Poachers have murdered a mother rhino and her young calf in Muldersdrift, West of Johannesburg.

The bodies of a mother rhino and her defenseless calf were found in the Lion Park in Kromdraai, both victims of a brutal slaying by poachers.

The mother rhino’s horn had been hacked out, according to The Independent Online.

Rhino poaching has escalated to alarming levels in recent years as a result of the demand for rhino horn in southeast and east Asia, most notably Vietnam and China. The wildlife trade monitoring organization TRAFFIC has found a disturbing number of Chinese and Vietnamese nationals involved in illegal activities involving the procurement of rhino horn.

The continued involvement of Vietnamese and Chinese nations in the acquisition of rhino horns within Africa needs to be addressed from the standpoint of collective and collaborative law enforcement action involving authorities both in Africa and Asia.

Despite scientific analysis confirming that rhino horn has no medicinal effects on humans, cultural superstitions in China and other Asian regions attribute “healing properties” to rhino horn.

Learn more about the connection between rhino poaching and China’s recent funding of its traditional medicine (TCM) industry.

Image via Bush Warriors

Rhishja Cota-Larson

I am the founder of Saving Rhinos LLC, which publishes news and information about the global rhino crisis. Besides writing Rhino Horn is Not Medicine, I am the author of the book Murder, Myths & Medicine, the Editor of Project Pangolin, and a writer for the environmental news blog Planetsave. When I'm not blogging about the illegal wildlife trade, I like to rock out to live music.

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