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Looking for Trouble

Susie Ellis - noemail@rhinos-irf.org — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:11:39 GMT

Untitled Document

Hello [firstname],

A burst of automatic gunfire was heard in the Save Valley Conservancy in Zimbabwe’s Lowveld one recent late afternoon. Anti-poaching patrols rapidly deployed to the area and began tracking a black rhino cow and calf that had fled the site of the shooting. The cow appeared to be dragging her hind legs and was leaving a trail of blood, indicating that she had been badly wounded. From the location and the shape of their tracks, the injured animals were identified as ‘Double’ and her 16-month-old calf ‘Trouble’. Double’s horn had been fitted with a radio-transmitter, so trackers were able to quickly locate the pair the next day using radio-telemetry equipment. Both rhinos had sustained gunshot wounds and required urgent medical attention.

Veterinarian Chap Masterson immobilized the rhinos, finding seven AK-47 bullet holes in Double and one bullet hole in Trouble’s front knee. Fortunately, all the bullets had missed vital organs. Dr. Masterson gave antibiotics and vitamins to both mother and calf to help fight infection and aid recovery. Since Double and Trouble could walk well enough to find food and water, and since the mother could be tracked electronically, the team decided to leave the pair in the field and closely monitor their recovery.

The first tracking effort found Double moving well and feeding, but alone. Our team’s spirits sunk! Where was Trouble? Three weeks ultimately passed before Trouble turned up (photo above), walking well but thinner for the stress of being separated from his mother and his unintended early weaning - black rhino calves will suckle milk until they are 20 months old. Trouble now remains in the general area of his mother and we are confident that the two will find each other again, as black rhino cows and their weaned calves often do. Both have made remarkable recoveries and have not needed further treatment.

Unfortunately, there will likely be plenty of times in the future when injured rhinos need veterinary care and/or rescue from poachers. We’d like to see them all have a happy ending, like Double and Trouble’s. Please consider supporting our work with rhinos in Zimbabwe – they need your help to survive.

IRF works in partnership with the Lowveld Rhino Trust in Zimbabwe to protect both black and white rhino populations. Though poaching remains a serious threat that could worsen, sustained and committed efforts – biological management, veterinary care, strategic translocations, anti-poaching patrols, informer systems and legal actions – have helped to improve the situation. Rhino poaching deaths have declined from more than 70 per year in 2008 and 2009 to fewer than 20 per year in 2010 and 2011. During that same period, black rhino numbers have remained stable, white rhino numbers increased steadily and overall rhino numbers grew at an annual rate of 5%, despite poaching. The total population - more than 500 animals, including 32 calves born in 2011 – accounts for nearly 90% of Zimbabwe’s rhino population.

Please give generously. Your donation will go directly to our Zimbabwe field program to support veterinary care, anti-poaching, and management efforts. Together, we can help to keep the momentum going. THANK YOU!

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30-Jan-12 11:11 PM

Rehab For Orphaned Rhinos

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:00:00 GMT

RHINOCEROS) SOUTH AFRICA — In response to the dramatic increase in poaching, rhino rehabilitation expert Karen Trendler developed The Orphaned Rhino Response Project to rehabilitate rhino calves whose mothers were killed by poachers. A team of trained rescuers rush to the scene after reported cases of poaching to provide medical care for any calves left behind. After initial treatment the rhinos are transported to the rehab facility and prepared for release into the wild. Read on to learn more about this amazing organization and how you can help! — Global Animal

Karen Trendler rehabilitates rhino calves until they are ready to be released into the wild. Photo Credit: Daily News

Daily News, Laea Medley

A project aimed at rehabilitating orphaned rhino calves – one of the tragic consequences of South Africa’s poaching crisis – has been launched.

The Rhino Orphan Response Project, developed by the Endangered Wildlife Trust and internationally recognised rhino expert, Karen Trendler, takes in the orphaned, and often injured, calves, and rehabilitates them until they are ready to be released into the wild.

While calves suckle for the first 18 months of their lives, they usually stay with their mother until they are about three years old.

But sometimes, orphaned calves are prematurely born, as their mothers are poached during pregnancy.

Find out how you can volunteer to help rescue rhino calves in South Africa!

Based in Roodepoort, Gauteng, the project aims to facilitate a rhino calf response network, based on international wildlife principles, to rehabilitate the calves.

“The project aims to improve the response to these situations – to get to the scene as soon as possible and provide the best possible treatment needed,” Trendler said.

“We want to get them back into the wild, as this is the best thing for rhino conservation. They must breed.”

The project is not so much an orphanage as a rescue service for poached rhinos.

“We go out to a scene where a rhino was poached, and if there is a surviving calf, we take over,” Trendler said.

“Sometimes we have to treat them for gunshot wounds and facial injuries from where the horn was removed.”

The project was funded by the Heron Bridge Private School and the Roodepoort Hiking Club, and consists of veterinarians, animal welfare staff, conservation staff, rhino owners, and anti-poaching staff.

Last year 443 rhinos were poached in South Africa – 32 in KwaZulu-Natal alone. In 2010 there were 333, while in 2006, there were only 13.

To combat this, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has launched a Rhino Security Intervention Plan, and runs the Boma-Imfolozi Game Capture Pen, which gives injured rhinos a place to rest and recuperate.

“We’ve been trying to get the project going for about a year now, but as poaching has escalated and the problem of orphaned calves becomes greater, we needed to have a more organised approach.”

Trendler said limited rhino rehabilitation expertise and failure to focus on orphaned calves can lead to unnecessary death, prolonged suffering, and further trauma to the animals.

“There has been a proliferation of so-called ‘calf-rescue’ projects, but many of these projects exploit rhino calves as a marketing tool.

“Taming and humanising them means they can’t be released back into the wild and therefore require permanent sanctuary.”

Trendler believes that with a co-ordinated rescue response network in place, many of the rhino orphans could be successfully treated and rehabilitated.

After they are released into the wild, the calves still need to be monitored. “They might need more support, or they might not get along with the other rhinos in the area,” Trendler said. “We also have to make sure that the area they are released into has massive security to protect them from further poaching.”

23-Jan-12 8:00 PM

Rhino poaching trial postponed

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:00:00 GMT

Police and the South African Revenue Service (Sars) have revealed more information in what is believed to be one of country’s most high-profile rhino poaching cases.

Thai national Chumlong Lemtongthai is accused of heading a syndicate that hired prostitutes to pose as trophy hunters, in an alleged bid to abuse the legal permit system.

On Friday, Lemtongthai and his accomplice Marnus Steyl made a brief court appearance.

The case was postponed to June.

Steyl owns the farms where the hunting took place.

The third accused Punpitak Chunchom appeared separately, because authorities failed to bring him to court on time.

It is understood that the police docket was handed over to the defence team on Friday.

The document contains information captured from Lemtongthai's computer, including business invoices and correspondence.

His cellphone was also seized and examined by investigators.

Defence lawyers said they will be ready to proceed with the matter in June.

23-Jan-12 8:00 PM

Rhino group to protest outside court

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:00:00 GMT

AS members of an alleged rhino horns smuggling syndicate are expected to appear in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court today, an animal rights group is set to protest outside the court.

Members of People for the Liberation of Animals (PLA) will gather and protest outside the court premises to highlight their grievances with regard to exploitation of animals.

The organisation wants to see harsh sentences imposed on people involved in rhino poaching.

“We want to see all members of the syndicate given harsh sentences and we want to see North West Province officials responsible for issuing rhino hunting permits to members of the syndicate arrested,” Melissa Weavind, the spokesman for PLA said.

Alleged kingpins of the syndicate and Thai nationals, Chumlong Lemtongthai and Punpitak Chunchom, are expected to appear in court on numerous charges, including fraud and contravening the Customs and Exercise Act.

It is alleged Lemtongthai, 44, ran a syndicate that used prostitutes to smuggle rhino horns from South Africa to Asia.

The two were arrested in July and November last year, during an intelligence driven operation by the Hawks and the South African Revenue Service. They have been in custody after they were denied bail. – pulengm@citizen.co.za

23-Jan-12 8:00 PM

'Strong leads' in hunt for poachers

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:00:00 GMT

The scourge of rhino poaching continues to plague the country's game reserves.

Wildlife officials in KwaZulu-Natal have revealed that three animals, including a black rhino, have been killed in the province recently.

The carcasses were found in the Mkuze and Ndumo reserves in northern KZN in the past few weeks.

Ezemvelo's Jabulani Ngubane says all three animals were de-horned.

He says authorities are following strong leads to track down the alleged poachers.

Ngubane says rhinos have an important role to play in the country's national heritage.

"Rhinos [are] a symbol and icon of hope in this country; in terms of helping us as a draw-card in terms of tourism [and] contributing to the GDP of the country," he said.

Ngubane has added they remain committed to the protection of the rhino. He says rangers are on duty 24 hours a day patrolling the parks.

23-Jan-12 8:00 PM

Trial date set for rhino horn accused

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Johannesburg - The trial of a Free State game farmer and two Thai men accused of hunting rhino and exporting their horns to South East Asia will proceed in June.

The date was set when Marnus Steyl, out on R100 000 bail, and Chumlong Lemthongthai appeared in the Kempton Park Magistrate's Court on Friday.

The second Thai man, Punpitak Chunchom, was not brought from Boksburg Prison in time for the court appearance and was expected to appear on his own later on Friday.

Lemthongthai is being held in Modderbee Prison.

He and Chunchom face charges of contravening the Customs and Excise Act and of fraud.

Magistrate Prince Manyathi said the trial would be held between June 4 and 15.

Steyl appeared flustered by the media attention and cameras. He looked in front of him throughout his brief appearance.

In court to watch the proceedings was a delegation from the South African Revenue Service.

Their interest is in the alleged violation of the Customs Act through the movement of rhino horn from South Africa and Thailand to Laos.

23-Jan-12 6:00 PM

Rhino poaching: what is the solution?

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

There are several practical and highly profitable ways to end the slaughter of Africa’s rhinos, writes Michael Eustace

MICHAEL EUSTACE

Published: 2012/01/20 07:13:38 AM

IN 1910, South Africa was said to have 100 white rhinos. With great care and good management, the number has increased to 19000 today.

There are also 2000 black rhinos in the country. In 1960, there were 100000 in Africa outside the South Africa, but by 1970 that population had fallen to 65000, and today there are only 3150.

If there had been no poaching from 1970, the black-rhino population in the rest of Africa, at its natural growth rate of 6% a year, would have increased to 700000 today. (There would not have been the habitat to accommodate that number of rhinos, but the arithmetic is interesting.)

There were 448 rhinos poached in South Africa last year, of which 252 were killed in the Kruger National Park. To this number can be added about 200 rhinos shot in the country by pseudo-trophy hunters for the horn trade, along with rhinos poached in Zimbabwe (28), Kenya (27) and Swaziland (two). This makes 705 rhinos out of an African population of 26000, or 2,7%.

The net growth of the rhino population is about 6% a year, so the current level of poaching has not meant a decline in the total population. The concern is that the level of poaching in South Africa has increased by 35% over the past year (333 in 2010), and if the growth in poaching continues at this rate, then the country is looking at 805 (3,8%) being poached and pseudo-trophy-hunted this year, and 1017 (4,7%) next year. (I have assumed that the levels of pseudo-hunting will remain the same.) In 2015, the levels of poaching in South Africa may exceed the natural population growth rate.

POACHING

Some commentators are surprised at the current high level of poaching, but it is relatively low compared with the 1960s, when more than 8000 animals a year must have been poached outside South Africa. (This takes into account that rhinos were breeding at the same time as their numbers were being reduced by poaching.)

The Kruger National Park increased its anti-poaching effort last year by about 50% over the 2010 level. Also, the army was co-opted and now patrols the border with Mozambique. Nevertheless, rhinos poached have increased from 146 in 2010 to 252 last year, or by 73%. Twenty-one poachers were shot dead in skirmishes last year and 82 arrests were made. (The national rate of rhino-poaching convictions relative to arrests is less than 5%.)

While there have been some notable successes, the Kruger is clearly not winning the war. It has about 10000 rhinos, or 48% of the national herd, and with the animals having been wiped out in countries to the north of South Africa, the park has become the focus for poachers.

The Kruger is 20000km² in extent and has a 400km border with Mozambique. It would be prohibitively costly to patrol effectively. The park has 400 rangers on patrol — that is 50km² per ranger. I doubt that one ranger could effectively protect more than 10km² per day. This implies a force of 2000 rangers, or five times the current force. Assuming only half the park needs to be patrolled intensively, because rhinos are concentrated there, then 1000 rangers would be needed.

The cost, including overheads, of an additional 600 rangers would be about R80m a year — more than the annual surplus of SANParks, which was R52,6m for the year to March 2011. It is not possible for SANParks to finance 1000 rangers; even if it were, there would still be a weakness that undermines law-enforcement efforts in most parks in Africa: corruption among law enforcers.

GREAT REWARDS

The rewards of poaching are high and, at the bottom level, can be as much as R160000 for a horn-set of 4kg. (African rhinos have two horns, but for the sake of ease, a horn-set in this paper is referred to as "a horn".) This prize can be won in one night by two poachers armed with a rifle, a dart-gun or poisoned cabbage and an axe, and it represents six years of wages for each of the two poachers, at Mozambique rates. That is if they are lucky enough to have a job.

In the Zambezi valley, the experience was that it did not matter how many poachers were shot and arrested — the rewards were so great that there were dozens of candidates to take the places of those shot or jailed. The rhinos ran out before the poachers. The 21 poachers shot last year represent a ratio of 8% of the rhinos killed and the five likely convictions a ratio of 2% of the rhino shot, assuming the national average. These numbers suggest there is a 90% chance of a poacher avoiding any penalty.

Only about 15 rhinos are shot in true trophy hunts in South Africa every year. About 200 are shot each year, mainly by Vietnamese, in pseudo-trophy-hunts where the hunter is solely interested in the horn for on-selling into the Asian market for horn. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), to which South Africa is a party, allows trophy hunting. However, it is clear to everybody including the Cites management authority in South Africa, that most of those horns are for the trade and not to hang on a wall.

The Department of Environmental Affairs, embarrassed by the loophole, has offered to close down these Vietnamese hunts but the game farmers are opposed to the closure because it is a source of revenue of about R48m a year and they argue, convincingly, that they need the money to justify keeping and growing rhino numbers and paying for their security. These farmers own 5000 rhinos, or 23% of the national herd.

There is also a valid argument that if these hunts were not allowed, the level of poaching would simply increase by 200 a year, which would then transfer income from farmers to criminals and not reduce the overall number of rhino deaths.

MEDICINE MARKET

Rhino horn is sold into the Asian traditional medicine market where it is used in a cocktail of other substances to cure a range of ailments. The main market is China, and while there is some comment on Vietnam being a major market, it will also be a way into China. The Chinese have believed in rhino horn for centuries and although somewhat flimsy western medical research, paid for by a wildlife donor agency, claims that rhino horn is of no medicinal value, the Chinese buy it and pay no attention to western views. It is exotic, expensive, illegal (China banned its trade in 1993) and prestigious.

Only about 2g is used in each dose. It can be calculated that, in effect, less than 0,1% of the Chinese population use it and that is because of the prohibitively high price

The traditional doctor demands to see the retailer shave the horn in front of him as he fears substitutes. This suggests there would be no market for artificial substitutes.

The Vietnamese "trophy hunter" pays R80000/kg for horn. This price probably doubles by the time it reaches the wholesale market and doubles again in the retail market. Over the years, there has been comment that horn trades at about the same price as gold, by weight. The current price of gold is $52000/kg. The poacher, who might be a peasant, is being paid a maximum of $5000/kg, so there is a spare $5000/kg that can be used to pay a collecting agent and to bribe parks staff to stay away from a hunt or to inform on the whereabouts of rhino — or to bribe the police or army — before the total price of an informal hunt exceeds the cost of horn obtained in a formal Vietnamese hunt.

The gold price has risen by six times over the past 10 years, so the price of rhino horn might well have risen by a similar amount. The horn market is an imperfect one, spread over a large area, and there will be many prices at any one time.

HORN COUNT

Rhinos live for about 38 years so, on average, about 2,6% die every year. With that assumption, about 676 animals died of natural causes last year in Africa as a whole. Africa has a total rhino population of 26000. While most of the horns collected from dead animals find their way into official stocks, some would have been collected and sold illegally to the trade. The 20% collected illegally or stolen from stocks would amount to 135 horns.

In addition, game farmers in South Africa are known to be selling horns illegally, and this is estimated at a further 100 horns. Add these horns to the original estimate of 705 and the total becomes 940. The purpose of this calculation is to estimate the total annual supply of horn. While we have no specific statistics on the demand, we can derive demand from the supply, as supply and demand must be equal.

Supply and demand are brought into equilibrium by the price of $40000/kg. Above that price, volumes sought decline; below it, price sellers are reluctant to sell. Thus, there were about 940 horns sold last year for an average price of $40000/kg at the retail level. Assuming the average weight per horn was 4kg, then 3760kg was sold for $150m at the retail level and $75m (R600m) at the wholesale price.

With the price having increased strongly in recent years along with other commodities, it is probable that speculators are buying and hoarding horn in the expectation of selling it at higher prices in the future. If speculators bought 20% of the volume, then the balance of 3008kg was sold into the medicinal market. At 10g for a course of treatment, there were 300800 patients that used horn, or 0,02% of the Chinese population of 1,3-billion. It is a minuscule proportion of that country’s population that use rhino horn.

TRADE BAN

Cites, which is made up of 175 parties, or countries, banned international trade in rhino horn in 1977. While well intentioned, the ban has been a miserable failure. All it did was to push the trade underground where it has thrived and made money for criminals. In the process it has impoverished parks, where the money rightfully belongSouthern Africa could supply the market with 676 horns a year from natural deaths alone. There are also stocks of 5000 horns collected over many years. Southern Africa could easily supply the market with 940 horns a year and increase this by 40 horns a year from the increment of natural deaths, provided poaching was controlled. It would be 19 years before existing stocks were exhausted.

In addition, private farmers in South Africa could provide the equivalent of 1000 horns, or 4000kg a year, by cropping their rhinos. The horn regrows at the rate of 0,8kg a year. The cropping process appears not to harm the animal provided about a third of the horn at the base is left behind when it is cut, which is the normal practice. In theory, Southern Africa could provide the market with 1940 horns a year, or more than twice the current demand.

This greatly increased supply could be achieved without the need for the killing of one rhino.

To trade internationally, Cites needs to approve a change in the rules, and for that to happen, 66% of the 175 member countries, or 116 countries, need to vote in favour of the change. The argument in favour of trade is compelling but Cites can be driven more by political game playing than logic. The wildlife donor agencies that attend the meetings and have their own agendas often shape the debate. The next meeting is due in March 2013 and a proposal needs to be made six months before then. South Africa, being the owner of 80% of Africa’s rhinos, is the obvious choice to make the proposal.

SANParks has asked the Department of Environmental Affairs to put the proposal to the next meeting, and the SADC Rhino Management Group has asked for the same action.

RHINO STUDIES

The department has also asked for two studies, as a result of a ministerial rhino summit held in October 2010. The terms of reference were only published nine months later and the contract for one study awarded towards the end of last year.

The awarded study concerns South Africa’s internal trade in rhino horn, over which Cites has no control. There was a moratorium placed by the department on internal trade in February 2009 because horn was finding its way on to the illegal market.

There is no end-user market for horn in South Africa and without external trade being possible, internal buyers would be confined to speculators who would buy horn in the expectation of international trade being allowed by Cites at some stage in the future. This horn would need to trade at a large discount to the (illegal) market price because of the uncertainty over when it might become tradable.

Yields required on venture capital investments are about 25% a year. As there is only a Cites meeting every three years, speculators would require a discount of at least 50% if they anticipated having a waiting period of three years before disposal. At that discount, there will be a temptation for the originators and speculators to sell into the illegal market for a quick profit. To prevent this, there will need to be a set of cumbersome controls and audit procedures.

It is difficult to see why a study on the internal market in horn should be an issue worthy of costly delay. The other study, which has not yet been awarded because of a lack of a suitable candidate, has to do with international trade. The terms of reference ask for estimates of the size of the market, prices, why people buy, whether there is a trading opportunity and how trade might operate. All these issues are covered in this paper and are, in any case, well known. Of course there are "nice to knows" but there is very little that we need to know that we don’t already know.

I fear that these largely irrelevant studies are a delaying tactic because the Department of Environmental Affairs is anxious about putting a controversial proposal to Cites that the donor agencies and their followers will oppose. The argument needs to be presented by top South African lawyers who would be a good investment: we are losing 448 rhino a year, which is worth $14m, a year and we could be making $75m from the sale of 940 horns. The differential is $89m a year (R712m) or R2m per day.

If this loss continues for a further four years, which it looks set to do unless there is more urgency, the country will lose $356m (R2,8bn). The ministers of finance, planning, and trade and industry must surely support greater urgency.

CENTRAL SELLING

Rather than a free-for-all, it would make sense to have all sales of horn conducted through a central selling organisation (CSO) where the volumes can be controlled and the legality of the origin of the horn can be assured. The CSO would act as a broker and receive a small commission of, say, 5% on the value of the horn sold. The plan would be for it to make a small profit but for most of the proceeds to go to the suppliers. An essential component is to have market expertise to manage the sales, and there should be scope to replace managers when and if that becomes sensible.

The CSO could be owned by the owners of rhino, pro rata, roughly, to the number of animals they own or are custodians of — for example, SANParks, 45%; Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife, 20%; South African private farmers, 20%; Namibia, 10%; Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania and Swaziland, 5%. The structure should probably not allow for one organisation to have control. The inclusion of Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania and Swaziland is necessary because they need to be in the net and not selling independently against the best interests of the whole.

Monthly sales could be held at OR Tambo International airport. The managers could assess the demand in the market and call for a specific amount of horn in accordance with a quota system. Horn would then be offered to a selected range of buyers at a particular price per parcel on a "take it or leave it" arrangement, like De Beers used to have in the diamond market. It would not be an auction. All horn would be properly marked and have a DNA signature. Payment would be made to the undoubted suppliers and the horn immediately loaded on to an aircraft for export. There would be no room for laundering of illegal horn or corruption.

HORN BUYERS

The buyers would mainly be Chinese state pharmaceutical companies with whom the CSO had a partnership arrangement and who would buy and expect to retail at a 100% profit. Having a profitable investment in the industry, these pharmaceutical companies would see that the Chinese government closed down the illegal operators. To prevent collusion, there should be scope to include buyers other than China, such as Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea and Yemen. Given a legal trade, these countries would need to close down their illegal trade, and partnership arrangements would help with this.

In the long term, the CSO needs to be able to sell as much horn as is sustainably possible at as high a price as possible. Initially it might drop the price below $20000/kg to clear out the speculators and damage the illegal trade. Inevitably there will still be some illegal trade (200 horns a year) but the risks will be much higher because Africa will have more money for law enforcement and China will be harsh with the illegal trade. Profits to the criminals will also be much lower because illegal goods typically trade at a discount of about 30%; if the Chinese police are severe, it will be more.

If southern Africa was to sell 1200 horns a year or 4800kg at $20000/kg, it would produce income of $96m (R768m) a year, which is substantial in conservation terms and approximates the total annual tourism, retail and concession income of SANParks.

There are hundreds of donor agencies that profit from rhino being in crisis. Their outputs are seldom measured and there are far too many that are accountable to no one.

Their main strategy is to change the Chinese mindset away from the belief that horn is a useful medication. How much success have they had? The Chinese are not going to listen to the west on this subject. The strategy is futile.

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Another major focus is on encouraging increased law enforcement. This is unaffordable in Africa given the more important priorities such as food, health and education. Conservation comes way down on the list. Law enforcement is important but it is undermined by corruption in Africa and at currently affordable levels is not winning, even in rich and well-managed parks such as the Kruger.

The agents like to say that demand is insatiable and that there are too few rhinos left to satisfy the demand. They ignore price and the fact that price brings whatever level of demand there is into balance with supply.

They suggest that the introduction of a legal trade will stimulate the illegal trade, whereas the reverse is probable. A legal trade will satisfy the market and there will be little room for the illegal trade. The criminals will be left to trade at low prices and high risks and disruption by the CSO. It is unreasonable to believe that the traditional Chinese medicine market and the Chinese government would accommodate an illegal market run by criminals, given a legal trade.

At present, the only way to satisfy demand is to kill the animal. This will become unnecessary given a legal trade.

BENEFICIARIES

The agencies say that trade will benefit only a few wealthy individuals. The reality is that governments own 80% of the rhinos and national and provincial parks will be the beneficiaries of 80% of the profit. Governments will also collect taxes from private sector profits.

They suggest that if Africa traded, then endangered populations of rhino in the rest of the world would come under increased pressure. In fact, pressure would be taken off those animals because Africa would fill the market with legal goods at cheaper prices and there would be fierce policing of the illegal trade in China.

The experience in the crocodile, ostrich and vicuna markets is that commercial farming has taken poaching pressure off wild populations.

The agents refer to the "precautionary principle", which means that because we do not fully understand the illegal trade and the prices and the routes and the people involved, we cannot risk a legal trade. The current trade is secret and by definition we are never going to know all the details, but we know enough. If for some unexpected and unlikely reasons a regulated trade did not reduce poaching, then it could be closed down. Hiding under the precautionary principle in the past has been at great cost to the rhino.

Some agencies suggest flooding the market with horn from stocks to bring down the price to a level where poachers find poaching no longer profitable. This cannot work on a sustainable basis as 100g for only 200000 Chinese would eliminate the entire stockpile in one year. In all probability, speculators would buy all the cheap supply knowing it could not be sustained and that there would be a large profit to be made when stocks ran out.

DEHORNING

Dehorning as a solution has also been widely advocated, but all it does is to move poaching from populations that have been dehorned to populations where they have not. Furthermore, it is expensive and has to be done every two years because horn grows at the rate of 0,8kg a year and about 1,2kg is left behind in the stump after cropping. Thus the horn has a total weight of 2,8kg after two years, which is attractive to a poacher. Consider regular dehorning of the Kruger’s population of 10000 rhino. It is not practical, desirable or affordable.

Burning horn stocks is also a suggestion that the agencies make to help the rhino. Destroying stocks would reduce potential supplies to the market and encourage speculators to stockpile, which would increase prices and increase poaching. It makes no sense. Selling one horn from stocks may save the life of one rhino. Kenya was keen to destroy stocks and put a proposal to the last Cites meeting, which it later withdrew because there was no support for it.

Most donor agents appear not to like the idea of a regulated trade; maybe because it is the most likely solution, and a solution is not what they seek?

The public should be cautious about donating money to these agencies. They may be perpetuating the crisis.

Filtering poisoned horn on to the illegal market would have a dramatic effect on demand if the traditional Chinese medicine market began to fear there was a chance of horn doing more harm than good. While this has been discussed, there has been very little support for it but in the absence of trade and increased poaching, it may well happen.

About 150 live rhinos were sold by South Africa to China on the understanding that they were for educational purposes and not for commercial purposes. This was allowed within the Cites rules. However, it was later found that the horns were being shaved and that there was a business plan for commercial use. The exports were stopped by the Department of Environmental Affairs. Selling live rhinos to other countries is the wrong strategy and undermines Africa’s competitive advantage — one of the best that we have.

BENEFITS OF REDUCTION

Poaching will never be totally stopped, but if it is reduced to about 200 rhinos a year, the current population of 21000 rhinos in South Africa will double to 42000 over the next 12 years. The country could sell the annual increment to parks in southern Africa. Selling 1260 rhino a year would produce income of $39m (R312m). This would then increase South Africa’s total income from rhino to R1bn a year.

Assume that the World Bank, some other organisation or even a wealthy individual financed these sales over 12 years for a total investment of $500m. The financier could retain ownership of the animals and their increment of 6% a year. If the parks farmed the horn from half the animals, they would produce 8400kg of horn a year with a current wholesale value of $168m. Typically, this would pay for the anti-poaching and operational costs of 168 parks.

There would need to be an assurance that the rhino would be protected in these parks, and part of the transaction would need to be that an organisation such as African Parks or Frankfurt Zoo managed the protection of the rhino using existing park rangers. (There are often sufficient numbers of rangers, but they are poorly managed.) The operation would be self-financing and while the rhino were being protected, other animals in the park would be too. For a park to thrive, all that needs to happen is for poaching to be controlled. In most of Africa’s parks this is not happening, and most are in decline. One good man and a reasonable budget can make a big difference to a park.

The whole of Africa has fewer tourists visiting every year. Parks and wildlife are Africa’s competitive advantage — if we could attract an additional 1-million tourists a year, and they stayed for an average of 10 days at $200 per day, then that would generate income of $2bn a year

We have the opportunity for turning around a conservation tragedy into the biggest contribution to conservation in Africa imaginable, with rhinos as the catalyst.

It is hard to believe that the world, as represented by Cites, can choose to continue with a failed strategy (the ban on trade), sacrifice 705 rhinos a year and fund criminals when there is the potential from a regulated trade to produce annual profits of billions for African conservation and secure 168 parks, all without the need to kill one rhino.

South Africa should not waste time collecting more data. We have enough and the time has come to put a proposal to Cites.

23-Jan-12 6:00 PM

Top civil servant released over fake rhino horn

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

A Mines Ministry human resources director, Hamandishe Chinyengetere, almost landed himself in trouble after police reportedly recovered what looked like a rhino horn in his vehicle last Friday.

It however later turned out unidentified con-artists had reportedly sold a cow horn disguised as a prized rhino horn to the top civil servant, after misrepresenting to him that it was genuine.

Harare police spokesperson Inspector James Sabau confirmed the incident, adding Chinyengetere was arrested last Friday for possession of a rhino horn, but was later released on Saturday after the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority certified the supposed horn was indeed a cow horn.

I can confirm that he was arrested, but the following day he was released upon realisation that it was a cow horn. We had to ask the Parks and Wildlife people to come and identify if it was a rhino horn and they confirmed it was a cow horn, resulting in Chinyengetere not being charged for any offence, said Sabau.

Parks spokesperson Caroline Washaya-Moyo said the authority was battling to contain a surge in poaching of rhino and elephants, among other endangered species.

Last year alone 23 rhino horns were found in possession of poachers. Right now three people are in court for possession of rhino horns, she said.

23-Jan-12 6:00 PM

South Africa Kruger park rhinos to get extra wardens

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

South Africa is hiring 150 extra rangers for the world-renowned Kruger national park to try to combat record poaching of rhinos for their horns.

Last week rangers found eight dead rhino in the park in just one day.

Last year, 448 rhinos were slain in South Africa, with more than half in Kruger.

A 150-km (95-mile) electric barrier will also be built along the border of Mozambique, where many of the poachers are believed to come from.

South Africa has been badly hit by poaching because it has the largest population of rhinos in the world, with about 20,000 animals - 70-80% of the global figure.

The number of rhinos slaughtered in 2010 was 333.

Growing Asian demand for rhino horn, believed to be a remedy for various illness including cancer, is thought to be behind the recent spike in rhino killings, even though there is no scientific evidence for its reputed medicinal properties.

Horns are also used in the Middle East to make handles for ornamental daggers.

Environment Minister Edna Molewa announced the extra rangers, which will boost the number to 650 in Kruger - one of South Africa's top tourist destinations.

A government-commissioned study into whether legalising trade in rhino horn could help to bring down poaching is due in August.

23-Jan-12 6:00 PM

Boost for rhino protection

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:00:00 GMT

With the rhino death toll in the province up to three in less than three weeks into the new year, KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife will launch tighter security measures to protect the animal.

The organisation’s rhino Security Intervention co-ordinator, Jabulani Ngubane, said two rhinos had been poached over the past three weeks and the death of the third animal was discovered in the last three weeks even though it had been poached late last year.

Their future plans involved a specialised unit.

“We cannot disclose its content at this stage. According to statistics, October to January is when we experienced a high number of incidents throughout the country,” he said.

He said the organisation had not confirmed the figures, but estimated about 20 animals had been killed nationally.

Ngubane also expressed concern at the lack of high-level arrests made with regard to rhino poachers.

He said that while high-level syndicate members had been arrested it was not something experienced every day.

“Upper-level arrests in most cases are made by specialised trained units like Organised Crime because in most cases they operate outside the province and at an international level,” he said.

Ngubane said operations geared to crack high-level arrests needed patience and discipline to be successful.

Meanwhile in Mossel Bay, farmer Kobus Crous has offered a reward of R100 000 to anyone with information on the poachers who killed his rhino on Monday.

Environmental groups have threatened to boycott the agricultural and tourism industries if the government fails to protect rhinos.

A Global Rhino Ultimatum, organised by the International Animal Rescue Foundation, has been making its way online and through social networks, and has drawn more than 11 500 signatures in the past few weeks.

The ultimatum is leading up to a public parliamentary hearing set to take place on January 26. The Department of Water and Environmental Affairs has said this hearing will aim to find solutions to the poaching crisis.

The ultimatum requires 250 000 signatures in 60 days.

The ultimatum will be delivered on February 22 to government ministers including President Jacob Zuma, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, the Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, and the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa.

23-Jan-12 3:00 PM

Chester Zoo rhino keeper cycles 93 miles a week to and from work

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:00:00 GMT

A SENIOR rhino keeper has been named as Chester Zoo’s Green Traveller of the Year.

Mark Cleave has cycled to work from his home in Broughton in Flintshire every day for the last 17 years, pedalling 72,726 miles in the process – that’s equivalent to almost three times around the world, or nearly a third of the way to the moon.

Mark said: “I’ve ridden into work every single day for the last 17 years. Come rain, sleet, wind, snow, hail, fog or shine, I haven’t missed a day, nor used any other means of transport.”

But whereas the mere thought of getting the bike out of the shed and hitting the road at 6.25am every morning may be daunting to most, the rewards are well worth it for the committed keeper.

“I cycle 93 miles a week but it’s no problem at all. In truth, I’d cycle a heck of a lot further to work with black rhinos. They’re just incredible animals and it’s an absolute privilege to work with them day in, day out.” said Mark.

“We run a hugely successful breeding programme at Chester Zoo, which I’m delighted to be involved with. And with the species now massively threatened from poaching in the wild, I’m proud to be able to say that we’ve had several baby black rhinos born in my time here – providing a vital safety-net should wild populations become extinct.”

23-Jan-12 3:00 PM

Rhino poaching deaths continue to increase in South Africa

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:00:00 GMT

Despite increased law enforcement efforts, rhino poaching accelerated in South Africa last year. The country lost 448 rhinos to poaching in 2011, official government statistics reveal. The total includes 19 critically endangered black rhinos, of which fewer than 5,000 remain in the wild. In 2010, 333 South African rhinos were killed by poachers, nearly three times the number killed in 2009.

“The rate of poaching increase may appear to be faltering, but the bottom line is more rhinos than ever were poached in 2011,” said Dr Colman O Criodain, WWF’s wildlife trade policy analyst. “If left unchecked, poaching gangs could put the survival of these iconic species in jeopardy.”

More than half of South Africa’s rhino deaths occurred in world-famous Kruger National Park. The popular safari destination lost 252 rhinos in 2011, and witnessed the poaching of an additional eight rhinos in the first weeks of the new year, according to authorities from South Africa National Parks.

South African law enforcement officials made 232 poaching-related arrests in 2011, compared to 165 the previous year. Sentences imposed for rhino crimes have also increased in recent years, with poachers and horn smugglers receiving as long as 16 years in prison.

White Rhinoceros © Ian Merrill, from the surfbirds galleries.

“Rhino poaching is being conducted by sophisticated international criminal syndicates that smuggle horns to Asia,” said Dr Morné du Plessis, CEO of WWF-South Africa. “Its not enough to bust the little guy; investigators need to shut down the kingpins organizing these criminal operations. Governments in Africa and Asia must work together across borders to stop the illegal trade.”

The recent upsurge in rhino poaching has been tied to increased demand for rhino horn in Asia, particularly Vietnam, where it carries prestige as a luxury item, as a post-partying cleanser, and also as a purported cancer cure.

“Rhino horn has gained popularity among wealthy Vietnamese elites and business people to give as a gift, when currying political favour, or taking as an antidote to overindulgence,” said Tom Milliken, TRAFFIC’s rhino trade expert. “But killing endangered rhinos to mitigate a hangover is a criminal way to see in the New Year,”

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine experts, rhino horn has no proven cancer treating properties. Contrary to popular myth, it has never been used in traditional medicine as an aphrodisiac.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has found that consumer demand in Vietnam is driving much of the rhino poaching. CITES has also ruled that Vietnam needs to show progress in curtailing illegal trade in rhino parts and derivatives.

“So far we have yet to see Vietnam respond to this ruling from CITES,” says O Criodain. “For that matter, CITES must put pressure on Vietnam to respond meaningfully, as it has done with other countries whose compliance with the Convention has been called into question.”

Because it is home to most of world’s rhinos, South Africa has been the epicentre of poaching. However, rhinos in other African and Asian range countries are also being targeted by poachers.

In October, WWF announced the extinction of rhinos in Vietnam. The last Javan rhinoceros in the country was killed by poachers and its horn removed. In Nepal, however, strong conservation and law enforcement efforts ensured that no rhinos were lost to poaching in 2011.

In both Africa and Asia, WWF and TRAFFIC are providing assistance to field rangers, criminal investigators, prosecutors, and customs authorities. Additionally, TRAFFIC has facilitated visits between South African and Vietnamese government officials to discuss deepening cooperation on law enforcement.

A bilateral treaty to ramp up law enforcement collaboration between South Africa and Vietnam was negotiated in September 2011 but still remains unsigned.

Rhino population statistics

African species
Black Rhino: 4,838 IUCN Red List Classification: Critically endangered
White Rhino: Approx 20,000, up from fewer than 100 in 1900. IUCN Red List Classification: Near threatened
South Africa rhino population: 1,916 Black, 18,780 White
Asian species
Greater-one horned: 2,913. IUCN Red List Classification: Vulnerable
Javan: No more than 50. IUCN Red List Classification: Critically endangered
Sumatran: Fewer than 200. IUCN Red List Classification: Critically endangered

South Africa poaching numbers

Source: SANParks

2009: 122 rhinos

2010: 333 rhinos
2011: 448 rhinos, 19 critically endangered black.

Arrests in 2010: 165
Arrests in 2011: 232

23-Jan-12 10:00 AM

Boycott threat to save rhino

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:00:00 GMT

January 19 2012 at 09:19am
By Laea Medley

Reuters

A rhino that was dehorned by a veterinary surgeon and rangers to prevent poaching. Picture: Reuters/Ilya Kachaev

Environmental groups have threatened to boycott the agricultural and tourism industries if the government fails to protect rhinos from becoming extinct.

The ultimatum requires 250 000 signatures in 60 days, stating: “Everyday of this 60 day global petition action, three rhino will be butchered in South Africa for their horns.”

At $60 000 (R478 000) a kilogram, a single rhino horn is worth around $300 000, making it more valuable than cocaine and gold on the black market.

The foundation is demanding that the government stop issuing rhino trophy hunting permits, stop the sale of state owned rhino, commission a census of the rhino population in South Africa, and destroy all stock-piled rhino horn.

The ultimatum will be delivered on February 22 to government ministers, including President Jacob Zuma, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, and Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa.

The government will then have until April 22 to meet the foundation’s requirements, or face a boycott of agricultural and service exports.

According to the foundation, two rhino sub-species – the Western African black rhino and the Northern white rhino – were declared extinct in November by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The Javan rhino of Southeast Asia may also be extinct.

However, banning rhino hunting altogether could actually increase the poaching rate. According to Siegfried Kuhm, CEO of the KZN Hunting and Conservation Association, as long as hunting is done on a sustainable, ethical, and legal basis, it has a rightful place in society. “Stop hunting and you stop wildlife. Very few people will travel large distances to view a single or a few animals. Hunters will travel thousands of kilometres to hunt a single animal.”

People wanting to sign the ultimatum can go to www.international-animalrescue-foundation.org

23-Jan-12 10:00 AM

A beastly dilemma

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:00:00 GMT

OVER the past few weeks two separate but closely related fronts have opened in the battle taking place over the future direction of rhino conservation in South Africa.

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife’s tender run on behalf of the Mduku community for the hunting of a male white rhino in the Makasa Reserve in northern Zululand saw a torrent of hysterical protests being lodged from the animal rights end of the spectrum, a response widely seen by the opposing sustainable-use school of thought as an attack on enlightened 21st century-style resource management. Gloves that previously softened the blows exchanged for decades between these two factions are now well and truly off.

As background it is important to understand that on the day that the first game reserve was demarcated and fenced, confining species such as rhino to finite areas, the scene was set for the production of surplus stock under management policies aimed at preventing overabundance and its consequence, habitat destruction, caused when wildlife populations exceed carrying capacity.

With this in mind, those who oppose the controlled hunting of rhino such as that due to take place at Makasa need to take heed of a number of fundamental realities. Firstly, the healthy status of rhino in South Africa (as opposed to their dismal status north of our borders) can be directly attributed to the fact that since the earliest days of Operation Rhino in Zululand, the animal has been subjected to the dynamics of tradable market forces, initially through the sale of breeding groups to overseas institutions — the proceeds from which financed many translocations to other reserves and national parks — followed soon after by sales to commercial game ranch and private reserve owners. From a point in 1970 when the Natal Parks Board offered rhino locally for R200 each plus transport costs of 50c per kilometre in a bid to create outlets for an embarrassing surplus in Imfolozi, the price soon rose to over R500 000 as the Cites concession to South Africa allowing hunting stimulated a surge in private investment that has added an estimated two million hectares to the nature conservation estate in southern Africa. Well out in front as the key driver of this successful partnership between the formal and private conservation sectors, the hunting industry must take much of the credit for this astonishing achievement.

Now, as Ezemvelo takes up the new challenge of building conservation bridges between protected areas and adjacent land occupied by rural communities, some wretchedly poor, using the same economic formula that has worked so successfully for the private sector, the critics have unwisely chosen to condemn the initiative using misguided sentiment as the weapon.

Makasa stands to gain a reputed R960 000, much needed for things the critics probably take for granted — decent schools and properly resourced clinics to name but a few — from the hunting of a rhino destined to become a smelly pile of rotting bones and hide in the veld after a painful, lingering death from old age. Could class prejudice, similar to that which saw fox hunting banned in the UK, perhaps have a hand in this froth over hunting a rhino: a spiteful distaste for the thought of a rich, cigar-puffing millionaire shooting an iconic species for fun? If it means that Makasa justifies the setting aside of valuable land for wildlife conservation then why bother about the motives of those involved in the deal? We should be grateful.

More to the point, if the anti-hunting faction insists on preaching mawkish, sentimental slop then it should reserve such outbursts for the savagely cruel deaths meted out to rhino at the hands of poachers. It might just make the government come to its senses.

As for those thousands of South Africans who year in and year out spend enjoyable holidays in KZN reserves, it’s time they stood by hosts Ezemvelo to lend deserved support for the ground-breaking attempts being made under difficult circumstances to expand conservation in this province. May many more resource reserves such as Makasa be established in other areas. It’s the new frontier and a really exciting one.

Not far behind this hunting issue lies the second front — rhino poaching. Many of those taking sides in the feud over hunting find themselves similarly engaged over what can only be described as a clash of ideologies as opinions rage over how to stop poaching that has seen the tally rise from 333 in 2010 to 445 in 2011. A rather sorry state of affairs considering the industrial sum of money and human resources that have been pumped into the anti-poaching measures which the state, NGOs and many private wildlife owners have pinned hopes on since the poaching tsunami began its steady climb in 2008.

Measured in terms of success in stemming the tide of attrition poaching has caused to the estimated 20 000-strong rhino population, these anti-poaching campaigns can rightly be accused of failing: population growth of around six percent turns sickly negative when annual poaching increases at 35% per annum as it has done. It begs the question: will the white rhino, quite aside from the much more vulnerable black, revert to the extinction threshold within living memory after its acclaimed rescue and subsequent rise in status when Ian Player and the Natal Parks Board stepped in to save it in 1959? Quite possibly if the trend continues.

On January 26, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs is scheduled to hold public hearings to examine the worsening situation and to provide an opportunity for alternative solutions to be aired by those tiring of hearing the bad news and anxious to try something new for a change before it is too late.

Regardless of the plainly futile condemnation of Far Eastern tastes in traditional medicine and the equally ineffective Cites-imposed ban on trade in rhino horn, the plight of the world’s rhino clearly needs an emergency rescue package if the species is not to go the way of the dodo. History informs us that prohibition simply does not work, so why continue repeating failures?

How long must South Africa wait before the slumbering Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) acts to adopt a fresh, more realistic approach to what is rapidly assuming catastrophic proportions? What possible harm will be done by South Africa going to the Cites COP in 2013 with a proposal that, as custodian of 90% of the world’s rhino, it deserves to be given the chance to try a professionally controlled trade in rhino horn as a last resort to save these extraordinary animals from extinction? The answers are clear — true conservationists must put aside their differences, rally together and apply the pressure necessary to bring DEA and Cites to their senses.

Missing out on Cites in 2013 and the chance to win support for a legal trade will be a death knell for an iconic animal and a backwards lurch for wildlife conservation. South Africa must rise to the challenge.

23-Jan-12 10:00 AM

Man caught with three rhino horns in Pretoria

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:00:00 GMT

After recent reports that rhino poaching is more prolific than ever in South Africa, News24 reported that a man was arrested on Monday for alleged illegal possession of rhino horns in Pretoria.

Lieutenant-Colonel Katlego Mogale said police saw the man carrying a black bag on a footpath in Kameeldrift.

The 40-year-old was arrested after he started running away from the police car and discarded something from a black bag he was carrying.

Following the arrest, the contents of the bag allegedly were three rhino horns. Police also seized a torch and a cellphone.
The man is due to appear in Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court as soon as possible.

23-Jan-12 10:00 AM

Rhino poaching: what is the solution?

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:00:00 GMT

There are several practical and highly profitable ways to end the slaughter of Africa’s rhinos, writes Michael Eustace

MICHAEL EUSTACE

Published: 2012/01/20 07:13:38 A

IN 1910, South Africa was said to have 100 white rhinos. With great care and good management, the number has increased to 19000 today.

There are also 2000 black rhinos in the country. In 1960, there were 100000 in Africa outside the South Africa, but by 1970 that population had fallen to 65000, and today there are only 3150.

POACHING

GREAT REWARDS

MEDICINE MARKET

Only about 2g is used in each dose. It can be calculated that, in effect, less than 0,1% of the Chinese population use it and that is because of the prohibitively high price.

The traditional doctor demands to see the retailer shave the horn in front of him as he fears substitutes. This suggests there would be no market for artificial substitutes.

HORN COUNT

TRADE BAN

Southern Africa could supply the market with 676 horns a year from natural deaths alone. There are also stocks of 5000 horns collected over many years. Southern Africa could easily supply the market with 940 horns a year and increase this by 40 horns a year from the increment of natural deaths, provided poaching was controlled. It would be 19 years before existing stocks were exhausted.

This greatly increased supply could be achieved without the need for the killing of one rhino.

SANParks has asked the Department of Environmental Affairs to put the proposal to the next meeting, and the SADC Rhino Management Group has asked for the same action.

RHINO STUDIES

It is difficult to see why a study on the internal market in horn should be an issue worthy of costly delay.

The other study, which has not yet been awarded because of a lack of a suitable candidate, has to do with international trade. The terms of reference ask for estimates of the size of the market, prices, why people buy, whether there is a trading opportunity and how trade might operate. All these issues are covered in this paper and are, in any case, well known. Of course there are "nice to knows" but there is very little that we need to know that we don’t already know.

CENTRAL SELLING

HORN BUYERS

There are hundreds of donor agencies that profit from rhino being in crisis. Their outputs are seldom measured and there are far too many that are accountable to no one.

LAW ENFORCEMENT

At present, the only way to satisfy demand is to kill the animal. This will become unnecessary given a legal trade.

BENEFICIARIES

The experience in the crocodile, ostrich and vicuna markets is that commercial farming has taken poaching pressure off wild populations.

DEHORNING

Most donor agents appear not to like the idea of a regulated trade; maybe because it is the most likely solution, and a solution is not what they seek?

The public should be cautious about donating money to these agencies. They may be perpetuating the crisis.

BENEFITS OF REDUCTION

We have the opportunity for turning around a conservation tragedy into the biggest contribution to conservation in Africa imaginable, with rhinos as the catalyst.

South Africa should not waste time collecting more data. We have enough and the time has come to put a proposal to Cites.

23-Jan-12 10:00 AM

Tring museum replica rhino horn theft: Man charged

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:00:00 GMT

A man has been charged with the theft of two replica rhino horns from the Natural History Museum in Tring, Hertfordshire.

Darren Bennett, 40, of Battenberg Road, Leicester, was charged with burglary after a break-in at the museum on 27 August last year.

Museum staff had replaced the real £240,000 horns with ones made of resin before the burglary took place.

Mr Bennett is due to appear in court at a date yet to be set.

Real rhino horn can fetch £60,000 per kg in the Far East where it is prized for its supposed medicinal qualities.

22-Jan-12 8:00 PM

Man nabbed with rhino horns

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:00:00 GMT

Police have said they arrested a man for illegally possessing rhino horn in Kameeldrift, Pretoria.

An officer was driving on Wewer Road when he saw the suspect carrying a heavy black bag.

He gave chase and the suspect allegedly threw something out of the bag into the bush.

After he was apprehended, the officer went back to the bush and found three rhino horns of different lengths as well as a cell phone and torch.

The police’s Katlego Mogale said, “The suspect has been arrested and will face charges of illegal possession of rhino horns and will appear in the Pretoria Magistrates Court soon.”

Meanwhile, the Private Rhino Association’s Pelhalm Jones said nine poachers have been arrested so far in Limpopo and the North West in the last five days in a joint operation with the Hawks.

22-Jan-12 8:00 PM

You can help fight against poachers

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:00:00 GMT

It is you who the environmental affairs minister wants to enlist to help win the war against rhino poaching.

Speaking at a National Press Club briefing in Pretoria on Monday, Edna Molewa called on South Africans to assist in stopping the slaughter, which has already claimed the lives of at least 11 rhinos this year.

It is a war that needs to be won quickly as, if poaching levels continue to rise, SA will see its rhino population of 22 000 declining drastically.

“It is clear that this is an organised crime of the highest degree. And in dealing with organised criminals, we need inputs and actions from all South Africans,” Molewa said.

She has called on the numerous rhino anti-poaching organisations to give input on what should be done.

Molewa said part of the government’s plan was to deploy an additional 150 rangers in the Kruger National Park this year. This would add to the 500 who are already in the park.

A scene from a YouTube clip that tells of rhino killings in SA. The video has had more than 250 000 hits since January 6.

Youtube

A fixed-wing aircraft has been donated and would be used to patrol the park’s eastern boundary.

But even with the extra rangers operating in the Kruger Park, SANParks chief executive David Mabunda said this was “still mission impossible”.

There was a ratio of 50 000 hectares of park land per ranger. The ideal, he said, would be a ratio of 10 000ha per ranger, although this would mean increasing the workforce to 1 600 people.

Mabunda said crime intelligence was key in the fight against poaching.

Molewa also said her department planned to deploy conservation specialists at key ports of entry. A seaport and OR Tambo International Airport would also be getting a special facility where conservation officials would be able to inspect and examine wildlife consignments.

Molewa said she would be meeting with Department of Public Works officials on Monday over plans to re-erect a 150km stretch of fence along the border with Mozambique. This fence would be electrified and be used as an early-warning system.

Mabunda said the majority of poachers caught in the Kruger Park were from Mozambique and came from poor communities.

“They are ideal recruits for organised crime,” he said.

Part of the fight in the war on poaching was co-operation with various countries linked to the trade in rhino horn.

“We managed within this short period to prepare the draft memorandum of understanding with China and Vietnam on wildlife trafficking and enforcement, which we hope to sign in the first half of this year,” Molewa said.

She added there had also been discussions on cross-border law enforcement oper-ations between SA and Mozambique.

The minister noted that with this co-operation and that of various government departments, 232 suspected poachers were arrested last year.

22-Jan-12 8:00 PM

Rhino horn stash found in Zim Minister's car

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:00:00 GMT

Zimbabwean Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Deputy Minister Cecil Zvidzai has been named in a case in which three men were arrested for being in possession of two rhino horns, according to a report in The Herald.

The report says police found the horns, worth $120 000, in an Isuzu KB300 registered in Zvidzai's name at Road Port in Harare. The vehicle has since been impounded following the arrest of Zivanai Masvaire (27), a game scout at Eldorado Farm, Charles Dowerowe (37) and Shepherd Naite (37). The trio was arrested while allegedly trying to smuggle the horns to SA. They are being charged with poaching and an alternative charge of unlawful possession of a trophy of an endangered species. According to the report, Naite has another case pending before the courts in which he is jointly charged with three others for possession of 15 elephant tusks worth $8 500.
Full report in The Herald

22-Jan-12 8:00 PM