A second rhino was killed by poachers in South Africa this week.

A female rhino has been found dead near Roedtan in Limpopo. She was shot several times, presumably with an R5 assault rifle and her horns were hacked off. Her hamstrings had also been cut.

The rhino was reportedly 40 years old and her front horn was just over three feet (93cm) in length.

From Tim Condon, Secretariat of the Zululand Wildlife eForum:

[The] rhino was shot 12 times with a .223 presumably a semi automatic R5 assault rifle and they also slashed the animals hind leg tendons to take it down. They probably wounded it badly and had to do that to stop it from moving around so that they could kill it. So no helicopter used. We are having many of these .223 calibre killings and many of the have been linked with the same rifle so one group is operating and we are unable to catch them. Its a disgrace.

Mr. Condon has requested that anyone with information please contact him via the Zululand Wildlife eForum on Facebook©.

Additionally, News24 reported that a two-year-old rhino calf was found in Kruger National Park near the body of a female rhino. Based on the decomposition of the rhino’s body, she was likely killed two weeks ago by poachers.

Illegal rhino horn destined for traditional medicine markets in China and Vietnam

Recent research by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC revealed that most rhino horn leaving southern Africa is destined for consumer markets in China and Vietnam. Rhino horn is obtained illegally from poached rhinos and quasi-legally after being laundered via South African trophy hunts.

Rhino horn has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for decades, and prescribed for a wide range of ailments, including fever, anxiety, and boils. Practitioners have also advised rhino horn for keeping the devil away. Within the last five years, Vietnam has emerged as another significant destination for illegal rhino horn from South Africa, with rhino horn being sold online and in retail shops.

However, any supposed “healing benefit” derived from rhino horn is nothing more than an unfortunate myth. Rhino horn has been extensively tested and analyzed, and has been found to contain no medical properties whatsoever.

Sources: Tim Condon, Zululand Wildlife eForum; News24.com

Photo via Tim Condon, Zululand Wildlife eForum

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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