by poachers who later exchanged fire with forest guards in Orang National Park of
Assam's Udalguri district.

Eight rounds of fire have been exchanged with the poachers who are yet to be apprehended, forest officials said.

The officials said the poachers removed the horns after tranquilizing the rhino and left it in a bleeding state in Jhaoni area of the vast Park.

The rhino was still alive and doctors rushed to the spot to treat the bleeding animal.

As forest guards launched search operation inside the Park, the gun battle erupted.

25-Jan-10 11:00 AM

South Africa Steps up Security After Poachers Kill 14 Rhinos

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:00:00 GMT

JOHANNESBURG — Poachers have killed 14 rhinos in South Africa this year, the national parks authority said Friday, announcing military patrols in the world-famous Kruger National Park.

"These poachers are members of well-resourced syndicates and are also involved in chilling crimes like human trafficking, arms smuggling, prostitution and drug trafficking," said David Mabunda, chief of the South African National Parks (SANParks) in a statement.

"They are dangerous criminals."

Rhino poaching has intensified in South Africa with 14 slaughtered -- seven in Kruger and seven in the North West province -- in the first two weeks of January. Last year, 122 were killed nationwide.

SANParks said plans were on for soldiers to patrol the borders of Kruger and to camp in specific areas. Kruger shares about 450 kilometres (280 miles) of international borders with Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

"The military will be primarily going to patrol that," spokeswoman Wanda Mukutshulwa told AFP, referring to the border areas with Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Patrols within the park, which is half the size of the Netherlands, would be ad-hoc, she added.

Rhinos are usually shot by poachers for their horn which is sold for medicinal or ornamental use at huge profits.

Authorities have arrested 46 people since 2008 with two arrests so far this year in Kruger, where 50 rhinos were killed last year.

South Africa is a well-known wildlife destination and home to Africa's big five animals -- lion, elephant, rhino, leopard and buffalo.

23-Jan-10 11:00 AM

Cops Lay Trap in Orang for Rhino Horn Buyers

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:00:00 GMT

Guwahati, Jan. 22: A missing rhino horn has led an Assam police team to Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park in Mangaldoi where the men in khaki are waiting to trap a group of notorious wildlife buyers.

A joint team of police and forest department personnel has already launched a manhunt for the buyers who are believed to have arrived in Mangaldoi town a few days ago to buy a horn.

“The particular horn is that of a rhino which was killed at the national park on January 10,” a source in the forest department said. Poachers killed the female rhino on January 10 on the bank of the Brahmaputra inside the national park and took away the horn.

Although forest personnel along with the army had launched a search operation inside the national park the following morning believing that the poachers may not have escaped, the thugs gave them the slip.

A few days later, four poachers were apprehended from different villages located along the periphery of the smallest national park in the state.

A .303 rifle believed to have been used in killing the rhino was recovered from them. However, the horn could not be found.

A source said a linkman arrested yesterday has revealed that a group of buyers from Bhutan has been in touch with him for the past few days.

“We picked up this linkman, a bicycle shop owner, following specific information and during interrogation he revealed about a group from Bhutan which was supposed to buy the horn,” the source said.

The police believe the horn is still in Mangaldoi town.

“The linkman we have picked up was supposed to arrange a meeting between the group of buyers and the seller. We are not confirmed till now who the seller is. Further interrogation of this linkman would reveal more,” a police official involved in the operation said.

Involvement of rhino horn buyers from foreign countries had come to light a few months back when forest personnel recovered a mobile phone from a poacher who was killed in Orang National Park.

“There were records of a few incoming international calls to the particular phone which was recovered from the dead poacher,” a forest official said.

Sleuths of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau have also traced a few government officials in Nagaland from whose phone calls were made to the slain poacher just before and after the encounter.

23-Jan-10 11:00 AM

Java Deforestation Continues, Threatens Endangered Animals

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:00:00 GMT

The pace of deforestation in Java from 2007 to 2010 has reached 10,000 hectares and has become a serious threat to people and protected wildlife on the island. East Java is recorded as the biggest contributor to deforestation in Java, at a rate of 438.1 hectares annually.

ProFauna Indonesia campaign officer Radius Nursidi said recently the actual pace of deforestation is believed to be higher than the data issued by the government. The deforestation rate of 10,000 hectares is based on data issued by the Forestry Ministry and took place from 2003 to 2006. The deforestation rate in Java is recorded at 2,500 hectares annually, or 0.2 percent of Indonesia’s total, which is 1.17 million hectares annually.

Although Java is ranked fourth after Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi in terms of deforestation levels, the remaining forested areas in Java are vital because Java is home to many rare and endemic wildlife species threatened with extinction, while the forest, as the protected animals’ habitat, has not been well preserved.

“The current situation could pose a serious threat to people and rare animal species in Java, such as the Javan hawk eagle [Spizaetus bartels], silvery gibbon [Hylobates moloch], Javan langur [Trachypithecus auratus], Sunda slow loris [Nycticebus coucang], Javan surili [Presbytis comata], Javan rhinoceros [Sunda rhinoceros] and other endemic animals,” Radius said.

The government should take practical and political measures to protect the remaining forest and wildlife in Java. It should set up security posts at the entrances to natural conservation areas.

At present, Nursidi said, “people can enter and leave the natural conservation areas easily, including wildlife poachers”.

Forest conversion in Java has a direct impact on widespread poaching, especially in East Java.

ProFauna observations show wildlife poaching and illegal logging are still taking place on a regular basis in areas, such as the R. Soerjo Grand Forest Park in Pasuruan and Merubetiri National Park in Banyuwangi, due to lax supervision by authorities and ease of access.

ProFauna’s latest survey of 70 bird markets in 58 cities nationwide in 2009, found at least 183 protected animals being traded freely. “And the province trading the largest number of protected animals is East Java,” ProFauna Indonesia chairman Rosek Nursahid said. Generally, the trade in protected animals at major bird markets, such as in Surabaya and Jakarta is done covertly, with animals not displayed openly but secretly, in traders’ storehouses or homes, and shown only to prospective buyers.

Rosek said the wildlife trade issue should be made a national issue because it violated the 1990 law on the conservation of biological natural resources and their ecosystem. The law stipulates that violators involved in the illegal trade of wildlife species can face a 5-year prison sentence and be fined Rp 100 million (about US$10,000). “Despite the law protecting wildlife from illegal trading, in practice the trade is still going on in many places in Indonesia,” said Rosek.

22-Jan-10 11:00 AM

Rhinos in Zimbabwe Are in Danger

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:00:00 GMT

Reports from Zimbabwe on Wednesday revealed war veterans in the south-east of the country were poisoning rhinos at drinking holes and then tracking them down to steal their horns.

Conservationists said poachers were using cunning ways to kill rhinos to avoid attracting anti-poaching teams.

The poachers are supplying horns to dealers mostly in South Africa.

News website ZimEye (www.zimeye.org) reported war veterans in the south eastern Chiredzi district were scattering cabbage leaves laced with poison near water holes used by rhinos. They then track down the rhino and cut off its horn once it died from the poison.

Johnny Rodriquez of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said he could not confirm the reports but said his country’s rhinos were more vulnerable than ever.

He said using cop chemicals to poison the rhinos would not attract the attention of anti-poaching units.

Rodriquez said tranquilisers were also being used to douse the rhinos but the sedative was not reversed which meant the rhino often died.

Rodriquez told Eyewitness News some poaching rings could be linked to powerful politicians and ministers in President Robert Mugabe’s former ruling party.

20-Jan-10 11:00 AM

Chester Zoo’s Rhino Maniacs Team to Tackle Mount Kilimanjaro in Bid to Preserve Black Rhinos

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:00:00 GMT

A TEAM of Chester Zoo staff will begin their ascent in September up the 19,340 feet of the world’s largest free-standing mountain – Mount Kilimanjaro – in aid of Black Rhino conservation.

The team, dubbed the Rhino Maniacs, are doing the challenge in their own time, including all the training and fundraising, to help raise awareness and money for the Zoo’s Eastern Black Rhino conservation programme.

Team member and rhino keeper at the zoo, Helen Massey, said: “There are only around 700 Eastern Black Rhinos left in the wild. The work that Chester Zoo does both here in the UK and out in the wild is important in ensuring the survival of the species.

“The Rhino Maniacs climbing Kilimanjaro is a great way for us to tell people about these amazing animals.

“I am lucky enough to work with Eastern Black Rhinos at the zoo and it is devastating to imagine that they could become extinct in the wild.”

With Rhino Mania - the mass public arts event being delivered by Chester Renaissance and Wild In Art, stampeding through Chester next year, the challenge comes at a time when Black Rhino conservation will be brought to the forefront of people’s minds across the city.

Rhino Mania has already pledged their support for the Rhino Maniacs and their mascot Rascal will be joining the Maniacs up Kilimanjaro.

“We need as much support as possible and are looking for individuals, community groups and businesses to support us in any way they can” said Helen.

”From cash donations, gifts in kind and organising events on our behalf to simply helping to spread the word and generate awareness - any support people can offer will make a huge difference to us.”

For more information visit www.rhinomaniacs.org.uk.

18-Jan-10 3:00 PM

Rhino Rescued From Quick Sand in India

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:00:00 GMT

An adult male rhino that was stuck in sand, on the bank of Brahmaputra river in Kaziranga National Park, was rescued by the Forest Department staff assisted by the International Fund for Animal Welfare - Wildlife Trust of India (WTI-IFAW) and local villagers.

The rhino was trapped in slushy sand concealed underneath a pool of water. It is believed that the trapped rhino had been stuck since dawn.

Vetinerary treatment

"The rhino had its head and upper parts of its body above the water and was visibly exhausted. I administered steroids and vitamin supplements on the rear flank of the animal to help it recover its strength," said IFAW-WTI veterinarian Dr Gogoi.

With the help of the local villagers, the rescue team excavated sand from around the rhino's hind legs. As soon as its hind legs were freed, the rhino walked away from the site of rescue.

A similar incident had occurred in January last 2009, in a farmland near Kaziranga, when an Asian rhino was rescued from a mud-pit.

18-Jan-10 2:00 PM

Somak Refutes Claims Kenyan Lodge Affects Rhino Habitat

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:00:00 GMT

Somak Holidays has refuted claims it is selling holidays to a safari lodge in Kenya that will affect the habitat of the black rhino.

According to a report in The Sunday Times, leading conservationists including BBC’s Big Cat Diary presenter Jonathan Scott and safari writer Brian Jackman, have joined in a call for people to boycott the operator and sign a petition on the Care2 campaign website.

The Sunday Times report claimed the 60-bedroom hotel, called the Ashnil Mara Camp, is owned by Somak subsidiary Ashnil Hotels. However, Somak Holidays marketing manager Louise Newton said it is a 30-tent camp lodge, owned by Olkeju Ronkai and is only contracted by Somak.

Newton said Somak has evidence from the chief game warden of the Masai Mara National Reserve that the lodge will not damage the habitat of the black rhino.

Newton said: "If anyone can give us evidence that rhino are affected by the lodge then we would walk away from it.

"This lodge has been planned for five years and has received planning permission."

The lodge is set to open in mid-March.

News items on this page are from external sources and the International Rhino Foundation cannot be held responsible for the authenticity of their content, nor for the continuing presence of original links.

18-Jan-10 2:00 PM

Internet Allowing Illegal Animal Trade: Activist

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:00:00 GMT

SINGAPORE — Illegal wildlife traders are turning to the Internet to reach a wider customer base, circumvent laws and evade authorities, an animal rights activist told a conference on Sunday.

Items such as rhinoceros horns, leopard pelts and even live tiger cubs are being hawked openly in online advertisements on public websites, said Grace Ge, Asian regional director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

The Internet offers anonymity for the seller as well as fast and untraceable sales, while inadequate legislation governing online companies ensures relative impunity, she said at a regional animal right conference held in Singapore.

"The Internet has facilitated the trading of wildlife, which is having a devastating effect on animals and ecosystems worldwide," she said.

Through the Internet, traders are able to "circumvent rules, regulations and evade enforcement", Ge told delegates to the Asia for Animals 2010 conference.

Citing an IFAW study on the illegal online wildlife trade in 2008, Ge said there was a "huge volume of wildlife and their products traded online on a daily basis".

The research was conducted over a three-month period in 2008 in 11 countries including the United States, China, Australia and several European countries. It found 7,122 online advertisements selling endangered species or products derived from their slaughter.

The United States was a major culprit, with 70.5 percent of advertisements coming out of that country, followed by Britain and China with 7.7 percent and 7.6 percent respectively, the study showed.

Estimates of the value of final sales on these websites totalled more than 457,000 dollars, but the actual amount was likely to be higher as most sites did not advertise their prices, according to the study.

News items on this page are from external sources and the International Rhino Foundation cannot be held responsible for the authenticity of their content, nor for the continuing presence of original links.

17-Jan-10 9:00 AM