Rhino Poaching (outside SA) & Horn Trafficking

[Mel]

A good step, but no surprise. Last year in February rhino horns were stolen from a museum in Germany.

[Mel]

Poachers in Assam kill 17 rhinos in just three months
13 Apr 2013, 12:26 PM


Assam: 17 rhinos killed in three months

Guwahati: Poachers in Assam have killed 17 rhinos already this year, officials said on Friday. The latest carcass with the missing horn was found a day after a trial run of an aerial vehicle was completed over the Kaziranga National Park for tracking poachers.

The carcass was spotted Friday by forest guards during patrol near Pohumari area under Agaratoli forest range of the high security park, its director N K Vasu told. It was a male adult rhino, he added."We are not sure about the exact timing when the rhino was killed.

There was an encounter between the forest guards and poachers about three days back. We suspect the rhino was killed around three days back," said Vasu. The poaching of one-horned rhinos in Assam has become an issue of serious embarrassment for the state government, forcing it to go for a CBI probe into rampant poaching.

Assam Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain recently told the media that he has received a letter from the Union ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions accepting the state government's plea for a CBI probe into rhino poaching.

The park authorities earlier this week carried out a four-day trial run of an unmanned aerial vehicle to understand measures for better surveillance of the national park. The proposal for using the UAV is waiting a clearance from the Defence Ministry.

The exercise ended Thursday. During the recently concluded budget session of the assembly, the Congress government in Assam was cornered by opposition parties over the unabated rhino poaching. Rockybul Hussain told the assembly that during the past 10 years, poachers have killed a total of 126 one-horned rhinos in Assam.

- See more at: http://post.jagran.com/poachers-in-assa ... 0yO3r.dpuf

[Toko]

Minister calls for shoot to kill policy in Botswana

Posted by Kevin Heath posted on April 27th, 2013 at 2: 19 pm and last updated on April 28th, 2013 at 7: 57 am

The Deputy Speaker of the Botswana Parliament, Pono Moatlhodi, has called for the immediate introduction of a shoot to kill policy to tackle poachers targeting rhino and elephants in the country. His call for a new tougher stance against the poachers comes just days after Mozambique declared that the Limpopo National Park lost its last 15 rhino to the poachers.

With the rising demand for rhino horn and elephant ivory from China and Vietnam there is the real fear that the loss of rhino from the Limpopo National Park could just be the first in a line of national parks that will lose their populations.

Moatlhodi said that introducing the shoot-to-kill policy is essential to protect both the rhinos and the tourist trade of the country. Protecting the wildlife that the tourists come to see is essential if the country is to widen the strength of the economy and move beyond just being a diamond producing nation.

He said that there are particular concerns for the rhinos and elephants of the Kasane region in the north of Botswana which is particularly popular with tourists.

While the Botswana army has been deployed to patrol areas with high incidents of poaching particularly along the borders with Zambia and Namibia, Moatlhodi believes that giving permission to rangers, soldiers and police to shoot to kill while out on duty they will be much more effective at tackling the poachers.

Saving the high profile species of elephants, rhino and gorillas will ensure that the growing tourism industry in the country has a long-term future.

[Sprocky]

This is your wake up call SA .gov!!! It is your last chance to save face!!!!

[iNdlovu]

Way to go Bots

[Penga Ndlovu]

Yup.

I hope parliament will accept the proposal.

[Mel]

Rhino carcass, skeleton found
PTI [ Updated 11 May 2013, 07:16:55 ]

Golaghat/Jorhat, May 11: A carcass and a skeleton of rhinos with their horns missing were recovered from two separate ranges of Kaziranga National Park today taking the toll of the poached herbivores to 24 this year.

The 4-5 day old decomposed female rhino body was recovered near Noloni forest camp of Agratoli range of the Park where four cartridge shells of AK-47 rifle were also found, forest officials said.

The skeleton of the male rhino killed about a month ago was recovered near Borakota forest camp in Bagori range, the officials said.

As both the horns of the rhinos were missing and bullets found near one of them, poachers were suspected to have killed the animals, they added.

Search operations have been launched for the killers, the sources added.

http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/r ... 22814.html

[Toko]

Revealed: The British criminals flagrantly touting illegal rhino horn online
Tuesday 28 May 2013 5:01 am

Criminals from Britain and beyond are openly buying and selling rhino horn online, Metro has discovered.

Middlemen in South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guinea and here are illegally touting the horns of the endangered species for up to £160,000 to buyers in the US, Thailand and the UAE.

Some of those posting their contraband on discussion site topix.net claim to be poachers or to be in cahoots with those doing the poaching.

In a thread entitled ‘rhino horn for sale’, one person based in Equatorial Guinea wrote: ‘I am in direct contacts with Guinean hunters and they have advised to help them for selling skin animals and rhino horns.’

Another from Pretoria, South Africa, writes: ‘We are rhinoceros hunters and we currently have three horns available for sale.

‘We are good smugglers of these products and we have shipped it to many countries in Asia.’

Last month, someone claiming to be a female based in Birmingham offered 500g of rhino horn for sale.

The police are investigating after Metro alerted them to the site.

Noreen Heanue, of Scotland Yard’s wildlife crime unit, said: ‘It has been possible to identify the person who may be selling this rhino horn – he lives in Liverpool. This matter will be passed to that force area.’

Africa is experiencing its worst poaching crisis in decades, with one rhino killed every 11 hours, according to the Zoological Society of London.

Cathy Dean, director of Save the Rhino International, said: ‘It appears that traffickers are using the UK as a hub for the illegal wildlife trade, with unscrupulous auction houses bending the current rules to sell “suspicious worked rhino horn”.’

It is illegal to sell rhino horn in Britain with the exception of those carved before 1947 and unaltered since.

[vinkie]

Sad news....the world is falling apart.....

They should track them down and prosecute them

[Toko]

Seven rhinos killed by poachers in Kenya's bloodiest week

Kenyans aghast as deadly co-ordinated attacks bring country's rhino death toll to 24 this year

Gunshots rang out across the wilderness on 23 May when poachers shot to death one rhino in Lake Nakuru National Park. Then three days later on 26 May they struck two sites, Solio Ranch near Nyeri in central Kenya, and at Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary in Tsavo West National Park killing one rhino in each protected area. The very next day they struck again at Meru National Park in the north of the country where they shoot yet another rhino. Two days later on 29 May, three more rhino were poached on a private ranch Oserian Wildlife Sanctuary.

All of these sanctuaries were created specifically to save rhinos in Kenya. Although the authorities heard the gunshots in every case, and even saw the poachers cutting horns in Oserian, no arrests have been made, and all the horns except those of the Oserian rhinos were taken.

Rhinos under siege

These co-ordinated attacks bring Kenya's annual rhino death toll by the end of May to 24. Unless something changes, the country will lose at least 55 rhino in 2013, which would be an increase of nearly 100% on 2012, when 30 were killed. The Kenya Wildlife Service puts Kenya's official rhino population at just over one thousand individuals. However, Richard Leakey, the former Director of KWS said on the phone from the US:

I am not surprised at this attack and when it comes time to do an accounting of our rhinos, I would be surprised if there were more than 500 individuals left in Kenya.

In response to the latest killings, the Kenya Wildlife Service have reassured the public that they have mounted a major operation in pursuit of poachers.

Poachers give lawmakers the finger

Speaking from Laikipia, Batian Craig, Director of 51 Degrees Ltd, a security company with management oversight in Ol Pejeta and Lewa Conservancies notes that the co-ordinated attacks are not surprising.

Poaching always goes up during a full moon, the rhino are easiest to spot and to shoot.

On the future outlook, Craig adds:

What we have is a small number of people threatening the economic value of rhinos to 43 million Kenyans. These people are a security threat to Kenya. We are not yet losing this war, but we are at a tipping point. We could arrest this crisis now by taking advantage of the global world attention, positive changes in government and the recent motion in parliament to elevate penalties for wildlife crime.

He is referring to a recent news that Kenyan members of parliament voted almost unanimously to raise penalties for wildlife poaching and trafficking of wildlife products on 22 May. This decision clears the way for the creation of emergency legislation to raise penalties to up to 15 years in jail and fines amounting to millions of shillings. Currently poachers and traffickers face penalties amounting to a less than USD 500 in Kenya. But this week's carnage suggest that poachers and dealers are collectively giving Kenya's lawmakers the proverbial finger.

To Kenyans it feels as if the country is losing the battle against poachers. According to the government agency, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya lost 384 elephants and 30 rhinos to criminals last year. By the end of May the official tally is 21 rhinos and 117 elephants, however many experts believe these are underestimates.

Current Asian demand for rhino horn is not related to traditional values

Rhino trade expert Esmond Bradley Martin says the main problem facing rhinos is in Vietnam.

"Rhino horn has always been rare and was important in European, African and Asian cultures where it was carved. It was always rare, expensive and valuable. Previously only the rich could afford it, but now the nouveau riche can afford it. But even more worrying is the new trends in how it is being used. They are using it for aphrodisiacs, grinding it into food, and claim they are curing cancer with it. They had no tradition of using it for these purposes, it's all new and contrary to traditional medicine in Vietnam."

If the situation is bad in Kenya, in South Africa it is catastrophic. The country has already lost 350 rhinos this year. According to Martin the rocketing value of rhino horn is a major reason for the ongoing slaughter of rhinos in Africa. Only 6 years ago it was valued at USD 4-5000/kg. Today it goes for ten times that amount and more in Vietnam. This week poachers will have made tens of thousands of dollars each. The combined weight of the eight rhino horns they took is approximately 24 – 32 kg. At these prices the challenge of halting the crisis seems remote.

Reason to hope for rhinos

Ironically, although the threat to rhinos comes from Asian demand, one Asian story also gives us cause to hope.

Surprisingly Nepal has been spectacularly successful in turning the rhino poaching situation around. Like most rhino range states in Africa, Nepal is one of the poorest counties in the world, and it suffers from similar governance challenges. Yet they have managed to control the situation. Last year Nepal lost only 1 rhino, and only one the year before. Martin says there are many reasons for this success, and four stand out.

First, the Prime Minister, Khilraj Regmi, has taken personal interest in the crisis and has created three new organizations to tackle wildlife crime. Secondly, the law enforcement focus is on combating traders. Thirdly, the communities benefit from parks by receiving 50% of the proceeds. This means they support the parks and conduct their own voluntary patrols long the boundaries of the parks. Finally, the role of the army in anti-poaching has been expanded from 7 posts to 51 posts in Chitwan alone – this park is home to 503 of the country's 534 rhinos.

The success in Chitwan may have direct application in Kenya. By making it his personal cause to stop the slaughter of rhinos will attain public and political support for the necessary measures including a change in laws, crackdown on corruption and a prioritization of investment in protecting Kenya's wild heritage. It is not just the rhinos and elephants that will benefit. Kenya's reputation will be restored, the unique tourism product protected and enhanced, and the political implications are obvious. For once, the country will be united around a cause that everyone can agree with – ending poaching and saving rhinos and elephants is defending the economy of Kenya.

At this rate of poaching, Kenya will lose all her rhinos by 2030 and that loss will include her aspirations to be the world's super power for wilderness tourism.

Kenyans recall President Uhuru Kenyatta's inaugural speech in which he talked about zero tolerance for poachers and those who destroy the country's heritage. He talked of a sacred duty to protect the environment. If he fulfills on his promises and makes it his personal duty to end the slaughter, the situation can be reversed and rhinos will be saved.