The illegal trade in rhino horn has claimed five more lives.

Four white rhinos and one critically endangered black rhinos have been murdered in Limpopo Province. The killers managed to remove the horns from three of the white rhinos, and the black rhino was missing both horns.

All of the rhinos were found on game farms. The four white rhinos were found on a game farm in Musina, and the black rhino was found in Tolwe, near Musina.

Eyewitness News reported that the rhinos had been dead for about a week.

Private game reserves and farms vulnerable

Although South Africa’s large national game reserves have taken steps to increase security measures and expand intelligence networks, small private game reserves and farms do not necessarily have these resources, leaving them vulnerable to attack by rhino horn syndicates.

Private reserves and game farms are advised to step up perimeter patrols, check for tracks, change patrol routines frequently – and refrain from discussing plans with outsiders. In addition, smaller operations are urged to take preventive measures by requesting assistance from police, local farmers, and security companies.

Continued use of rhino horn in Traditional Chinese Medicine

At the root of the rhino killing scourge is the continued use of illegal rhino horn in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Although science has thoroughly debunked rhino horn’s alleged efficacy as a remedy, the demand for rhino horn continues unabated in the consumer markets of China and Vietnam.

In South Africa, the escalating trade in illegal rhino horn is compounded by greed and corruption from unscrupulous members of the wildlife conservation community.

On the Vietnamese market, illegal rhino horn can fetch USD $40,000 per kilogram and in China, the price soars to $60,000 per kilogram. Average weights for black rhino horns are three kilograms, and five and a half for white rhino horns.

Killing spree continues

During 2010, 333 rhinos were slaughtered in South Africa, and 2011′s death toll is rising.

Earlier this week, our sources confirmed that a white rhino was killed in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve, on the western boundary of Kruger National Park. The rhino’s body was found on Sunday by game scouts; it appears the rhino was killed a week earlier.

Some of the killings have been noted here, such as last month’s tragedy in the Western Cape, where a rhino was darted and overdosed at Botlierskop Private Game Reserve.

Just a few days earlier, a rhino was murdered in the Willem Pretorius Game Reserve, near the town of Senekal, in South Africa’s Free State Province.

Also in January, a rhino was killed in KwaZulu-Natal. Prior to that, two rhinos were murdered in Kruger National Park, a pregnant rhino was slaughtered in the Hoedspruit area, and another near Musina. Still another was killed in the Eastern Cape, at Kariega Game Reserve near Kenton-on-Sea.

In addition, at least seven rhinos have been gunned down in Zimbabwe. Two rhinos have been killed in protected areas within India – one in Orang, and the other in Kaziranga National Park.

The year’s first tragedy occurred in Nepal.

Sources: Personal communication; “Five rhinos poached in Limpopo.” Eyewitness News. 26 February 2011

Image: Wikimedia Commons

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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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