Community | July 18, 2010 | 108 comments

Poachers kill last female rhino in South African park for prized horn

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/18/poachers-kill-last-female-rhino

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PHOTO: The last rhinoceros cow in Krugersdorp park, South Africa, bled to death on Wednesday after poachers hacked off her horn. Photograph: Reuters

Poachers kill last female rhino in South African park for prized horn - Record levels of poaching are endangering survival of rhinoceros in South Africa

South African wildlife experts are calling for urgent action against poachers after the last female rhinoceros in a popular game reserve near Johannesburg bled to death after having its horn hacked off.

Wildlife officials say poaching for the prized horns has now reached an all-time high. "Last year, 129 rhinos were killed for their horns in South Africa. This year, we have already had 136 deaths," said Japie Mostert, chief game ranger at the 1,500-hectare Krugersdorp game reserve.

The gang used tranquilliser guns and a helicopter to bring down the nine-year-old rhino cow. Her distraught calf was moved to a nearby estate where it was introduced to two other orphaned white rhinos.

Wanda Mkutshulwa, a spokeswoman for South African National Parks, said investigations into the growing number of incidents had been shifted to the country's organised crime unit. "We are dealing with very focused criminals. Police need to help game reserves because they are not at all equipped to handle crime on such an organised level,'' she said.

Rhino horn consists of compressed keratin fibre – similar to hair – and in many Asian cultures it is a fundamental ingredient in traditional medicines.

Mkutshulwa said poaching was also rife in the Kruger Park. Five men were arrested there in the past week alone – four of whom were caught with two bloodied rhino horns, AK-47 assault rifles, bolt-action rifles and an axe.

Krugersdorp game reserve attracts at least 200,000 visitors every year. It is also close to a private airport, which may have been used by the poachers.

"The exercise takes them very little time," Mostert said. "They first fly over the park in the late afternoon to locate where the rhino is grazing. Then they return at night and dart the animal from the air. The tranquilliser takes less than seven minutes to act.

"They saw off the horns with a chainsaw. They do not even need to switch off the rotors of the helicopter. We do not hear anything because our houses are too far away. The animal dies either from an overdose of tranquilliser or bleeds to death."

The committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) warned last year that rhino poaching had reached an all-time high. The Cites conference in Geneva in July 2009 heard that Asia's economic expansion had fuelled the market in rhino horns.

The horns are also used in the Middle East to make handles for ornamental daggers. Cites said demand for them had begun to soar in recent years. In the five years up to 2005, an average of only 36 rhinos had been killed each year.

Conservationists estimate that there are only 18,000 black and white rhinos in Africa, down from 65,000 in the 1970s. Mostert, who has been a ranger for 20 years, said the animals fetch up to 1m rand (£85,000) at game auctions and cannot be insured.

Cites has praised South Africa for its action against poachers. Two weeks ago, a Vietnamese man was jailed for 10 years for trying to smuggle horns out of the country.


Krugersdorp game reserve attracts at least 200,000 visitors every year. It is also close to a private airport, which may have been used by the poachers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/18/poachers-kill-last-female-rhin...
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108 comments // Poachers kill last female rhino in South African park for prized horn

  • Mark_Cassidy
    • -1
      Mark_Cassidy  

    • Marcus your comments suggest an extreme ignorance. Even a fool is perceved as wise if he keeps his mouth shut. I suggest you listen and not talk, you may learn something.

    • 9 days ago
  • putdownmypants
    • +2
      putdownmypants  

    • This sickens me.
      But, so does most news.
      I wish they'd find another way to deal with a tiny penis and no sexual drive. I mean, biting their finger nails should produce the same result, since it's essentially the exact material of a rhino horn.
      ugh!!

    • 1 year ago
  • Markus_Demitrius
    • +1
      Markus_Demitrius  

    • Audre - Republicans and their mindless Christian backers are responsible for more pollution and species extinction than all other sources on the planet combined.

      I AM an ass, yet I'm also correct.

    • 1 year ago
  • Audre_Mills
    • +1
      Audre_Mills  

    • Well, when they finally kill all of them then what will they do? Do these obviously stupid individuals with no value for life, be it animal or human not realize that when something is gone it is gone forever? Just makes me sick. And Marcus_Demitrius...what the HELL does being a Republican or a Christian have a DAMN thing to do with the death of a species? You are an ASS!!

    • 1 year ago
  • Markus_Demitrius
  • mario_a
  • EthicalVegan
    • 0
      EthicalVegan  
    • mario_a:

      It's okay... now you have, and now you care.

      I've slathered it all over the Internet, and I'm "thrilled" to see just how many views julesrs007's submission has had... so far! The only way we can begin to make a difference is by spreading the word, again and again, whenever there's an issue involving the exploitation of our animal friends. People need to be educated, and then hopefully they will start to understand and care, and maybe try to do something, instead of just sitting back, going, "Tsk-tsk."

    • 1 year ago
  • Rose_Calderon
    • +1
      Rose_Calderon  

    • THIS IS HEART BREAKING...just rips out from the soul..how can a punishment fit this crime..ppl have to fear the price it will take to stop them in there tracks for the next one, they will move on to the next area to poach..i say solitary confinement for a year..really make em think about what they have done and was it worth it

    • 1 year ago
  • dand902
  • Phillip_DeCooch
    • 0
      Phillip_DeCooch  

    • I guess the Africans didn't think to remove the horn from the rhino before the poachers took it. No horn, no poachers. Simple solutions for simple people.

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
  • Phillip_DeCooch
    • 0
      Phillip_DeCooch  
    • EthicalVegan:

      It's been done in many other parks with rhinos and elephants to keep them from being poached. The horn can be trimmed back with very little effect to the animals. There are not many other predators in the parks to the animals other than the poachers.

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
  • diode
  • maxgrady
    • +1
      maxgrady  

    • IF THE GOVERNMENT THERE GAVE ME THE EQUIPMENT AND WEAPONS I AM SURE I COULD ORGANIZE ENOUGH VOLUNTEERS TO PUT A HURTING ON THE POACHERS, THEY COULD PAY A BOUNTY ON POACHERS..

    • 1 year ago
  • Joe_Medina
  • indianagiordani
    • +1
      indianagiordani  

    • wtf do poachers use the shit that they take away for? i have always known what a poacher was and what a poacher did but what other purpose do they have for the things that they take away from nature and beast that is so superlative that they must destroy a population of beauty??? if it's simple money, i suggest they all try committing suicide...but they're all punk ass bitches and wouldnt do it, which is why they all slaughter precious creatures for no logical reason...food...is about the only justification i can pardon...so maybe kill one another...a fucking horn are you kidding me!!!

    • 1 year ago
  • gunstar
  • Nora_Rich
    • +1
      Nora_Rich  

    • There is a special place in hell for those who harm children and misuse animals (killing for food and clothing, if you follow rules is allowed, but to kill or torture an animal for no reason is not permitted, and" fake" medicine is no reason)

    • 1 year ago
  • yashti82
    • +2
      yashti82  

    • I hear if you cut the penis's off of poachers it will do the same as horns in fighting pain and erctile dysfunction in asians. maybe now the word will spread to the asians and they will start hunting poachers....lol. you asians need to get an education and start using TYLENOL, or BAYER, or IBUPROFEN, or the thousands of other drugs that work a 1000 times better than rhino horns. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!!!

    • 1 year ago
  • gmail
    • +1
      gmail  

    • the poachers in this case were not the "poor Africans". Even poor US residents can't go out and buy helicopters. Some poaching is survival-based. This situation was not. It was deliberate greed.

    • 1 year ago
  • Wetdog
  • mybodymyright
    • +2
      mybodymyright  

    • I am so over this crap. When will humans learn we are animals too. We have a huge population, and those of us with money (westerners) are the only ones who can guide the future growth and direction of our global population.

      I say trade sanctions against the buyers of these inhuman products. Reduce the money in China and cut the demand.

      Or, flood the "asian" market with crap product (I would like to see poison!!) and watch the whole system collapse. Once a buyer cant tell real from fake then our job is done.

    • 1 year ago
  • chinajane
  • DuhRRell
  • chinajane
  • Patrick_Russo
    • 0
      Patrick_Russo  

    • Hardly seems surprising, but it's no less awful. Africa is going to see a lot of pain and loss before it's able to right itself - and that's assuming the west doesn't try to gobble up their opportunities. I can't imagine poachers do what they do because it's enjoyable... it's what they do to live. As long as there is a demand, they will continue to kill these creatures. Shortsighted as it may seem to us, Americans did the same ruthless hunting of large game animals. Hopefully, as the continent catches up to the rest of the world, issues like this, genocide, and war will become antiquated. In my lifetime? Doubt it. We need to help where we can.

    • 1 year ago
  • latinspy
    • -2
      latinspy  

    • Great opinons everybody! I have alot of sympathy for the Rhinos, but even more so for the poor that doesnt care about whats moral and immoral. People would do the extreme when they are pushed to the brink of dying of hunger. They grow numb to feel any remorse. we Americans have alot of luxury.

    • 1 year ago
  • EtVoila
  • lifestudentno83
  • jaystyx
    • +1
      jaystyx  

    • What’s really sad is that wildlife brings in more money for African communities than poaching ever could.

      Animals = Tourists
      Tourists = Sustainable Source of Income

      Poachers hurt everyone in their community

    • 1 year ago
  • littlwarrior
    • +3
      littlwarrior  

    • Perhaps its time to starting poaching the poachers. The time for fines, and jail time is done, lets make killing some of these endangered species just as dangerous as killing a human being for their hide!

    • 1 year ago
  • corndog67
    • -7
      corndog67  

    • But it's so sad about the poor, poor Africans. The world needs to feel sorry for them having babies they cannot feed, so that they have to kill the last breeding rhino in the whole damn park.

      Political correctness will ensure that a lot of people think it's OK since they are doing it to sell to feed his family.

      Pieces of human shit.

    • 1 year ago
  • lifestudentno83
  • keithponder
  • KSirys
  • reactionforce
  • Eco_Chic
  • HughbertD
    • +2
      HughbertD  

    • It's not as simple as greed, a rhino's horn can fetch enough money to secure a family for life. Try explaining to a poacher why a rhino's life is worth more than his and his family's

    • 1 year ago
  • remanns
    • 0
      remanns  
    • HughbertD:

      Let me give it a shot---

      Dear Mr. Monkey- ( or poacher fellow and associated progeny , however you prefer to be addressed )
      We are currently overstocked with your species and no longer require your particular breeding proclivities, while the rhino seems to be a VERY difficult stock to maintain and replace and we wish to continue its availibility. Please cease and desist,...your services are no longer required.

      ...........and THAT,.....is IN FACT,.....the truth of it.

      ( You can form letter that if you like )

    • 1 year ago
  • padd1ngton
  • Shizon81
    • +1
      Shizon81  

    • The poachers cut off the horn from a "live" rhino because it is believed to be a more powerful medicine. I just visited Kruger a couple weeks ago. It was an amazing park and I highly recommend it.

    • 1 year ago
  • CalgarC
  • EthicalVegan
  • Einsam_Data_Old
  • hacela_ann_buquel_ibana
    • +4
      hacela_ann_buquel_ibana  

    • i feel so sad about that female rhino...
      pls. dont kill them just because of money i'm afraid that someday those animals would not exists anymore because of human wrong doings...pls. let us respect all the god creatures...

    • 1 year ago
  • RoBot_rOcKer
  • EthicalVegan
  • SarahAna
  • EthicalVegan
  • eden49
  • Armageddon_Now
  • DuhRRell
  • davidkellyy
  • EthicalVegan
  • Jesse400
  • Pawper
    • +6
      Pawper  
    • Image
    • Jesse400:

      It is easy to make negative generalizations and absolutes, but don't you think that's rather unproductive? We are all human beings, you yourself are a human being. We are the most capable and sentient creatures on Earth, at the top of the chain. We can certainly be a cancerous plague, as history shows. We can also be something higher. Remember that despite the poachers and deluded consumers of these horns, there are many who are in complete opposition to such atrocities. Raising awareness and educating those around us is a lot more productive than simply voicing our despair. http://www.rhinoconservation.org/

    • 1 year ago
  • Prettynpink6
    • +1
      Prettynpink6  

    • what the fuck wow... last female rhino... i wonder if my bby girl well get see animals when she is older (20years later+) or are we just going to kill them all

    • 1 year ago
  • trut
    • 0
      trut  

    • I remember about 15 yrs. ago there was an advertisement looking for people to protect the endangered animals somewhere in Africa, by hunting down and shooting poachers. You get paid some kind of bounty. If I would have taken that job I would probably be dead by now but the way I look at it once you get one the worst you can do is tie. You get 2 and you are an automatic winner.

    • 1 year ago
  • ampersand
    • 0
      ampersand  
    • Image
    • trut:

      There was an article in the New Yorker magazine (April 5, issue, I think) about Mark and Delia Owens, two Americans who have fought illegal poaching in Africa for years.
      The article itself was actually kind of snippy, with the NY based writer casting them as ego driven outsiders. That view was strenuously opposed by others in the field.

      In any case, here's a quote from the article:

      "But eventually the complexities of the human world would intrude. One day, while flying over the central Kalahari, Mark Owens came across an enormous migration of wildebeest. He followed the path of the migration until, to his bewilderment, the animals suddenly stopped. Stretched before them was a steel-wire fence, more than a hundred miles long, erected by the government of Botswana to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease to the country’s cattle. Many animals had died of dehydration, and carcasses were strewn on the ground. As the surviving wildebeest funnelled along the fence in search of water, they entered a hunting area, where poachers lay in wait. As Owens looked on, the poachers killed animals en masse.

      “We watched through binoculars as the slaughter continued along the shore,” Owens wrote in “Cry of the Kalahari.” “Trembling with rage, I pushed the control wheel forward and we plunged toward the lakeshore. The poachers were preoccupied with their butchery and did not see the aircraft until it was at ground level, roaring across the plain toward them at 160 miles an hour.”

      Mark and Delia urged government ministers and game-management officials to protect the animals, but their pleas were rejected. “Almost everyone we knew told us to forget it. ‘Cattle is too big an industry; you’ll never get them to take down the fences,’ ” they wrote. “Since no one within the country would listen to our recommendations, we decided to try to publicize the issue worldwide, to enlist the support of prominent people outside the country who perhaps could encourage the Botswana government to review the problem.”

      One day, government officials in Gaborone summoned Mark and Delia to a meeting. When they arrived, they were told that they were being expelled from the country. Botswana was a major exporter of beef to Europe, and the government was embarrassed by the Owenses’ campaign."

      The Owens went on to become world-know and very effective on the ground force against illegal poachers in the National park of Zambia. I think they are now in the US.

      Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/04/05/100405fa_fact_goldberg#ixzz0u5pdQO...

    • 1 year ago
  • EmperorThan
  • insaintity
  • Perplexed_Rapture
    • +4
      Perplexed_Rapture  

    • I still can't believe that humans are this greedy, selfish, and heartless, to kill an innocent animal that never wronged them for their benefit, for profit. We really should come down on poachers stronger and countries should try to work together to put laws on marketing rhino horns. More and more every day, I am disgusted with the world.

    • 1 year ago
  • s_peak
    • +1
      s_peak  
    • Perplexed_Rapture:

      Money is a drug, and it's spending us. Each horn is worth a gigantic fortune. As long as a system exists where we can profit off of animals, we will... with less and less regard for their suffering over time. Money is the condition on which our entire sickness is predicated. I still maintain that we can never know our world or our potential in a world driven by money. Money is what we should be detached from, not the planet. We will only get sicker (speaking literally, of course, as we toxify our environment) and sicker. Slowly degrading our genetic code as we fade into evolutionary obscurity as a failure. We need to drop the arrogance and start paying attention to the natural world.

      Some biomimic scientists were working on lab-grown rhino horn last I read but where the hell is it?

    • 1 year ago
  • KSirys
  • remanns
  • musicjohnny
    • +1
      musicjohnny  

    • Ugghhh..that's just disgusting. Very sad. But seriously, if it was the very last one in S. Africa, why didn't they keep better tabs on it? Like at least pay some guys to sit there with it and make sure nobody does something like this....

    • 1 year ago
  • The_Funk_Soaps
  • MountainManMark
    • +1
      MountainManMark  

    • Something that i always wondered, is why don't people riase rhinos for their horns and cut the horn just above the skin line? it would decrease the demand for them, and the rhinos wouldn't be killed... to anyone who says this is immoral, don't get me started on what people do to cows, chickens, pigs and turkeys so that they can eat them.

    • 1 year ago
  • gimmers
    • -2
      gimmers  
    • MountainManMark:

      it is immoral, at least with chickens, cows...etc, they're recycled, and almost every bit is used. with cows, you dont just skin it and leave it in the pasture to bleed to death in pain wasting the entire body... it gets killed... painfully, but as much parts as possible are used, the rest is eaten

    • 1 year ago
  • SarahAna
    • 0
      SarahAna  
    • MountainManMark:

      Because rhinos are dangerous and uncontrollable. You can't tame a rhino. If you could, humans would have done that thousands of years ago when they domesticated other mammals.

      "Rhinos, at over 5 tons in weight and immensely strong, could have been terrific beasts of burden for African farmers -just imagine the sight of a rhino-mounted cavalry! Yet rhinos are spectacularly bad-tempered and unpredictable. Although they have poor eyesight, their senses of smell and hearing are especially acute. Despite their bulk, rhinos are remarkably agile, and when provoked into a charge — often by little more than an unfamiliar smell or sound — an agitated rhino can reach speeds of up to 45 km per hour, even in dense undergrowth. "

      -Guns, Germs & Steel website

      That's why the cowardly poachers had to come from above by helicopter and shoot it before they were spotted!

    • 1 year ago
  • MountainManMark
    • 0
      MountainManMark  
    • gimmers:

      If you actually took the time to read what was in my post, you would have read that i had suggested that they cut the horn above the skin line so that it wouldn't be killed. so that after the horn was cut the rhino would be able to live a normal life. You don't need to kill a rhino to take its horn, but when people are in a hurry they usually make mistakes killing the rhino, or want to take as much as possible, killing the rhino. Btw, Dogs, wolves, foxes, and rabbits rabbits (to name a few) are all killed for their fur, and that is 100 percent legal. So i am still not seeing your point

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
  • MountainManMark
  • 02
  • EthicalVegan
  • SarahAna
    • +2
      SarahAna  
    • MountainManMark:

      "Make mistakes"!!! You think the kindly poachers didn't mean to kill the rhino, it was an accident? They killed it "by mistake"?!!! NO, the poachers did not have the welfare of the rhino in mind when they sawed off its horn with a chainsaw and left it for dead. NO, the poachers did not care whether they white rhino would go extinct by their doing. NO, the poachers did not care if they left the rhino calf orphaned!

    • 1 year ago
  • 02
    • 0
      02  
    • EthicalVegan:

      It may, in fact, be a poor suggestion. But maybe not. Increasing animal numbers, satisfying a black market and having control to maintain proper treatment - might be a good suggestion.

      Doing nothing - allowed the present situation.

      On the present course, a solidly better and permanent political environment in all the African habitation counties is needed.
      An international interdiction effort, conducted by the countries of destination - would be needed.
      Very likely, field executions would be necessary. - These are already conducted.

      Conversely, a well-managed, internationally monitored and funded, free roaming series of parks - that would include tusk harvesting along with the medical care - might be a good suggestion.

    • 1 year ago
  • treewolf39
    • +2
      treewolf39  

    • Fuck..... I understand poverty and desperation but this is sinister. Anyone caught with rhino horn or anything made of it should be beheaded on the spot. How stupid to wipe out an animal for a placebo.

    • 1 year ago
  • KSirys
  • ampersand
    • +12
      ampersand  

    • Speaking of herbal remedies, I've heard that if you remove the heads of the thousands of geriatric Asians who buy this stuff, and grind them to a fine powder, the planet will immediately feel rejuvenated and sexy again.

    • 1 year ago
  • treewolf39
  • reactionforce
  • EthicalVegan
  • reactionforce
  • alexandrek
  • reactionforce
  • EthicalVegan
    • +1
      EthicalVegan  
    • alexandrek:

      I'm sure to get lots of flak for this, and I know that within this topic is not the place, but your use of two nicknames for women's body parts is extremely demeaning and hurtful, and doesn't at all belong to a description of what poachers are. Please re-consider... especially here. Thanks.

    • 1 year ago
  • alexandrek
  • EthicalVegan
    • 0
      EthicalVegan  
    • alexandrek:

      Wow, that was truly pleasant and kind-hearted of you. I wrote nicely... guess you're just an angry person, because your snapping at me so unnecessarily - and rudely - says a great deal about what you are really like, unfortunately.

    • 1 year ago
  • mybuddykatt
  • reactionforce
  • 02
    • +2
      02  

    • The Chinese are the are the buyers - and other Asian countries.
      A good movement would be pressure to enact trade sanctions until the killing is stopped.
      Sell em viagra.

    • 1 year ago
  • ScottyT
  • EmperorThan
  • SarahAna
    • +7
      SarahAna  

    • The problem isn't just the poachers, but the people who buy the horn! One horn. They didn't even take the body. Just left it there to die. At least the calf was saved.

    • 1 year ago
  • Perplexed_Rapture
  • bailey78
  • EthicalVegan
    • +3
      EthicalVegan  

    • Oh, dear, sweet little baby. Oh.... this is painfully heartbreaking, to be sure.

      The bastards left her alive, to bleed out... all alone...

    • 1 year ago
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