agencies in charge of investigating and prosecuting rhino poaching and rhino horn traffic in South Africa, (vi) statistics of arrests related to rhino poachi ng, and (vii) a conclusion. Records have only been able to document nine horn seizures in China since 2001. Time Magazine article – Killing Fields: Africa’s rhinos under threat, For press enquiries & images, please contact our Communications Manager on. Over the next 15 years, the world’s governments stepped up enforcement efforts, persuaded more countries to sign and implement CITES, and finally, in 1993, the US government threatened four remaining key consumer countries with trade sanctions unless they passed and enforced strict domestic laws against the use and sale of rhino horn.3 The four countries—China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Yemen—acceded. FIT allows the animals to be monitored three different ways, allowing scientists, managers, guides or anti-poaching patrols to use it as best meets their individual needs and constraints, she said.
Interactive software that "reads" and analyzes footprints left by black rhinoceroses can be used to monitor the movements of the animals in the wild, giving conservationists a new way to keep watch on the endangered species and help keep it safe from poachers, according to a.

To avoid layoffs, Ms. MacTavish has stopped collecting a salary and has cut the pay of her fellow managers by 30 percent.

- "Be the Solution, not the cause. By If trade ban enforcement alone cannot save rhinos, then other solutions must be considered. When he finally tracked them down it was too late — both were dead.

However, various rhino conservation NGOs and supporters of demand reduction—including some with an animal welfare orientation—have issued statements strongly opposing the marketing of legal synthetic rhino horn products, arguing that this would undermine efforts to completely stigmatize the use of all horn and unnecessarily confuse Asian law enforcement officials, reducing their incentives to crack down on illegal product. While poaching is not unusual in Africa — the last decade has seen more than 9,000 rhinos poached — conservationists said the recent incidents in Botswana and South Africa were unusual because they occurred in tourism hot spots that, until now, were considered relatively safe havens for wildlife. Furthermore, following this approach moves rhinos further toward being an aid-dependent species, which arguably sets up inappropriate longer-term conservation incentives in a developing country context. Two decades later, the extant niche consumer market for rhino horn is certainly aware of both the product’s scarcity and illegality–in fact this appears to be a significant part of its appeal, as possession of rhino horn now signals a certain kind of status (by being above the reach of laws applied to common people). The Chinese text, which reads, "In South Africa, nearly two rhino are killed every day for their horns." In neighboring Botswana, according to Rhino Conservation Botswana, a nonprofit organization, at least six rhinos have been poached since the country closed its … That business motivates and funds wildlife conservation across the continent, leading some experts to fear that threatened and endangered animals may become additional casualties of the pandemic. Even if this solution makes the most economic and conservation sense to the most significant rhino range countries, South Africa and Namibia, the incentive structures within the CITES system conspires against it receiving the necessary international support.

The Chinese delegation was asked about its intentions during the most recent CITES meeting, and insisted they were not farming them for their horns. Rhino horns are in very high demand and are paid for at rates higher than gold. In another case in China, a man with three horns got 15 years. Jewell and her colleagues are now working with Namibia's Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism to train wildlife conservationists, land managers, local guides and anti-poaching agents how to use FIT. There are three different schools of thought on this, leading to three distinctly different types of solutions.

Legalizing trade in rhino horn has the potential to raise much-needed funds for rhino protection and create more lasting incentives for conservation, but faces opposition from advocates of demand reduction and requires significant institutional reforms that do not enjoy widespread political support. If you are happy to accept cookies and haven't adjusted browser settings to refuse cookies, Safaritalk will issue cookies when you log on to our site. Although there is nothing to preclude all three being attempted simultaneously, this would likely cause some confusion, especially given the competing interests of their proponents. Les Carlisle: Group Conservation Manager, andBeyond Botswana rhino translocation. "With the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus, and the decline of tourism, many people are desperate and some may turn to poaching. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Please also take a moment to read the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy: Terms of Use l Privacy Policy, Add your comments to this interview by clicking. In the hopes of alleviating the situation, the Nature Conservancy, a U.S.-based environmental organization, recently began raising money for cash-strapped parks, conservancies and private reserves in Africa that need help paying rangers and guards. As a result, the white rhino has now received Near Threatened status as its total population tops out at 20,000 members. This is an independent production not linked to any NGO, org, company or otherwise. In practice, all three present varying, but significant, challenges. Though legally owned by the government, the animals are dispersed geographically on private lands across the country.
On March 25, he rescued a 2-month-old white rhino calf whose mother had been killed by poachers. Advances in biotechnology and 3-D printing have recently enabled a potential third approach: the manufacture of a synthetic rhino horn substitute that is potentially indistinguishable from the genuine item, to the extent that it even contains infused rhino DNA. FILE - In this Sunday, Dec. 20, 2015 file photo, rhinos walk in the Hluhluwe Game Reserve in South Africa. This provided an important source of funds for rhino conservation to add to state subsidies and income from regular wildlife tourism. That said, the issue is already confusing, and it seems unlikely that the proponents of conflicting solutions will ever reach full agreement on working together, given their substantially differing underlying values, assumptions, and incentives. I’ll fly as long as the finances can hold it,” he said. Whereas both black and white rhinos were on the verge of extinction at the start of that century, by the year 2000 they were thriving in South Africa, which also played a key role in supplying other African countries with animals to replenish their lost populations. Introducing a synthetic substitute product to the market provides a third option, sharing both certain advantages and disadvantages of each of the two other approaches. The alternative of supplying a synthetic rhino horn product presents a potentially faster and more cost-effective solution, but may not go far enough to address the economic incentives of the local people who control the destiny of wild rhinos. Whilst Save the Rhino International continues to try to tackle the rhino poaching in rhino range countries during the worst rhino poaching crisis in decades, we welcome further investigations to better understand the illegal trade routes, what is driving the current rise in Asian demand and the full intentions of China’s continual purchase of live rhinos. 1. Not only are they skeptical that demand reduction can work, they are desperate to find sources of funds to cover wildly escalating security costs. They see sustainable commercial supply of horns as a simple extension of this approach. In places like the Okavango Delta and Kruger National Park, where lions, leopards, rhinoceroses, elephants and Cape buffalo are on full display, tourists, hunters and the guides they hire to lead their expeditions have a far greater presence than law enforcement. Stop buying rhino horn products." It is unclear to what extent the campaigns matter to existing rhino horn buyers, and the reported success of the shark fin efforts may not be especially comparable or relevant. This needs further investigation, as the Chinese conservation authorities are putting one face forward while other parts of the government are not aware of what is happening. South Africa's nationwide shutdown to combat the spread of the coronavirus was imposed at the end of March and stopped all international and domestic travel. - "Be the Solution, not the cause. The next day he was called to rescue two black rhinos whose horns had been hacked off by poachers. As a more sustainable solution, a carefully managed legal trading regime might better satisfy both conservation and economic objectives for countries such as South Africa and Namibia, provided that such a regime addresses concerns relating to potential market responses and laundering of illegally sourced horn. In any event, a further disadvantage of this approach is the one it shares with demand reduction: it fails to address the immediate financial needs of rhino owners and managers—unless, of course, the synthetic horn producers donate a significant share of their sales proceeds toward subsidizing rhino conservation efforts in the field. At least nine rhinos have been poached in South Africa’s North West province since the pandemic began, “and those are just the ones we know about,” said Nico Jacobs, Rhino 911’s founder.

The recent article in Time Magazine highlights the recent rise in rhino poaching and the increasing Asian demand and illegal trade which is driving the current crisis.