Worst ever year for rhino poaching in South Africa

Rhino horn demand leads to record poaching
November 2011. More rhinos have been killed in South Africa in the past 10 months than were killed in all of 2010, new poaching numbers reveal. Statistics from South Africa National Parks show that 341 animals have been lost to poaching so far in 2011, compared to a record total of 333 rhinos that were poached in 2010.

South Africa's grim milestone comes on the heels of an announcement by WWF last week that rhinos have gone extinct in Vietnam. The carcass of Vietnam's last Javan rhino was found with a gunshot wound and without its horn.

Driven by demand from Vietnam
At a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) last year, the international community concluded that the increase in rhino poaching has been caused largely by demand for horn products in Vietnam. Law enforcement efforts, while increasing, are not yet sufficient to protect rhinos from poachers or stop the smuggling and sale of their horns by organized crime rings.

"It's hardly surprising the horn was missing from the last rhino as Vietnam is the preeminent market destination for illegally sourced rhino horns," says Tom Milliken, TRAFFIC rhino programme coordinator.

Tiger parts in demand in Vietnam too
In addition to being the biggest consumer of rhino horn, Vietnam is also a major market for tiger parts and other products derived from endangered species. Populations of tigers in the country are alarmingly low and could soon follow the Vietnamese Javan rhino into extinction.

"The unfounded rumour that rhino horn can cure cancer most likely sealed the fate of the last Javan rhino in Vietnam," says Dr. A. Christy Williams, WWF's Asian rhino expert, "This same problem is now threatening other rhino populations across Africa and South Asia."

Of the five species of rhinoceros, three are critically endangered. With the loss of the Vietnamese Javan rhino, there are now fewer than 50 Javan rhinos remaining, all in one national park in Indonesia.

"It's tragic that the Javan rhino has been wiped out in Vietnam by the same forces that are driving rhino poaching in Africa. This is the ultimate wake-up call for the Vietnamese government to turn aggressively on its internal rhino horn market," Milliken added.

South Africa badly hit
South Africa has been the focal point of poaching because it has the largest population of rhinos in the world. Law enforcement efforts there have been scaled up resulting in more arrests, and some of those convicted are being sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

However, demand for medicinal products containing rhino horn continues to increase in Vietnam and other parts of Asia. Rhino horn has no absolutely no ability to treat cancer or any other disease, and is no longer a part of the official Chinese traditional medicine pharmacopeia.

Tropy hunting loophole
Despite an international ban on commercial trade under CITES, rhino horn continues to be smuggled illegally from Africa to Asia. Additionally, legal loopholes allowing for the export of rhino hunting trophies are being exploited in some South African provinces. Improvements are needed in the regulation of hunting permits and the management rhino horn stock piles in the country. Read Trophy hunting rhinos adding to vast poaching problem

‘Legally hunted' rhino's horns scam
Large numbers of rhinos have also been legally hunted in South Africa - Reports suggest that 143 licenses have been granted in 2011 by South African authorities to hunt rhinos. It is believed that many of these rhinos are killed by Asian businessmen who are allowed to export the horns legally as ‘trophies' on the understanding that the horns are not resold commercially - But who checks to see where those horns are now?

Armed protection
"Since armed protection for rhinos in South African national parks is strong, poaching syndicates are likely to shift to countries with weaker enforcement power, including possibly Asian countries that may be caught off-guard," said Dr. Carlos Drews, Global Species Programme Director at WWF. "To break the illegal trade chain, governments in source, transit and consumer countries must all scale up their efforts."

In September a delegation of Vietnamese officials visited South Africa to discuss enhancing law enforcement cooperation between the two countries. Last year TRAFFIC facilitated a similar visit to Vietnam for South African authorities.

Criminal gangs
"Vietnam should follow South Africa's example and start sending poachers, traders, smugglers and sellers to jail," says Dr. Joseph Okori, WWF's African rhino programme coordinator. "In order to save rhinos from extinction, the criminal syndicates operating between South Africa and Vietnam must be uncovered and shut down for good."

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/rhino-horn-vietnam.html#cr

South African and Vietnamese officials meet to discuss rhino poaching crisis

VIETNAM AND SOUTH AFRICA WORKING TO STOP RHINO POACHING

September 2011. Five government officials from Viet Nam have visited South Africa to discuss the illegal trade in rhinoceros horn. Their visit is set against a backdrop of rapidly escalating poaching of Africa's two internationally protected rhino species.

Rapidly escalating poaching
From 1990 to 2007, South Africa lost an average of 13 rhinos to poaching each year, but in 2008, the number shot up to 72 animals killed for their horns. The figure rose to 122 in 2009, and again in 2010 to an unprecedented 333 dead.

This year more than 302 animals have already been illegally killed, a rate that may push the total number to over 400 rhinos in 2011 if the poaching onslaught is not halted.

Viet Nam at the hub of the illegal trade
The rhino horn is smuggled to Asia, where there is strong evidence that Viet Nam is one of the key destinations and a primary driver of the illicit trade.

Last month, two Vietnamese citizens were sentenced to eight and 12 years in prison, respectively, by a South African magistrate for attempting to smuggle rhino horn out of the country.

Thefts from museums
In addition to poaching of live animals in Africa, the demand from Asia has led to a spate of thefts of antique rhino horn from museums and zoos across Europe by organized criminal gangs.

Asian medicine
Rhino horn is used in traditional Asian medicine in the treatment of high fever, but a new belief has emerged claiming rhino horn has curative powers against cancer-a notion that may have developed in Viet Nam. However, there is no scientific or medical evidence to support any such claims. Rhino horn is similar in composition and structure to horses' hooves, birds' beaks, and human fingernails.

The visit of Vietnamese government officials to South Africa follows the October 2010 mission of a five-member South African delegation to Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City to discuss rhino horn trafficking between the two countries.

At the meeting in South Africa, representatives are aiming to agree on and sign a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to create a mechanism under which Viet Nam and South Africa can actively collaborate to stop the illegal trade in rhino horn.

"In order to combat the illegal trade in wildlife products effectively, law enforcement must address the entire black market trade chain, from source country to end users," said Tom Milliken, TRAFFIC global elephant and rhino programme coordinator.

"Formal institutional links between South African and Vietnamese law enforcement agencies should create effective channels of communication and improve law enforcement in both countries. It is important to note, however, that a meeting like this is only a first step. The real challenge is for participants to demonstrate their commitment in the follow-through once they return to their respective posts."

The Vietnamese visit was hosted by the South African Department of Environmental Affairs, with support from TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network. Funding was made possible through the support of WWF-Germany and WWF African Rhino Programme. Last year TRAFFIC facilitated the South African mission to Viet Nam.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/rhino-horn-hanoi.html

South Africa to deploy US military radar in fight against Rhino poaching

US military equipment to be used in fight against rhino poachingSeptember 2011. Stone Holdings, a specialist security design and concept company, and wildlife monitoring organisation Wildlife ACT have been successful in obtaining licensing for U.S. Military radar technology to be used in the fight against rhino and other wildlife poaching. The group will be bringing it to South Africa this month.

Trials conducted at Sanbona Wildlife Reserve, a private game reserve about two and a half hours drive from Cape Town, South Africa, have proved extremely successful in identifying intruders on foot, in vehicles and in the air in a game reserve or any other fenced-off area.

Intruders
The principle of the system is that it will enable reserve managers and farmers to secure the perimeters of their respective properties and to identify poachers and trespassers before they are even able to enter the area. It will also ensure that intruders are not able to approach rhinos or other animals and in this way will help to minimise the huge losses we are currently experiencing.

Dr. Simon Morgan from Wildlife ACT was optimistic about the process of securing the perimeter of reserves using this technology. "We have to keep up with the rapid advances of the poachers and prevent them from even getting close to the animals, so investigating the use of the capabilities of this type of equipment is important in the efforts against these incursions," he said.

The system will use a three prong approach to the poaching issue, with a military spec radar anchoring the system. Further testing and fine tuning of the application is currently underway to ensure that all scenarios are covered and each installation will need to be custom designed, depending on the geographical layout of the land, and the level of detection that will be required.

"South Africa presents a whole new challenge to this system and various adaptations need to be done to ensure that all the challenges are met with positive outcomes," says Morgan.

The final product, produced by the unique partnership between Stone Holdings and Wildlife ACT, will be deployed in the near future and the group is excited about the prospect of eventually being able to have this special technology available to them to fight the war against the slaughter of our rich animal heritage.

Used to monitor USA border and areas in Iraq & Afghanistan
The radar technology is the same as that used by the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan and for surveillance on the southern border of the USA and has proven to be vital in the securing of the U.S. military around the world and the Stone Holdings

Wildlife ACT alliance will be unique in using this application on a commercial basis.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/rhino-radar.html

‘Tame’ rhino butchered in Laikipia

Ol Pejeta's best know rhino, Max, killed by poachersAugust 2011. In the early morning hours, the sound of automatic gunfire broke the silence on Ol Pejeta. Within minutes, the Ol Pejeta Conservancy's patrol team arrived at the scene to find that their semi tame rhino, Max, was dead, with both his horns missing.


Dehorned
Max had 17 bullets in him, and even though he had been dehorned recently, the poachers hacked off his face in search of this increasingly valuable commodity. Max was a southern white rhinos that had been hand-reared on Ol Pejeta since he was three. He was particularly close to the hearts of everyone at Ol Pejeta.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/laikipia-rhino.html

Another hunting safari operator identified as key player in rhino poaching ring

Rhino poachers exposed in South Africa - Courtesy of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force

July 2011. Marnus Steyl, a South African lion breeder and safari operator has emerged as a key supplier of millions of rands worth of rhino horn to a ruthless South-East Asian wildlife trafficking syndicate. Steyl allegedly stood to make at least 16 million rand in just a few weeks by supplying 50 sets of rhino horn to a Laotian company fronting for the syndicate.

It has been established that the Xaysavang Trading Export-Import Company - which reportedly operates from a hotel in central Laos - placed the order on April 23rd. The order, which was signed by one of the company directors, states bluntly, "1 month can shoot 15 rhino."

Chumlong Lemtongthai, a senior Xaysavang director and Thai citizen was arrested 2 weeks ago at a house in Edenvale, Johannesburg. Lemtongthai's "man on the ground" in South Africa, Punpitak Chumchom, was recently forced to leave South Africa.

Marnus Steyl allegedly locates the rhinos that are to be hunted, the trophies are then exported to Thailand and Laos where they are ground up and sold on the black market for so called ‘medicinal purposes'.

Lemtongthai's arrest was the culmination of a year long investigation by the South Africa Revenue Service, aided by the Hawk, South Africa's Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/rhino-arrest.html#cr

Kruger rhino massacre continues

Rhino poaching surge continues in 2011

June 2011. Nearly 200 rhinos have been killed in South Africa during the first half the year, according to statistics from the national parks department. The rate of poaching, if not curbed, could exceed 2010 levels when a record 333 rhinos were killed in the country.

Despite the army deploying, Rhino poaching is getting worse.Images courtesy of Pro Track Anti-Poaching Unit, South Africa .

193 rhinos killed in 2011 so far - 126 in the Kruger alone
South Africa has lost at least 193 rhinos during the first six months of 2011 with Kruger National Park continuing to be hardest hit. The world famous safari destination has already lost 126 rhinos to poaching this year in addition to 146 killed there in 2010.

"Poaching is being undertaken almost without exception by sophisticated criminals, sometimes hunting from helicopters and using automatic weapons," says Dr. Joseph Okori, WWF's African Rhino Programme Coordinator. "South Africa is fighting a war against organized crime that risks reversing the outstanding conservation gains it made over the past century."

South Africa is home to the largest populations of African rhinos, including white rhinos and critically endangered black rhinos.

Arrests and convictions
In response to the recent poaching crisis, law enforcement measures have been increased resulting in 123 arrests and six successful convictions so far in 2011. Last year South African authorities arrested a total of 165 suspected poachers and convicted four. Judicial proceedings are ongoing for many of the suspects.

"We are pleased to see more successful convictions of poachers," said Dr. Morné du Plessis, CEO of WWF South Africa. "Applying strict penalties for wildlife crimes such as rhino poaching will demonstrate the South African government's commitment to maintaining this important part of the country's heritage."

Swaziland
In June, neighbouring Swaziland lost its first rhino to poaching in nearly 20 years sparking fears that the crime wave could be spreading. Authorities in Swaziland arrested three suspects within days of the killing, but have since released them on bail.

WWF opposes the granting of bail to poaching suspects due to the gravity of their crimes and their high flight risk. Suspects at large continue to pose a threat to rhinos and can cause delays to judicial proceedings.

"We cannot allow poaching to proliferate across rhino range countries," Dr. Okori says. "Swift prosecutions of wildlife crimes and strict sentences for perpetrators will serve as a deterrent to potential criminals. Poachers should be shown no leniency."

‘Traditional medicine'
Rhino poaching is being fuelled by demand for horns in Asia, where they are highly valued for traditional medicine, although rhino horn has no scientifically proven healing properties.

"The poaching surge shows no sign of abating," says Tom Milliken, Elephant & Rhino Programme Coordinator with TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring group. "Only a concerted international enforcement pincer movement, at both ends of the supply and demand chain, can hope to nip this rhino poaching crisis in the bud."

WWF and TRAFFIC provide technical assistance to wildlife management authorities and support greater inter-agency law enforcement cooperation. In May WWF financed the purchase of an ultralight aircraft for rangers patrolling against poachers in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province.

TRAFFIC is a joint programme of WWF and IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/kruger-rhino011.html#cr