List of 10 useful 'Rhino horn is not medicine' quotes

World Rhino Day 2011: “At the root of the rhino crisis is the myth that rhino horn contains curative properties. For that reason, World Rhino Day 2011 is highlighting efforts to debunk the myths and diminish the demand for rhino horn.”

The world’s leading conservation and environmental organizations – among others – are speaking out against the use of rhino horn as a medical treatment. Check out this list of quotes with source links and a few videos.
Rhino horn quotes

1. “Although there is no scientific proof of its medical value, rhino horn is highly prized in traditional Asian medicine, where it is ground into a fine powder or manufactured into tablets as a treatment for a variety of illnesses such as nosebleeds, strokes, convulsions, and fevers.” – WWF, African Rhino Poaching Crisis
2. “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.” – Dr. A. Christy Williams, WWF, Rhino horn demand leads to record poaching
3. “We will be leading global action to clamp down on this cruel and archaic trade, and to dispel the myths peddled to vulnerable people that drive demand for rhino products.” – UK Environment Secretary Caroline Spelmen, UK to lead international rhino horn clampdown
4. “The tragedy is that rhino horn is made of keratin, the same stuff that makes up human hair and nails. It has no medicinal value, you might as well eat your fingernails.” – Mark Jones, Executive Director, Humane Society International/UK, It is devastating to see rhinos killed for a cure that doesn’t work
5. “To all this, I say that something that works for everything usually works for nothing. I also say that something that has been used for hundreds or thousands of years does not make it right.” – Dr. Albert Lim Kok Hooi, oncologist, A horny story
6. “Apparently, based on the results of this study, rhinoceros horn can reduce fever, but only at rather high dosage levels when prescribed as a single drug.” – Ethnopharmacology of Rhinoceros Horn. I: Antipyretic Effects of Rhinoceros Horn and Other Animal Horns. In this study, fever-induced rats showed temporary lowering of temperature after being injected with an extremely high concentration of rhino horn extract, however, there was no antipyretic effect at the dosage levels comparable to what would be prescribed to a human patient. Download the study here.
7. “The Secretariat is also very conscious, however, of the need to respond to the belief that rhinoceros horn is efficacious in the treatment or prevention of cancer. It is despicable that criminals are financially exploiting sufferers, and their relatives, at a time when they will be struggling to cope with distressing and sometimes terminal medical conditions.” – CITES (CoP15 Doc. 45.1). Download it here.
8. Regarding rumors that rhino horn is a cancer treatment: “There is no evidence that rhino horn is an effective cure for cancer and this is not documented in TCM nor is it approved by the clinical research in traditional Chinese medicine.” – Lixin Huang, Statement opposing the use of rhino horn in medicines by the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
9. “Tests also showed that rhino horn, which, like fingernails is made of agglutinated hair, has no analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmolytic nor diuretic properties, and no bactericidal effect could be found against suppuration and intestinal bacteria.” – WWF Scientific Tests Fail to Show Rhino Horn Effective as Medicine
10. “For some time I have been contemplating to publish a paper which should have a headline in giant newsprint to say that RHINO HORN IS NOT AN APHRODISIAC. There is even no evidence that rhino horn was ever regularly used for this purpose. Such a paper should be followed by another with more giant newsprint announcing that RHINO HORN IS NOT MEDICINAL. Consensus now appears to be that even if rhino horn is mildly anti-pyretic to lower fever symptoms, the benefits do not outweigh those of cheap over-the-counter medicines readily available in any pharmacy.” – Dr. Kees Rookmaaker, Rhino Resource Center Newsletter #25, November 2011

Read the original post here: http://www.rhinoconservation.org/2011/11/13/list-of-10-useful-rhino-horn-is-not-medicine-quotes-with-source-links/

Kruger Park enlists 150 new rangers to protect rhinos

An additional 150 rangers will be deployed to the Kruger National Park in 2012 in a bid to combat rhino poaching, Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said on Sunday.

Molewa, addressing a National Press Club briefing in Pretoria, said that would add to the existing 500 rangers currently employed in the park.

Molewa's announcement follows the killing of 11 rhino in the country in 2012 so far.

Two poachers have been killed and another two have been arrested in connection with the rhinos poaching in the Kruger National Park this year.

In 2011, 448 rhino were killed in South Africa.

Fence as early warning system
"This ongoing poaching of our rhino population is a great source of concern to the government." Some 232 people had been arrested for rhino poaching, Molewa said.

Molewa said her department would meet with the Department of Public Works about re-erecting a 150-kilometre stretch of fence along the border with Mozambique.

SA National Parks (SANparks) chief executive David Mabunda, who was also at the briefing, said the fence, if approved, would cost an estimated R250-million to build.

"We still have a fence or what used to be a fence. That part of the fence is in a bad state of repair," said Mabunda.
The proposed fence would be electrified, but would not be so strong as to electrocute people who crossed the border. Mabunda said it would operate more as an early warning system.

Mostly Mozambicans
He said most of those caught poaching were Mozambican nationals with some South Africans involved. Very few Zimbabweans were involved in poaching in the Kruger National Park.

He said Mozambicans living across the border of the park were extremely poor and could therefore be enticed by organised crime.

"We need an appropriate organised response."

Molewa said further meetings were planned with Mozambican officials.

Fundisile Mketeni, the Water and Environmental Affairs deputy director general for biodiversity and conservation, said the fact that a recent auction to hunt a rhino in KwaZulu-Natal had raised R950 000 gave an indication of the value attached to rhinos and the associated poaching.

'Economic crime'
"We are dealing with an economic crime," he told the briefing.

Molewa said she had decided not to effect a "blanket moratorium" on hunting.

Following a recent meeting with provincial environmental MECs, a decision had been made to implement measures, including moratoriums, in "targeted areas, environments and or provinces where such will be necessary".

South Africa has some 22 000 rhino, which according to Mabunda is about 80% of the world's rhino population.

Currently, the country's rhino population, 22% of which is in private hands, was growing. However, he warned that if poaching levels continued to climb, from 2015 South Africa could see a fall in its rhino population.

Education campaigns envisaged
In the 1960s and 1970s Africa's rhino population was being exterminated at the rate of an estimated 8 000 animals per year.

The horn of rhino is valued for dagger handles in Yemen while in China and Vietnam, it is prized in traditional medicine to treat fevers.

Molewa said she hoped that draft memorandums of understanding on wildlife trafficking would be signed with both Vietnam and China.

She said it was envisaged that both countries would embark on campaigns to educate their populations. --Sapa

By GIORDANO STOLLEY, M&G
Read original story here.

Join the fight against rhino poachers

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 yesterday, 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 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 sea port 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 today 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 of time 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 operations 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.

By Shaun Smillie, Independent Online

Read original story here.

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