Rhino industry ‘insiders’ – rangers, trophy hunters, veterinarians – are helping rhino poaching syndicates in South Africa commit murder.
Increasing evidence links South Africa’s rampant rhino slaughter to industry “insiders” who are cooperating with poaching syndicates for a piece of the gruesome pie.
And a rhino is killed every 41 hours in South Africa.
A recent Africa Geographic article noted that park rangers, senior managers, and even veterinarians are involved in the booming business of slaughtering rhinos.
“… there are insiders at work here and all involved in dealing with rhino at whatever level need to start carefully reviewing their staff.
These syndicates have influential people assisting them who may include rangers, senior managers and private veterinarians.
In fact, rhino poachers wearing ranger uniforms struck Kruger National Park during the World Cup opening weekend.
Who issued official Kruger National Park ranger uniforms to these murderers?
Sport hunting industry penetrated by rhino poaching syndicates
The lucrative rewards for rhino horn – along with easy access to guns, permits, vehicles and charter aircraft – have made the trophy hunting industry a natural breeding ground for rhino poaching and horn smuggling activities.
Last month, Sandhurst Safaris, a trophy hunt operation, was implicated in a major rhino poaching and horn smuggling operation, in which millions in property and assets were seized.
And in 2009, Dwesa Nature Reserve auctioned off the right to kill six rhinos to the highest bidder – which happened to be African Scent Safaris. Afterward, it was confirmed that Vietnamese clients of African Scent Safaris killed two rhinos and had the horns exported to Vietnam.
Vietnam, along with China, is one of the two major consumer markets for rhino horn “remedies”.
An industry based on superstition is making a ‘killing’
Tragically, the lucrative business of killing rhinos to meet the demands of the Chinese “traditional medicine” industry has created an environment that offers irresistible financial temptation to those who have access to rhinos.
Since 2006, rhino poaching has skyrocketed to a 15-year high, indicating a disconcerting correlation with the Chinese pharmaceutical industry’s renewed push for research and development of its “traditional medicine” industry.
Despite the fact scientific analysis has confirmed that rhino horn has no medicinal effect on humans, the superstitious appetite for rhino horn “remedies” remains insatiable among those who still believe the myths about rhino horn.
And rhinos are paying for these medical myths with their lives.
Image #1: istockphoto.com
![Rhino Horns and Trophies Exported to Asia from South Africa 2000 – 2010 [Infographic]](http://www.rhinoconservation.org/wp-content/plugins/special-recent-posts/lib/phpimage.php?width=100&height=100&rotation=no&file=L2hvbWUyL2Jpb2RpdmUxL3B1YmxpY19odG1sL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy8yMDEyLzA1L1JoaW5vVHJvcGhpZXNIb3Juc0luZm9ncmFwaGljVGh1bWJuYWlsLmpwZw==)
THIS IS TOTALLY CRUEL!!! SCHOOLS MUST BE VISITED AND THESE CRUEL PHOTOS SHOWN TO THEM, AND CHEMICALLY PROVE THAT THERE IS NOTHING IN HORN THAT IS OF ANY BENEFIT. CHINESE CHILDREN MUST BE SHOWN FROM SMALL AGE THAT THIS IS TOTALLY WRONG. I WILL NOT SUPPORT CHINESE RESTAURANTS ANY LONGER.