127 replies to this topic Post Order

[Puncheur]

Tch, tch, tch!

[flymango]

I feel so helpless. It's not as if donor funding's going to make the problem go away by arresting the supply side, although I guess it can help. At USD 65,000/kg (correct??), the problem's clearly on the demand side.

Edited by flymango, 12 January 2012 - 07:35 .

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Did I not read somewhere the parks board allowed an unidentified hunter to shoot a Rhino for R960.000.00 odd.? on the basis that this was a standard procedure and they had "manage" the Rhino in this area?

Now correct me if I am wrong, I didnt sort of follow the story, but surely it would make more sense to load the rhino into a truck and relocate it somewhere else.?

Or am I missing an important fact here.?

[Chubba]

GrumpyOldGuy, on 13 January 2012 - 08:00 , said:

Did I not read somewhere the parks board allowed an unidentified hunter to shoot a Rhino for R960.000.00 odd.? on the basis that this was a standard procedure and they had "manage" the Rhino in this area?

Now correct me if I am wrong, I didnt sort of follow the story, but surely it would make more sense to load the rhino into a truck and relocate it somewhere else.?

Or am I missing an important fact here.?

The excuse is that ferwer Rhino have been killed than are born, so they are managing the population and using the fee earned for conservation. Its all political bull***t, someone is getting rich from the deal and a Rhino will die.
The hunter will then sell the horn and make $400 000 and smile his way to the bank.
Money well invested.

[The Saint]

I know I'm going to get hammered for this but think about it before you do.

The solution to the problem is to farm Rhino and legalize the trade in Rhino horn, flood the market with the stuff which will drive down the price. Rhino horn grows back and poachers or traders will be less inclined to hack Rhino to death that could yield money on a continuous basis.

Not what you want to hear I suppose but maybe a step in the right direction.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

The Saint, on 13 January 2012 - 01:37 , said:

I know I'm going to get hammered for this but think about it before you do.

The solution to the problem is to farm Rhino and legalize the trade in Rhino horn, flood the market with the stuff which will drive down the price. Rhino horn grows back and poachers or traders will be less inclined to hack Rhino to death that could yield money on a continuous basis.

Not what you want to hear I suppose but maybe a step in the right direction.

No, I suggested it a long way back in the thread, most people agreed its the way forward, getting the relevant authorities to agree though is an entirely differant animal.

[Pieter1]

Authorities have killed two suspected poachers, arrested two others and found 11 rhino carcasses in the same area of South Africa's Kruger National Park in one week, a spokesman said Thursday.
"Our rangers were conducting a routine anti-poaching operation on Wednesday night when they came across suspected poachers," said park spokesman Reynold Thakuli. "A gunfight ensued and two of them were shot dead.
He said the others managed to flee, and that they were suspected to have escaped across the border to Mozambique.
Anther two poachers were arrested on Thursday, he said. Three more dead rhinos were also found, just two days after the discovery of eight carcasses in the same area.
Kruger, one of South Africa's top tourist destinations, has been hit hard by poachers, with 252 rhinos killed there in 2011 -- more than half the estimated 450 killed last year across South Africa. The 2010 figure was 333.
The country has beefed up security inside the park, with soldiers deployed to assist rangers.
Poachers are using high-powered weapons and veterinary tranquilisers to dart rhinos before hacking off their horns.
"The men carried hunting rifles, axes and other weapons," said Thakuli.
The dramatic spike in rhino killings has been driven by demand for its use in Asian traditional medicine, especially in China and Vietnam, where it is believed to cure cancer despite scientific evidence to the contrary.
Found at: http://za.news.yahoo...-111530214.html

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Chubba, on 13 January 2012 - 01:30 , said:

The excuse is that ferwer Rhino have been killed than are born, so they are managing the population and using the fee earned for conservation. Its all political bull***t, someone is getting rich from the deal and a Rhino will die.
The hunter will then sell the horn and make $400 000 and smile his way to the bank.
Money well invested.

Indeed, I wonder why "managing" the population can not entail loading a few on a truck and moving them to areas of lower population as I suggested?..........but I guess there's no money to be made from that strategy.

Interesting that you suggest the hunter will just go and sell the horn, I must say, its not something I thought of initially, but in the light of the profit which stands to be made, I would say its a distinct possibility, I hope not, but yeah.............!!

Edited by GrumpyOldGuy, 13 January 2012 - 02:17 .

[brad890]

Chubba, on 12 January 2012 - 06:36 , said:

22 rhinos poached within 11 days of this year. That's a rhino dead every 12 hours. If it continues at this rate we would have lost 730 by the time new year arrives.

well i can say that i've been to 4 of those 22 this year , i dont want to publicly say to much, but one incident was a mother and baby calf shot, these guys have no remorse or feelings to kill these animals in the was they do, i mean I heard of one yesterday that was hacked with a panga while still alive.

until stricter punishments are handed down to these guys, its just going to continue, and with the risk of even having the animals on your property, i know alot of guys selling because they dont want the risk of having these guys on their farms after the rhino

I feel the only way to help with this whole fiasco is the legalize trade of the horn (like i said on page 1), and thus allowing our government the have some sort of control over the culling and trade of rhino products (but that is debatable weather our government if they would be able to manage it)

Edited by brad890, 13 January 2012 - 02:35 .

[Pieter1]

Mabey use the money from legal sales to educate the people who believe it has any use...

Edited by Pieter1, 13 January 2012 - 05:40 .

[Pieter1]

http://www.treehugge...n-medicine.html

[Bennie Dikwiel]

Three poachers sentenced to 25 years each!!!!
See this link:
http://www.iol.co.za...ching-1.1224523

Edited by Bennie Dikwiel, 01 February 2012 - 06:37 .

[brad890]

Bennie Dikwiel, on 01 February 2012 - 06:36 , said:

Three poachers sentenced to 25 years each!!!!
See this link:
http://www.iol.co.za...ching-1.1224523

This is very good to hear, as repercussions for poaching rhino have been very light up until now, hopefully other judges and courts will follow this example and hand out stricter punishment

[BLACKvoodoo]

What about a "mass ride" in protest. Everybody just get together on a certain day of the year and have a slow, long ride together

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[eccentric1]

We visited Kruger a few weeks back, just before the flooding. We saw four rhino in two days. I can remember a time many many years ago when a Rhino sighting in Kruger was the exeption. I can remember a enclosre ner Pretoriuskop where relocared rhino were ket beore being released. This was in the aerly to moddle sixties. The situation with elephant was the same. Look how the CITES ban on ivory changed elephant poaching.

Although the situation is bad it is not hopeles. We came from a very small population to the current abundant rhino population we now have.

What made the difference???? .......... Man the poacher!!! But man can again change the tide around. Not enough pople a really committed ..... Yet.

It makes me think of a sport we all are involved in..... Chillingly so the apathy shown.

[Puncheur]

Greed.