Posts Tagged ‘rhino’
Rhino death toll in South Africa in January hits 57
South Africa reported that January’s rhino death toll hit 57. Kruger National Park is a key locus, with 42 rhinos, or 10% of the total killed in that park for 2012, killed there in this single month. SANParks attributes the increased poaching to the recent floods in the Kruger National Park, thick vegetation, two…
Read MoreThe WildLife: Rhino DNA Index System & Role in Anti-Poaching Efforts, Cindy Harper
The Rhino DNA Index System (RhODIS) is a secure database containing DNA profile data of individual rhinoceros. The extraction method has been optimized and is now used to individually identify rhinoceros horns from stockpiles and to link recovered horns to poaching cases. The information contained in this database has assisted in a number of…
Read MoreRanger in Kruger National Park catches two rhino poachers
Two men asked a ranger in South Africa’s Kruger National Park ranger to kill and de-horn a rhino, saying it was easier for him to do so. The ranger played along, saying he couldn’t use his official weapon and that the poachers would have to supply the rifle. He set up another meeting and…
Read More373 rhinos killed so far this year in South Africa alone, yearly death toll likely to surpass 550
The South African government reports 373 rhinos have been killed for their horns so far this year. If this poaching rate of 1.5 rhinos killed per day for the first eight months of 2012 continues, South Africa could lose over 550 rhinos in 2012 — a 25 percent jump from 2011’s record rhino death…
Read MoreSumatran rhinos survive in northern Sumatra
Another piece of good news – this time related to the Sumatran rhino and reported on Mongabay.com. Using remote camera traps, wildlife rangers confirm the Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) still inhabits the Leuser ecosystem in northern Sumatra, making that forest the only place on the Earth where Sumatran tigers, orangutans, elephants, and rhinos survive in…
Read MoreIvory and Rhinoceros Enforcement Task Force Meets to Combat Organized Wildlife Crime
The Ivory and Rhinoceros Enforcement Task Force of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) met in Kenya from 17 to 19 May to discuss urgent actions against crimes targeting elephants and rhinos. Twenty top law enforcement officers representing wildlife authorities, Customs, investigations, national parks, the police and…
Read MoreDe-horning Rhino as Anti-Poaching Measure
De-horning rhino as an anti-poaching measure has become increasingly accepted. An interesting article by Guy Rogers in South Africa’s The Herald Online explores that decision and also describes the actual process. The article focuses on the de-horning of two rhino at the Kragga Kamma Game Park in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. In it, head of the family-run…
Read MoreWildlife Forensics Helps Evaluate Death of Vietnam’s Last Javan Rhino
Wildlife forensic analysis proves the Vietnamese Javan rhino discovered last April in Cat Tien National Park was shot a few months before it died. The Javan rhino is extremely rare. There are just an estimated 60 left in the world and are found only in two small protected areas in Viet Nam and Indonesia.…
Read MoreSouth Africa develops Rhino DNA Sample Kit
South Africa has developed a new Rhino DNA Sample Kit. The new kit can help investigators link a crime scene with a particular rhino and the movements of that rhino since documentation.The aim is to not just to use it at crime scenes but to have all rhino population owners and managers document all the individual…
Read MoreContradictions in the case for legalizing sales of rhino horn
The debate on whether legalizing a product from an endangered species–like rhino or ivory–increases or decreases poaching rages on. This article in South Africa’s The Times argues for farming rhinos, dehorning them and selling rhino horn stockpiles in order to stop poaching. The argument is: why kill a rhino for just one horn, when you could get…
Read MoreThe WildLife: Rhino Horn Trade, Rhishja Larson
Rhishja Larson, founder of Saving Rhinos, discusses the illegal trade in rhino horn and what can be done to stop it. She tells “The WildLife” host Laurel Neme that, because rhino horn has no real medicinal properties, this multimillion dollar illegal trade is built on a myth. Rhishja is trying to bust this myth – which in…
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