Green Options

About 200 rhino have reportedly been killed by poachers in Zimbabwe over the last three years, and wildlife officials warn that international and regional poaching syndicates are benefiting from local cooperation.

Disappointing news: Zimbabwe may have lost a quarter of its rhino population in just three years, due to the increasing strength of organized poaching syndicates and a network of local support.

Kenyan wildlife authorities believe that a CITES decision to allow limited legal ivory trade has sent a signal that all ivory trade has been resumed.

An alarming resurgence in elephant poaching at the same time that a partial ban on ivory trade has been lifted is not a coincidence. Earlier this month, an illegal shipment of $1-million worth of elephant tusks and rhino horn was seized at the Jomo Kenyatta Airport. Blood on the ivory and horns confirmed that the elephants and rhinos had recently been killed. The animal parts were hidden in coffins, and were en route to Laos. Kenya wildlife authorities are confident that the tusks and horn had a final destination of China, where the illegal trade in endangered species parts is well-established.

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Head of Species and Conservation Management, Patrick Ormandi, reports that since the partial lifting of ivory trade ban:

Last year we lost 98 elephants to poachers and up to today, this year, we have lost up to 73 elephants. This is a big worry and all this is stimulated because there was an experiment to trade.

From the beginning, KWS has opposed any type of ivory trade with China. A spokesperson for KWS, Ngugi Gichaga, warned that the wrong signal would be sent with the re-opening of a limited legal ivory trade.

As Kenya told them that is not the way to go because that was going to send the wrong signals, because what it was going to signify is that there has been a resumption of trade with ivory.

Conservationists and animal rights organizations are outraged at what looks like a potential trend in species management (or mismanagement) of the Southern White Rhino (Ceratotherum simum). 10 of 200 White Rhinos sold at auction last week have already been killed by “trophy hunters.” And earlier this year, Dwesa Nature Reserve sold the right to kill 6 White Rhinos to the highest bidder.

In the case of the Dwesa hunt, the rhinos were killed by Vietnamese clients of African Scent Safaris, which, according to their website offers an “unforgettable African hunting experience.” These patrons had the rhino horns exported to Vietnam, where illegal wildlife trade is active.

Outraged against the last week’s proceedings, Animal Rights Africa is calling for prospective tourists coming to visit the country for the 2010 FIFA World Cup to boycott the Kruger National Park.

Poachers in Africa and Asia are killing rhinos at an alarming rate to meet the demand for rhino horns, which are believed to have medicinal value in some countries. According to new research, the level of rhino poaching is about to hit a 15 year high, and is “the worst rhino poaching we have seen in many years.”