South Africa rhino poaching hits record: WWF

Rhino poaching in South Africa has hit a new record high, with 341 of the animals lost to poachers so far this year as black-market demand for rhino horn soars, wildlife group WWF said Thursday.

Poaching deaths have already outstripped last year's total of 333, the previous record, WWF said.

Officials blame the poaching surge on organised crime syndicates selling rhino horn for use in Asian medicinal treatments -- especially in Vietnam, where it is believed to cure cancer.

"In order to save rhinos from extinction, the criminal syndicates operating between South Africa and Vietnam must be uncovered and shut down for good," Joseph Okori, WWF's African rhino programme coordinator, said in a statement.

"Vietnam should follow South Africa's example and start sending poachers, traders, smugglers and sellers to jail."

WWF also confirmed last week that rhinos have gone extinct in Vietnam.

The organisation said the country's last Javan rhino was found shot with its horn removed.

Booming demand has driven the price to half a million dollars per horn, according to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

South Africa, which lost just 13 rhinos to poaching in 2007, has responded to the surge by dispatching army troops to fight poachers and stepping up arrests.

But it has struggled to stop poaching syndicates that use helicopters, night vision equipment and high-powered rifles to hunt their prey.http://news.ph.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5486702

SA rhino poaching at record high

The number of rhinos poached in South Africa has reached a record high, the WWF said.

“Statistics from SA National Parks show that 341 animals have been lost to poaching so far in 2011, compared with a record total of 333 last year,” the fund said in a statement.

Three of the five rhino species globally were critically endangered. The last reported poaching took place in the Free State on October 24.

The carcasses of an adult pregnant cow and another younger cow were found at the Sandveld nature reserve near Bloemhof. This was followed by a WWF announcement in the same week that rhinos in Vietnam have gone extinct.

“The carcass of Vietnam’s last Javan rhino was found with a gunshot wound and without its horn.” There were now fewer than 50 Javan rhinos left globally, all held in one national park in Indonesia.

In an effort to increase South African numbers, 19 black rhinos were successfully moved from the Eastern Cape to Limpopo yesterday as part of the WWF black rhino range expansion project.

The week-long transfer was completed yesterday. This was the seventh black rhino population established in the country by the WWF. Close to 120 black rhino have been relocated to date.

“This was possible because of the far-sightedness of the Eastern Cape provincial government, which was prepared to become partners in the project for the sake of black rhino conservation in South Africa,” the WWF’s project leader, Jacques Flamand, said in a statement.

During a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) last year, the international community concluded that the increase in poaching was caused largely by demand for horn products in Vietnam.

“The unfounded rumour that rhino horn can cure cancer most likely sealed the fate of the last Javan rhino in Vietnam,” said the WWF’s Asian rhino expert doctor, A Christy Williams. “This same problem is now threatening other rhino populations across Africa and South Asia.”

South Africa has been the focal point of poaching because it has the largest population of rhinos in the world, the WWF said.

“Since armed protection for rhinos in South African national parks is strong, poaching syndicates are likely to shift to countries with weaker enforcement power, including possibly Asian countries that may be caught off guard,” said global species programme director at WWF Carlos Drews.

Despite this, legal loopholes which allowed the export of rhino hunting trophies were being exploited. In an attempt to restrict the trophy hunting, Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa proposed amendments to the norms and standards governing the practice.

Molewa submitted the suggested amendments for public comment on September 30. These covered the norms and standards for marking rhino horn and trophy hunting of white rhino, the department said in a statement early October.

“The proposed amendments are intended to address the abuse of the permit system,” said spokesperson Albi Modise. “Although illegal hunting is the main threat that could impact on the survival of rhinoceros in the wild in the near future, stricter provisions relating to hunting are required.”

In September, a delegation of Vietnamese officials visited South Africa to discuss enhancing law enforcement co-operation between the two countries.

“Vietnam should follow South Africa’s example and start sending poachers, traders, smugglers and sellers to jail,” said the WWF’s African rhino programme coordinator, Joseph Okori.

“In order to save rhinos from extinction, the criminal syndicates operating between South Africa and Vietnam must be uncovered and shut down for good.”

http://www.citypress.co.za/SouthAfrica/News/SA-rhino-poaching-at-record-high-20111103-2

Rhino Crisis Round Up

South Africa’s rhino death toll now stands at a record 341.

The total includes 16 critically endangered black rhinos. A whopping 197 of the 341 killings occurred in South Africa’s famed Kruger National Park.

Global slaughter

This grim news comes less than ten days after the Javan rhino subspecies (Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus) was declared extinct. The last individual was found dead in 2010, with a gunshot wound and her horn removed.

WWF’s Asian rhino expert, Dr. A. Christy Williams, explained that the false notion of rhino horn usefulness as a miracle cure for cancer is driving the global slaughter.

The unfounded rumour that rhino horn can cure cancer most likely sealed the fate of the last Javan rhino in Vietnam. This same problem is now threatening other rhino populations across Africa and South Asia.

Rhino horn and ivory trade expert Dr. Tom Milliken of TRAFFIC pointed out that rhino populations in both Africa and Asia are threatened by the same demand for rhino horn.

It’s tragic that the Javan rhino has been wiped out in Vietnam by the same forces that are driving rhino poaching in Africa. This is the ultimate wake-up call for the Vietnamese government to turn aggressively on its internal rhino horn market.

Not only are South Africa’s rhinos targeted in national parks and on private farms, the country’s legal trade in rhinos is serving as a smokescreen for laundering rhino horns for the illegal market.

WWF noted that loopholes in South Africa’s trophy hunting permit process and rhino horn stockpile management are being exploited, and that “improvements are needed”.

Shared responsibility

Countries which are involved in supplying rhino horn, transporting rhino horn, and consuming rhino horn share responsibility for the rhino crisis.

Dr. Carlos Drews, Global Species Programme Director at WWF said international efforts to crack down on the rhino horn trade need to be stepped up.

Since armed protection for rhinos in South African national parks is strong, poaching syndicates are likely to shift to countries with weaker enforcement power, including possibly Asian countries that may be caught off-guard.

To break the illegal trade chain, governments in source, transit and consumer countries must all scale up their efforts.

Unfortunately, South Africa appears to be sending mixed messages about halting rhino horn demand.

Although considering “stricter provisions” on rhino hunting to curb loophole abuse, a spokesperson for South Africa’s Water and Environmental Affairs Ministry claimed that the Department is also looking at a “legal rhino horn trade” scheme (which would essentially validate the myth that rhino horn is a miracle cure for cancer).

There was no mention of the potential effect of China’s multimillion-dollar rhino horn “business” on rhino horn demand, or further explanation regarding South Africa’s role as the supplier of at least 103 live rhinos to China since 2007.

Rhino calf killed in Namibia

A baby rhino was found snared in Namibia’s Huab Conservancy, with the tiny horns hacked off.

According to The Namibian, tracks found near the body showed that the mother had stayed with her baby for several days.

Bernd Brell from the Save the Rhino Trust was quoted as saying that the killers attempted to “hide the evidence”.

… the poachers removed the horns of the calf before they cut of its hind leg to hide the evidence of a snare. Then they split open the carcass’s belly from the throat to the back in order to attract scavengers, in the hope that the animal would vanish and no sign of poaching would remain.

This was the first reported rhino murder in the Kunene Region in 17 years.

Javan rhino survey

Regarding Asian rhinos, there is concern that the last surviving population of Javan rhinos may contain only a handful of females.

Out of 17 rhinos recorded via camera trap in the eastern half of Ujung Kulon National Park, four were breeding females, according to The Jakarta Globe.

Recently, the video cameras were moved to the western half of the park, which is “more remote”.

It is hoped that additional female Javan rhinos will be found; the results could be known in a few weeks.

Hope for Javan rhinos

However, there is hope for Javan rhinos in Indonesia, thanks to Operation Javan Rhino.

The International Rhino Foundation (IRF) along with an international team of partners, is working to expand the useable habitat for Javan rhinos in UKNP by creating the 4,000 hectare Javan Rhino Study and Conservation Area (JRSCA).

We are doing this by constructing small bridges, an electric fence, and a patrol road; eradicating invasive species which have taken over a good portion of the habitat; planting rhino food plants; providing a water supply and saltlick; and constructing additional guard posts. The continued survival of the Javan rhino depends on their population increasing in numbers as rapidly as possible, and in spreading the population out so that ‘all the eggs are not in one basket’.

http://www.inamibia.co.na/news-and-weather/15-africa/2889-rhino-crisis-round-up.html

Rhino Air: Hold onto your horns! Dangling miles above the earth, the amazing flight which saved a herd of rhinos from certain death

Dangling from cords tied to their ankles, 19 hulking animals were transported out of the South African hills inaccessible by road in the country's Eastern Cape.
And these incredible images show exactly how conservationists used a military helicopter to carry the herd of 1,400-kilo rhinos to their new home, away from poachers.
Conservationists put the endangered beasts to sleep and hoisted one at a time for the 15-mile flight.
The big move was orchestrated by World Wildlife Fund experts, who yesterday drove the rhinos 1,000 miles to fresh breeding ground in the northern Limpopo province.

Flying high: Each animal, which weighs at least two tons, spent 20 minutes in the air being flown to safety

Today photographer Michael Raimondo, who captured the spectacular scenes, said each animal spent around 20 minutes in the air.
He said: 'It was quite incredible. These things are so heavy - some of them weigh a couple of tons.
'The main aim was to ensure the rhinos were moved in a way that would not distress them, so they were darted and put to sleep before being lifted.'
Mr Raimondo, director of environmental body Green Renaissance, was among a team of 25 who helped with the painstaking process.
He added: 'We couldn't get trucks to them as they were in a very remote area, so military choppers were needed to bring them out.
'The helicopters had been tried and tested during exercises so we knew they could carry incredibly heavy things.'

Hold onto your horns: Even though the rhinos were fast asleep, they were blindfolded to stop them becoming frightened if they suddenly woke up

Heavy load: The rhino's were darted and put to sleep before being airlifted to a secret location in a bid to increase the number across South Africa

The mammoth cargo included males that were nearly four metres long, and weighed up to 2,000 kilos.
Black rhinos are under threat across Africa, where poachers in safari parks and private reserves kill and maim the beasts for their horns.
New figures published today by the WWF revealed that more of the vulnerable animals have been slaughtered in the first 10 months of this year than during the whole of 2010.
Official statistics show that that 341 rhinos have been lost to poaching this year in South Africa, compared to 333 last year.
This week's herd was the seventh to be transferred to new bushland by WWF, which is attempting to increase the population.
The precise locations were not revealed in an effort to prevent criminals from targeting the animals.
WWF project leader Jacques Flamand helped revive the animals after each helicopter journey, which took place around half a mile above the ground.
He said: 'The operation was difficult due to the number of animals and the long distances involved.

Flight of the Rhino: Black rhinos are under threat across Africa, flying the animals out of danger was the only option for conservationists as their habitat was inaccessible by road

What just happened? One of the rhino's is woken up in his new home by Conservationist Jacques Flamand after taking a 15 miles flight upside down

'But wildlife veterinarians, conservation managers and capture teams worked cooperatively to ensure the success of the translocation. We were united in a common cause.'
The project was the first of its kind in South Africa, but previous trips with elephants in Malawi demonstrated how humane the procedure could be.
Dr Flamand added: 'Previously rhinos were either transported by lorry over very difficult tracks, or airlifted in a net.
'This new procedure is gentler on the darted rhino because it shortens the time it has to be kept asleep with drugs, the respiration is not as compromised as it can be in a net and it avoids the need for travel in a crate over terrible tracks.'
The WWF Black Rhino Range Expansion Project has been running in South Africa for eight years, and seen 120 animals moved.
The operation is one of many conservation attempts to curb the death of the animals, which are classified as 'critically endangered'.
The increase in illegal hunting has been fuelled by a demand for horn in the Far East, where it is ground up and used in traditional medicines.
Earlier this year experts said the substance was being sold on the black market for around POUNDS 35,000 a kilogram - making it more valuable by weight than gold.
A world-first scheme launched in June saw a DNA database of rhino horns set up to crack criminal networks that kill and torture the beasts.
Black and white rhinos are popular sights in South Africa's array of game parks, which are visited by millions of tourists every year, many from Britain

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2057192/South-African-rhino-herd-saved-poaching-death-air.html

South Africa record for rhino poaching deaths

Some game farms in South Africa have resorted to de-horning rhinos before poachers get to them

The demand for rhino horns has led to record poaching this year in South Africa, wildlife charity WWF has said.

Figures from South Africa National Parks show 341 rhinos have been killed so far in 2011, already outstripping last year's record total of 333.

WWF says the spike in poaching in Africa and South Asia is largely caused by increased demand for rhino horn in Vietnamese traditional medicine.

Poachers saw off a darted rhino's horn, leaving the animal to bleed to death.

In the five years up to 2005, an average of 36 rhinos were killed each year in South Africa.

The WWF said law enforcement efforts were increasing, but were not sufficient to stop the smuggling and sale of their horns by organised crime rings.

South Africa has been the focal point of poaching because it has the largest population of rhinos in the world, with 1,916 black rhinos and 18,780 white rhinos, the conservation group said.

The rhino horn trade is regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) and at present South Africa only allows the export of horns as hunting trophies.

WWF said improvements were needed in the regulation of hunting permits and the management of rhino horn stock piles in the country.

"Since armed protection for rhinos in South African national parks is strong, poaching syndicates are likely to shift to countries with weaker enforcement power, including possibly Asian countries that may be caught off-guard," Carlos Drews, global species programme director at WWF, warned in a statement.

South Africa's government has commissioned a study into whether legalising trade in rhino horn could help to bring down poaching.

In Vietnam many believe that ground rhino horn can be used to cure cancer - although there is no scientific proof of this - and horns taken to the the Middle East are used to make handles for ornamental daggers

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15571678