Poachers kill two rhinos a day in South Africa. The country is on track to lose 1,000 rhinos this year so it’s trying a different approach: selling them.
The Kruger National Park sold 170 white rhinos to private ranches over the last two years, the country’s Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said, according to a report in BusinessStandard. No black rhinos have been sold.
Establishing rhino populations on private ranches is necessary to conserve their dwindling population, Molewa said. Selling rhinos could also generate income for the Kruger Park.
Kruger Park, which shares borders with Zimbabwe and Mozambique, is particularly vulnerable to poaching.
In South Africa this year so far, 618 rhinos have been killed compared to 668 in 2012 and 448 in 2011, according to a report in DigitalJournal. The trend is disturbing because South Africa is home to 73 percent of the wild rhinos in the world, as well as 83 percent of Africa’s rhinos.
Black rhinos are critically endangered. Fewer than 5,000 remain in the wild.
South Africa is home to more than 70 percent of the world’s rhino population, but illegal poaching and growing demand for rhino horns has diminished its rhino population, now at about 10,000.
Law enforcement agencies have arrested 191 suspects since the beginning of 2013 and the government has stepped up actions against poaching, but despite increased involvement of police, park rangers, and the military, the number of dead rhinos continues to rise.
The sudden rise in demand for rhino horn is a result of increased wealth in Southeast Asia and China, and according to the Save the Rhino campaign, Taiwan. Most reports identify China and Vietnam as major new markets for the growing middle class in those countries.
Contrary to popular belief, rhino horn is not used as an aphrodisiac in traditional Chinese medicine, but as part of concoctions for cures ranging from nosebleeds to serious conditions including high fevers. However, there are alternatives, DigitalJournal reported.
Rhino horn is also considered partially effective in showing the presence of poisons. The reason for this, according to PBS, is that the horn grows like human nails or hair, or horse or buffalo hoofs. However rhino horn, unlike many other horns, is not part bone and part keratin, but all keratin.
Successful wildlife-conserving countries such as South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya and others should try to impress on the public in China, Taiwan and Vietnam that if they need keratin, they can just cut their nails and grind up the clippings, the report said.
Although some success has been made in catching poachers, they are well paid in target areas. Demand is high and growing. It doesn’t seem likely that people will stop killing the rhinos, the report said.
