Green Options

The Masvingo regional court has sentenced a member of the Mazhongwe rhino poaching gang to 17 years in prison for killing an endangered rhino.

Justice - at last: Zimbabwe rhino poacher Tichaona Mutyairi has been sentenced to 17 years in jail for killing a rhino and firing on police in October 2009.

After years of letting the killers walk free, could this case finally be the turning point in the war against rhino poaching in Zimbabwe?

Good news from Uganda: Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary has welcomed a third baby rhino!

2010 is off to a promising start at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, where a white rhino calf was born on January 2 - the third baby rhino following more than 25 years of regional extinction.

A Chinese court has sentenced a man to 12 years in jail, plus a fine, for killing an endangered Indochinese tiger - which was made into a stew and eaten.

The Mengla county court in Xishuangbanna has sentenced Kang Wannian to 12 years in jail, plus a fine of over $14,642 USD, for killing an endangered Indochinese tiger in southwest China’s Yunnan Province.

Kang claimed he did not know the animal he shot was a tiger.

Four of the world’s eight surviving Northern white rhinos are about to be flown from ZOO Dvůr Králové in the Czech Republic to Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

This weekend, Northern white rhinos Sudan, Suni, Najin, and Fatu will begin the journey of a lifetime: A new life in Kenya - and the last hope for one of earth’s rarest creatures.

After losing about 26 percent of its rhino population to poachers, Zimbabwe now faces expulsion from the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES).

As a consequence of losing nearly 200 rhinos to rampant poaching over the last three years, Zimbabwe reportedly has six months to comply with CITES - or face expulsion.

Rhino experts are divided in potential plans to salvage the genes of the world’s last eight Northern white rhinos.

Now believed extinct in the wild, the world’s only surviving Northern white rhinos are currently in captivity in just two locations: ZOO Dvůr Králové in the Czech Republic and San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park.

The largest ever transnational operation targeting wildlife crime across Africa has resulted in the arrests of over 100 people and the seizure of more than two tons of ivory.

INTERPOL has announced that the success of “Operation Costa” - Africa’s largest ever transnational wildlife crime operation - was due to the coordinated efforts of police, national wildlife, customs and national intelligence officers across Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Thanks to rampant poaching and habitat destruction, rhinos have the unfortunate distinction of being one of the most endangered animals on earth.

Over the last 30 years, the world’s overall rhinoceros population has declined by over 90% - and if not for dedicated conservation efforts over the last 100 years, it is likely that all rhinoceros species would already be extinct.

To help raise awareness for these proud pachyderms, here are 11 incredible facts about rhinos - plus a compilation of beautiful photos (except for one very graphic photo) and a couple of videos, too. Enjoy!

Tanzania is reportedly preparing to ask CITES to lift the trade ban on elephant ivory, much to the dismay of its EAC neighbors, conservationists, and members of the tourism industry.

In a move that would surely undermine East African conservation efforts, Tanzania has taken up the position that a sanctioned sale of elephant ivory would provide much-needed financial support to the country’s anti-poaching measures.

This comes as a shock to the East African Community (EAC), considering that last year’s sanctioning of a one-off ivory auction is to blame for igniting a scourge of rampant elephant killings throughout Africa - particularly Kenya.

Officials from elephant range states are meeting in Delhi this week in hopes of finding a solution to the growing number of elephant killings in India.

Loss of habitat leading to an increase of conflicts between elephants and humans, combined with the invasion of poachers into government-protected zones, are resulting in an unacceptable increase in elephant deaths in India.

To address this issue, officials from India’s elephant range states are gathering in Delhi this week.

Thanks to the controversial approval of a one-off ivory sale, illegal trade in ivory has been reinvigorated - and 100 elephants a day are being slaughtered.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) approved a one-off elephant ivory auction in 2008 of 119 tons (108 tonnes) - representing over 10,000 dead elephants - and this decision is believed to have stimulated the growing illegal ivory market.