Newsletter Rhinos

THE MORNING SUNSET NEWS NATIONAL NEWS MADE
LOCAL
Issue 6
The
Morning
Sunset
News
The Unknown Made Local
Issued April 2015
Charging Poaching
Related Articles Head On
By
Samantha Dominy
Rhinoceroses as a whole
are precariously close to becoming
extinct. They are being hunted and
killed for their horns that will be
sold into the black market at a
high value. Horns has increased
in value due to restrictions on
poaching, advancement in
technology, and the booming
economy in Asia. However, they
may be saved by legalizing
poaching and the selling of rhino
horns.
The fight to save Rhinos
has been going on for some time.
There have been several not so
successful attempts to resolve this
issue with many countries
collaborating with one another. In
1977, the Convention on the Trade
of Endangered Species (CITES)
placed a ban on the trade of rhino
horns. This ban is receiving the
exact opposite reaction that it was
attended for. In 2011, the
International Union for the
Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

LOCAL | Issue 6
even announced that Africas

western black rhinos were
officially extinct. The other main
population of rhinos, the white
rhinos, mostly reside in South
Africa. If this trend continue, in
the next 20 years there is a very
good chance that these remaining
rhinos in Africa could become
extinct (Biggs, Courchamp,
Martin, & Possingham, 2012).
This ban has not been successful
since it makes it more difficult to
sell rhino horns in the black
market. When there is less of a
product in the market and it
becomes harder to obtain, the
demand increases. When demand
goes up, so does the value of the
product.
As technology has
advanced, rhino conservationist
have been able to improve their
tactics in protecting them. Some
conservations are surrounded by
high electric fences and they have
trained guards that patrol the area.
This guards are militarized. They
are well structured, in constant
communication, carry guns, and
they even use helicopters. One
conservationist, Ian Craig, has
taken on this very expensive task.
Craig states in Jessamy Calkins
article, Rhino Watch, which
appears in Telegraph Magazine
that
It is about technology,
good intelligence, good
surveillance, clear intent,
strong leadership - and you
can keep rhinos alive. So it
is also about money. And
space - we're never going
to have free-ranging rhino,
and to run a rhino
sanctuary for a 10-year
period, including all the
capital set-up costs, is $5
million (Calkin, 2012).
Regardless of price, it is great that
there are those willing to put in the
time and effort to protect the
reaming population. Still this may
not be enough. At the same time,
the poachers have also been able
to get their hands on some pretty
advance equipment themselves.
Poachers have been known to use
helicopters, night vision goggles,
silent dart guns, and more (Mahe,

Smith, Moretti, Zakaria, & Levin,
2013). This makes the fight to
save the rhinos harder. So
conservationist have to step up the
surveillance and get advanced
technology. Which will end up
costing more money and resources
that they may not have. This only
helps drive up the demand and
price of horns. National
geographic reported that there was
an increase from 1,004 rhinos
killed in 2013 to 1,215 rhinos
2014 (Howard, 2015). As
technology improves, so does the
poachers capability.
In recent years, rhino horns

have become a very hot
commodity within the black
market. One of the main reasons
the price of horns has skyrocketed,
is because of the growing
economy of the biggest consumer,
Eastern Asia. Price of rhino
horn(was) $4,700 per kilogram
in 1993 to around $65,000 per
kilogram in 2012 [Rhino horn]
is worth more, per unit weight,
than gold, diamonds, or cocaine
(Biggs, Courchamp, Martin, &
Possingham, 2012). Countries in
Eastern Asia like China, Vietnam,
and, South Korea have multiple
uses for horns. One of the uses is
for ancient medicine. The folklore
clams that rhino horns have
healing powers. From curing
hangovers to cancer, rhino horn
can do it all. Though the
governments in these countries

have made attempts to educate the
people that a rhino horn has no
actual healing power and is made
of keratin, the same thing that
human hair and nails are, the black
market value remains very high.
With a growing economy, the
horns value is also growing.
Rhino horn itself has become a
sign of wealth. Many celebrities,
businessmen, and upper class
people will show their rhino horn
off. Even though it is illegal,
politicians are guilty of gifting it
to one another to show their status

LOCAL | Issue 6
or to influence other politicians

(Mahe, Smith, Moretti, Zakaria, &
Levin, 2013). If this trend
continues, the higher the demand
of the horn, the higher the price,
causing the death of more rhinos.

LOCAL | Issue 6
When rhinos are hunted

they are either killed or left in a
poor state that will eventually lead
to their death. There is a way to
cut the horn off so that it does not
harm the large mammal. This is
already done in attempts to lower
the price of rhino horns, but it is
very heavily regulated and has not
been efficient enough to
effectively lower the price in the
past. This is where the very
controversial topic comes into
play. The days of free roaming
wild rhinos are long gone. Almost
all rhinos are already kept in
conservation areas. There has
been a proposition to legalize the
trade on rhino horns. If this is
done, then rhinos will be kept like
livestock. Men like John Hughes,
the largest private rhino owner,
was interviewed in a television
series, The View. He wants to see
the ban lifted, claiming If we
were allowed to sell the rhino horn
that we take off of live rhino and
leave it alive, we will never have a
dead rhino in Africa (Mahe,
Smith, Moretti, Zakaria, & Levin,
2013). The process of removing a
horn is a lot cheaper and easier to
do than to try and protect the
species against advanced poachers
trying to meet the demand in
countries like China Vietnam, and
South Korea. To sedate the rhino
and cut its horn off cost about $20.
It does not harm them, change
their behavior, and will grow back
(Biggs, Courchamp, Martin, &
Possingham, 2012). This could
open up a whole new market in
South Africa and other nations.
More money would then be put
into the local economy and the
sales of horns after legalization
can be put towards reassuring the
attempts of stabilizing the
population of rhinos. If this is

LOCAL | Issue 6
done, it
may
lower
the
incentive
of
poaching
and
using
poachers
because
the legal
supply is
more

LOCAL | Issue 6
reliable,
fuN rHINO fACTS
water. They get a lot of water from succulent plants, which is a large portion of their diet.
ooler hours of the day like at night, evening or early morning.
est land mammal behind the elephants

threaten.
smell and hearing

LOCAL | Issue 6
cost less, and is more consisted.

LOCAL | Issue 6
The Rhino, a species that once

roamed Africa and Asia freely, no
longer have that liberty. Since the
CITES ban the trade of rhino horn
in 1977, there has been an increase
in poaching. Poachers have better
technology and more funds to go
after the large animal, allowing
them to be able to kill more. Along
with the Asia economy doing so
well, rhinos are endanger of
becoming extinct. In Asia, rhino
horns are seen as the cure to
everything as well as a status of
wealth. With these different
factors, the demand and price rise.
When it becomes harder to obtain
rhino horns and sell it, the demand
and price will continue to go up.
The solution, though not an easy
decision to make, may be to lift
the ban and keep the rhino as
livestock. This way, rhinos will
not be harmed when their horns
are harvested and the species can
repopulate. The demand can be
met and be sold on the regular
market instead of the underground
market. If the demand goes down
because there is enough supply to
meet the needs, so will the price. A
decision needs to be made soon,
because the rhinos are running out
of time.

LOCAL | Issue 6

LOCAL | Issue 6
Reference
Biggs, D., Courchamp, F.,
Martin, R., &
Possingham, H. P.
(2013). Legal trade of
africa's rhino horns.
Science, 339(6123),
1038-1039.
doi:10.1126/science.
1229998
Calkin, J. (2012, Sep 08).
RHINO WATCH.
Telegraph Magazine,
22. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.rowan
.edu/login?
url=http://search.pro
quest.com/docview/
1038413453?
accountid=13605
Howard, B. (2015, January
22). South Africa Sees
Record Year for Rhino
Poaching. Retrieved
March 30, 2015, from
http://news.national
geographic.com/news
/2015/01/150122rhino-poaching-southafrica-conservationscience/
Mahe, B., Smith, S.,
Moretti, E., Zakaria,
F., & Levin, B. (2014).
Illicit Rhino-Horn
Trade [Television
series episode]. In
Vice Thomas Morton.
Rhino Facts. (n.d.).
Retrieved May 2,
2015, from
http://www.wwf.org.
za/what_we_do/rhin
o_programme/rhino_f
acts/
10

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THE MORNING SUNSET NEWS NATIONAL NEWS MADE

THE MORNING SUNSET NEWS NATIONAL NEWS MADE

even announced that Africas

silent dart guns, and more (Mahe,

In recent years, rhino horns

governments in these countries

THE MORNING SUNSET NEWS NATIONAL NEWS MADE

or to influence other politicians

THE MORNING SUNSET NEWS NATIONAL NEWS MADE

When rhinos are hunted

THE MORNING SUNSET NEWS NATIONAL NEWS MADE

THE MORNING SUNSET NEWS NATIONAL NEWS MADE

fuN rHINO fACTS

ooler hours of the day like at night, evening or early morning.

est land mammal behind the elephants

smell and hearing

THE MORNING SUNSET NEWS NATIONAL NEWS MADE

cost less, and is more consisted.

THE MORNING SUNSET NEWS NATIONAL NEWS MADE

The Rhino, a species that once

THE MORNING SUNSET NEWS NATIONAL NEWS MADE

THE MORNING SUNSET NEWS NATIONAL NEWS MADE

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