UNISA: Stance on Rhino Poaching

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Toko
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UNISA: Blowing the horn on the rhino’s medicinal value

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Blowing the horn on the rhino’s medicinal value

In 2011, the International Union for Conservation of Nature declared the Western Black Rhino extinct. It’s a shocking testament to the severity of poaching in Africa, and one that threatens to make the continent’s big five the big four. But why exactly are these animals so highly sought after? The College of Graduate Studies in conjunction with the Institute for Science and Technology (ISTE) held a symposium on the rhino horn and poaching, on 15 May 2013, to discuss that question.

ISTE’s Prof David Mogari set the tone for the seminar, explaining that rhinos have as much of a right to live as human beings. He said questions were raised as to what role people and human beings could play in the preservation of this animal and why it should be discussed at the symposium. Currently, there are 19 000 white rhinos remaining in South Africa and just 1 900 black rhinos.

The primary reasons for the staggering number of rhinos being poached are their horns, which many Asian countries believe contain miraculous healing properties. In traditional Chinese medicine, the horn, which is shaved or ground into a powder and dissolved in boiling water, is used to treat fever, rheumatism, gout, and other disorders. But are there any merits to these claims? Prof Harrison Atagana, Director: ISTE, explained that, as a biologist, he was extremely interested in finding out how the horn affected people. “In its powder form, the horn is described as being able to do anything. Yemen is the oldest place using rhino horn and they use it to make a dagger handle which they believe possesses magical properties,” he says.

Atagana made reference to a study by the University of Hong Kong to debunk the horn myth. The experiment tried to cure a rat’s fever, which did eventually abate. However the amount to actually cure the rat was far too much and was actually more than half the its weight. “What we are looking at here is human obsession and the attributes that people allocate to the rhino horn are not true,” Atagana says.

Despite debunking that myth, poaching remains a serious concern. According to South African National Parks (SANParks), 668 rhinos were killed last year, with the figure for 2013 currently standing at 273. SANParks estimates that around 850 rhinos will be killed this year but are convinced that there’s no cause for alarm just yet.

Dr Hector Magome, Chief Scientist at SANParks, clarified that in 2010 the size of the Kruger National Park, which houses the largest number of rhinos, was starting to limit their numbers in any case. He elaborated that poaching became a serious problem in 2008. “That year 83 rhinos were killed with illegal traders and farmers selling horns. International trade regulations do not cover local trade, so we placed a moratorium on free rhino horn,” he says. SANParks has been blamed for the increase in killings, with observers citing that the moratorium has only served to fuel poaching.

However, Magome is convinced that their conservation efforts will turn the situation around. Government has committed around one billion rand to anti-poaching measures, but challenges remain, such as the sheer size of the Kruger, poachers who ply their trade at night, and law enforcement efforts that target the people at the bottom of the poaching chain and not the top. Even though many conservationists are extremely anxious about the plight of the rhino, Magome says the situation has not yet reached critical mass. “If we lose more than a thousand this year then it’s a problem. People who say the rhino will be extinct at the current rate are lying, but it’s true that rhinos elicit that sort of emotion,” he says.

While Atagana and Magome looked at the issue from the perspective of rhinos during the symposium, Prof Moses Montesh from the Department of Police Studies considered how poachers and syndicates operate. Montesh visited Kruger National Park and Mozambique, where rhinos have been hunted to the point of extinction. He detailed South Africa’s past involvement in poaching, which used the sale of ivory and rhino horns to fund wars against Angola, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Expanding on poachers, Montesh says there is currently a power struggle among the various groups. “Poachers are young and extremely prepared and there are 15 groups currently operating at Kruger. They ambush each other to take horns and this is also happening elsewhere in South Africa,” he says.

*Written by Rajiv Kamal


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Re: UNISA: Stance on Rhino Poaching

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Legalised rhino trade supported

September 25 2013 at 09:10am
By NOELENE BARBEAU

An expert on rhino poaching has described the scourge as a “new form of organised crime” that involves local and international syndicates, conservation officials and diplomats.

Professor Moses Montesh, from the College of Law at Unisa, said rhino poaching fatality figures for the year so far had already exceeded those for the whole of last year, pointing to the need for improved anti-poaching measures and more manpower.

Legalising the trade in rhino horn might also need to be considered, he said.

A total of 688 rhinos have been slaughtered for their horns in South Africa this year, in comparison with 688 for the whole of last year.

To date, 290 arrests have been made as opposed to 267 last year, said Montesh, who was addressing delegates at the 51st International Association of Women Police training conference in Durban on Tuesday.

“These statistics show the extent of the problem,” said Montesh who researched rhino poaching in Mozambique, Vietnam and in South Africa.

Poverty, greed and the existence of a market for rhino horns were fuelling rhino poaching in Mozambique, he said. Another problem was that “rhino poaching in Mozambique is not a criminal offence but a misdemeanor”.

Poachers from Mozambique travel into the Kruger National Park to kill rhinos for their horns. The park has the highest number of rhino fatalities, currently at 418. Limpopo has 80, the North West Province 69 and KwaZulu-Natal has recorded 65.

Montesh said 15 to 17 gangs were operating in the Kruger National Park. The poachers used AK-47s, bows and arrows, snares, box traps and poison.

During discussions after Montesh’s address, a Zimbabwean police commissioner said cyanide gas was used in Zimbabwe for rhino poaching, which was also killing people.

Montesh said there were links between rhino poaching and organised crime and that crime syndicates and conservation officials were involved.

Rhino horn consumers in Vietnam, he said, were terminally ill cancer patients; people who used it as a detoxifying beverage; affluent young mothers who used it to cure their children’s fevers; and the elite, who used the horns as a gift “for corruption purposes”.

Montesh said some of the myths about rhino horn was that it is a powerful aphrodisiac, a cancer-curing drug and that it cured hangovers.

He said people were so keen to buy rhino horns that they did not always check their authenticity.

Some poachers killed cows or water buffalo for their horns. Dogs were killed and a body placed in the same bag as the fake horn to give it the same stench as a rhino horn.

Montesh said one buyer had been duped into spending R30 000 on a fake horn.

He said Asian syndicates also poached lions for their bones and embassies’ diplomatic bags were used for smuggling horns.

The lack of resources to fight poaching, especially staff, was a major problem.

He said the Kruger National Park had 650 rangers to cover two million hectares.

“The park is the size of Sweden, which has 20 000 police officers, while there are only 1 000 police officers to cover the same area in the park.”

He said the estimated price of a single kilogram of rhino horn was US $65 000. One horn, he said, weighed 7kg. “Doing the maths in 2013, 688 rhinos were killed for their horns, which each weigh 7kg – which works out to approximately R3 billion in lost revenue for rhino horns.”

Montesh said legalising the commercial trade of rhino horns could be one way to tackle the problem.

He said rhinos should only be dehorned in very high risk situations, in which they were exposed to large human populations and where adequate security was not affordable.

He recommended improved perimeter security to combat poachers. This would include increasing the number of vehicle patrols. In addition, anti-poaching operations needed to be planned and carried out by experienced leaders, with solid research carried out.

A Vietnamese delegation visited Kruger National Park last week on a fact-finding mission and reportedly said the country would educate its citizens about rhino poaching and debunk the myth that the horns had medicinal benefits.

noelene.barbeau@inl.co.za


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Re: UNISA: Stance on Rhino Poaching

Post by iNdlovu »

Wow, there are a lot of questionable statements in this statement. Some of these people that make speeches should really check their facts if the want to be taken seriously


Man was placed in charge and given the duty of caring for all creation, are we doing it?
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