All rhinos in Limpopo National Park have been poached

S

Surroundx

Well-Known Member
Sad news from Mozambique: Illegal poachers have killed all the rhinos in Limpopo National Park, a large wildlife reserve in the southeast African country, according to news reports.

Park director António Abacar was quoted as saying this week that no rhinos had been seen since January, "which means that the ones that lived in the park are probably dead," according to the Portugal News.

With all the rhinos gone, poachers are now turning to elephants for their tusks. The horns and tusks are valued for their supposed medicinal value, despite the fact that horns are made of the same basic material as fingernails, with no healing properties. The park spans 4,247 square miles (11,000 square kilometers), an area more than twice the size of the U.S. state of Rhode Island.

Meanwhile, Scientific American reports that for the first time in 33 years, a hunter has been allowed to import a trophy into the United States from a black rhino he shot in Namibia, outraging conservationists.

Source: Poachers Have Killed All Rhinos in Mozambique Park | LiveScience
 
Too too sad. Do Africans realise that without wildlife no one will want to visit their continent again?
 
nanoboy said:
Too too sad. Do Africans realise that without wildlife no one will want to visit their continent again?
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Do they care?

The "I'm all right Jack" syndrome is in play here. Get the money for the horn now for me and who cares about you lot tomorrow?

If this report is correct then it marks a very sad milestone for Rhinos in particular and the sub-continent's wildlife in general.
 
Steve Robinson said:
Do they care?

The "I'm all right Jack" syndrome is in play here. Get the money for the horn now for me and who cares about you lot tomorrow?

If this report is correct then it marks a very sad milestone for Rhinos in particular and the sub-continent's wildlife in general.
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That's a very human trait that is not endemic to Africa. In the western world, there are checks, balances, and better-enforced laws, but I feel that at the core, we are all, for the most part, a selfish, short-sighted species.

I don't think anyone will be visiting Mozambique if there's no wildlife - well, unless you want a date with a landmine, or your name is Madonna/Brangelina and want to adopt an exotic kid.
 
Steve its hard to find a nanny to raise a Rhino for you. haha.

But in all seriousness the key is making the locals realize their economic health is tied to the health of the species. In areas of Africa where they have done that have had issues with poachers but the impact has been lessened. The best example I have heard of from Africa of empowering locals is the Maasai tribesmen and their relationships with the megafauna including the fact that many Massai become Rangers. You give people an active stake in the animals future, and you convince them that they as individuals can make an impact and that they are individuals are better off when the fauna does well.

Just like with Americans and what had to be done with our fauna, especially Whitetail Deer.
 
Nobody seems to be talking about the end market here, it's not just an African problem far from it.
 
chizlit said:
Nobody seems to be talking about the end market here, it's not just an African problem far from it.
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It apparently is just an African problem. The end users seem to have no problems at all.

Better people than you and me, as well as squillions of dollars from well meaning people, have tried to educate those end users.

Result? Spectacular failure as we see from this report.

Time to think outside the square, surely?
 
I remember reading this yesterday, utterly devastating. It's things like this that make me think bad of those living in that area.
 
Steve Robinson said:
It apparently is just an African problem. The end users seem to have no problems at all.

Better people than you and me, as well as squillions of dollars from well meaning people, have tried to educate those end users.

Result? Spectacular failure as we see from this report.

Time to think outside the square, surely?
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That doesn't change the fact that the problem is far more an asian problem....
 
lintworm said:
That doesn't change the fact that the problem is far more an asian problem....
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I think that you are missing my point.

The Asians [and other end users] don't have a problem. Their supply of horn is continuing - no problem.

It is a big problem for Rhinos and the country that they inhabit - Africa.
 
Why not a zero tolerance policy on poaching? Shoot to kill on confirmed poaches? Make the risk not worth the potential rewards.
 
tschandler71 said:
Why not a zero tolerance policy on poaching? Shoot to kill on confirmed poaches? Make the risk not worth the potential rewards.
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I'm pretty sure that's how it works already. In the past month or so I think 5 rhino poachers have been killed in India and South Africa (it was Kruger National Park, right?)

~Thylo:cool:
 
Poison the horns. Coat rhino horns in a chemical that is very toxic to humans, but non-toxic to rhinos. Think of it like the dye-explosive they put in the bag of stolen bank cash.
 
nanoboy said:
Poison the horns. Coat rhino horns in a chemical that is very toxic to humans, but non-toxic to rhinos. Think of it like the dye-explosive they put in the bag of stolen bank cash.
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Yeah just track down every rhino in Africa and Asia and then every calf when it's born to add a substance that doesn't exist to their horns that will easily wash away over time.

~Thylo:cool:
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Yeah just track down every rhino in Africa and Asia and then every calf when it's born to add a substance that doesn't exist to their horns that will easily wash away over time.

~Thylo:cool:
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Well when you put it like that.... :D

Tracking each and every rhino isn't necessary, as long as poachers aren't aware of which rhino has the poison coating, and which doesn't.

In WWII when the Japanese invaded SE Asia, they had a stranglehold on the world's rubber supply. Rubber = tyres, hoses, and gaskets that war vehicles needed, so the Allied war machine could have ground to a halt with no rubber. The US Government asked industry to find a solution: a synthetic, mass-produced, cheap rubber (that didn't exist at the time and was just a wild idea). And they did!!

The point of that anecdote, is that where there is a will, there is a way. The caveat is that large-scale funding is usually needed. The solution might be to adapt a chemical/process already in existence.

Steve, you did say to think outside the square. :D About 5 years ago I put forth an idea for a project to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for wildlife monitoring, and the idea was shot down (pun intended). Now it seems to be all the rage. Widely-accepted ideas usually start off as crackpot, unorthodox ideas, until someone tries them and they work!

Another idea I have is to somehow make ivory tusks change colour once they are chopped off an elephant. So make it a dirty green or yellow or something when the elephants' bodies aren't contributing natural whitening chemicals.
 
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The poachers won't care if the horns are poisonous or not as long as people are still buying. And the poachers could simply bleach the tusks or something. You're ideas are thinking outside the box but are a bit extreme.

~Thylo:cool:
 
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