Two rhino horn traders – believed to have links to a wildlife trading syndicate – were arrested in Kathmandu on Wednesday. The duo was reportedly apprehended after a scuffle between rhino horn buyers and sellers erupted at a hotel in Chabahil.

The rhino horn traders were identified as Deepak Thakuri (25) from Surkhet and Radheshyam Majhi (38) from Bara. They named Nirmala Shrestha as the actual kingpin in the rhino horn racket, and alleged they were “only” couriers.

If convicted, Thakuri and Majhi could face up to 15 years in jail.

Greater one-horned rhinos in Nepal

Approximately 435 greater one horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) call Nepal their home, occupying Chitwan National Park, Bardia National Park, and Shukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve.

Nepal’s rhinos are in constant danger of being killed for their horn, due to myths and superstitions about rhino horn’s so-called healing powers.

Rhino horn has been used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine, where it has been prescribed for a wide array of ailments, including fever, anxiety, boils – and even “devil possession”.

However, several scientific studies have confirmed that rhino horn actually contains no medicinal properties whatsoever.

Source: The Himalayan Times

Photo courtesy of Suman Bhattarai, Partnership for Rhino Conservation (PARC) Nepal

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We will not lower our voices until the world hears the truth: Rhino horn is NOT medicine.

Four rhino poachers were arrested Saturday as they were plotting to kill rhinos in Assam’s Orang National Park. Thanks to a tip, authorities raided a house in Bihudia village, which is located near the edge of the park.

On Sunday, two more poachers were arrested. Unfortunately, they had already obtained a rhino horn.

Four poachers arrested on Saturday

The poachers arrested on Saturday have been identified as Md Joynaluddin, aka Junu, from Morigaon district; Md Abbas Ali, from Sonitpur district; Lamkholen, from the Manja Bazaar area in Karbi Anglong; and Alen Khonsai, from Burah Bazar in Dimapur, Nagaland.

Divisional Forest Officer Sushil K. Daila said via The Telegraph that Joynaludden was responsible for several rhino killings in both Orang and Kaziranga National Parks.

The gang was plotting a rhino killing expedition when officials found them inside a residence.

We have recovered several items, including food and medicine and mosquito repellents from the group. They were getting ready to enter the park last night.

They were in a particular house, making plans to kill rhinos. They had hidden the rifle somewhere. Interrogation is on.

Mr. Daila added that the poachers had information about two rhinos in the Dhuni area of the park, and were planning to kill them.

Two more arrests on Sunday

Following Saturday’s success, two more poachers, identified as Nabib Ali and Majibur Rahman from Borsola village, were arrested.

According to media sources, the duo was apprehended in Assam’s Morigaon district, and a pistol was confiscated.

Sadly, the poachers were in possession of a rhino horn, which authorities suspect is from Orang National Park.

There is no word yet on whether or not the two incidents are related.

Rhino poaching gangs

Rhino poaching gangs operating in Orang and Kaziranga National Parks are usually from the notorious illegal wildlife trading hub of Dimapur, Nagaland. They are often from the Karbi Anglong area as well.

To learn more about these rhino poaching gangs, check out India’s Rhino Poaching Gangs: A Closer Look.

No medicinal value in rhino horn

Today, the consumer markets for illegal rhino horn are concentrated in China and Vietnam, where rhino horn is considered a key ingredient in traditional medicines.

However, the notion of rhino horn’s “healing properties” is nothing more than a persistent cultural myth. Rhino horn has been extensively analyzed and the truth is that is has no medicinal value whatsoever.

Watch Dr. Raj Amin of the Zoological Society of London explain that rhino horn has the same medicinal effect as chewing your own nails:

For additional public awareness videos and materials, visit the Campaigns page on the Saving Rhinos website.

Sources: The Telegraph; NDTV; India Blooms

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Recently, I had the exciting opportunity to be a guest on “The WildLife”, a radio talk show hosted by Dr. Laurel Neme. We discussed the illegal trade in rhino horn and the fact that because rhino horn has no real medicinal properties, this multimillion dollar illegal trade is built on a myth.

To listen to the podcast, click the green arrow below:

The radio spot was a chance to bring attention to Saving Rhinos’ efforts to bust the myths about rhino horn – which in turn would eliminate the market for rhino horn. I also stressed the importance of treating the illegal rhino horn trade as an organized crime issue, and shared my position on burning stockpiles of confiscated rhino horn as a statement to show the world that rhinos are more valuable alive than dead.

Dr. Laurel Neme is the author of Animal Investigators: How the World’s First Wildlife Forensics Lab is Solving Crimes and Saving Endangered Species. I enthusiastically recommend her book – check out the review here.

Learn more about Dr. Neme at CSI for Wildlife.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Undercover police have arrested two members of a wildlife smuggling operation near Kathmandu. The officers posed as buyers and confiscated one rhino horn and two bear gall bladders.

Both rhino horn and bear bile are prized ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine.

At the Metropolitan Police Sector Maharajgunj, Deputy Superintendent of Police Deepak Thapa said via eKantipur that the smugglers tried to sell the rhino horn for up to Rs. 3.2 million per kg and the bear gall-bladder for up to Rs. 25,000 per gram.

A preliminary investigation indicates that the rhino horn and gall bladders were destined for use in traditional medicines in China.

The arrested men have been identified as Mingmar Tamang (27) of Rasuwa and Kabod Gurung (18) of Mustang. Tamang is believed to be part of a wildlife poaching syndicate that kills rhinos and bears in wildlife sanctuaries in order to smuggle the horns and gall bladders to China.

Upon realizing the deal was a sting, the men tried to tell the officers that the animal parts were “fake”. However, the Department of Parks and Wildlife Conservation determined that the rhino horn and bear gall bladder were genuine.

The smugglers will be handed over to the Kathmandu District Forest Office.

Greater one-horned rhinos in Nepal

Approximately 435 greater one horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) call Nepal their home, occupying Chitwan National Park, Bardia National Park, and Shukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve.

Nepal’s rhinos are in constant danger of being killed for their horn, due to myths and superstitions about rhino horn’s so-called healing powers.

Rhino horn has been used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine, where it has been prescribed for a wide array of ailments, including fever, anxiety, boils – and even “devil possession”.

However, several scientific studies have confirmed that rhino horn actually contains no medicinal properties whatsoever.

Source: eKantipur

Photo courtesy of Shankar Chaudhary

Wonderful news: Nepal’s Chitwan National Park is enjoying a ‘baby boom’ of eight newborn rhinos!

The most recent baby – a male – was born just ten days ago to “Sainli”, a 15-year-old female rhino. Sainli is one of the rhinos fitted with a GPS collar, which park officials say has made it possible to monitor rhino births more closely.

Chitwan National Park’s Chief Conservation officer said via My Republica that Sainli and her new baby are both healthy.

According to National Nature Conservation Trust’s Naresh Subedi, two of the eight new baby rhinos are the offspring of females “Rosy” and “Poke”, and were born within the last 60 days.

Greater one-horned rhinos in Nepal

Nepal is home to approximately 435 greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis), which occupy Chitwan National Park, Bardia National Park, and Shukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve.

While the greater one-horned rhino population is steadily increasing, these rhinos remain under threat of poaching for their horns.

Although extensive scientific analysis has confirmed that rhino horn has no medicinal properties, myths and superstitions about rhino horn persist throughout China and Vietnam, where rhino horn is considered a key ingredient of traditional Chinese medicine.

You might also enjoy our fantastic photo gallery of greater one-horned rhinos in Nepal!

Source: My Republica

Image: istock.com

In a midnight gun battle that reportedly lasted half an hour, forest guards in Assam’s Orang National Park managed to shoot and kill two rhino poachers.

Forest officials acted on intelligence reports indicating that a four-member gang had entered the park to kill a rhino, according to Indian news sources.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sushil Kumar Daila said via India Blooms that all forest guards were alerted to the situation.

We moved our armed forest guards to all existing routes of the park and successed in searching the location, where the poachers had taken shelter. When the poachers tried to escape, we fired. Bullets were exchanged for half an hour.

Two of the four poachers managed to flee in the darkness. However, one 303 rifle, a 7.65 pistol, 10 rounds of 303 rifle ammunition, and three rounds of 9 mm pistol cartridges were confiscated.

Last month, an Orang forest guard was kidnapped and brutally murdered by a poaching gang.

Killing rhinos in India

India’s rhino poaching gangs consist of small groups of just three to five people who travel from Nagaland to Assam in order to kill greater one-horned rhinos in Kaziranga and Orang National Parks.

In Orang National Park, the gang members are usually Karbis and Nagas, and the “guides” are usually Bangladeshi immigrants who have settled in the surrounding area. Once the rhino is slaughtered, the horn is taken on foot to middlemen in Dimapur – a notorious wildlife trafficking hub.

From Dimapur, the rhino horn is smuggled to its final destination in east Asia, usually China.

Demand for rhino horn

The greatest threat to all species of rhino today is the use of rhino horn in traditional Chinese medicine. Demand for rhino horn “medicines” ensure that poaching gangs continue to stay in the business of killing rhinos for their horns.

Although scientific analysis has confirmed that rhino horn is of no medicinal value, cultural myths attributing “healing powers” to rhino horn still persist throughout China and Vietnam.

Traditional Chinese “remedies” containing rhino horn have been prescribed for centuries to treat a wide assortment of conditions, including fever, boils, anxiety – and even devil possession.

Sources: The Assam Tribune and India Blooms

Students from several universities in Nepal gathered last week to demand that the government amend the National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1973 in order to impose life sentences for the crime of rhino poaching.

Kumar Paudel, coordinator of the National Youth Alliance for Rhino Conservation (NYARC), said via The Himalayan Times that the current laws have not been an effective deterrent.

The National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act 1973 has provisioned a punishment of 5 to 15 years for rhino poachers. However, this provision is not enough to discourage the poachers. It’s time we amended the Act and awarded life sentence to the poachers.

Paudel’s organization presented a memorandum to chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Means Chairperson Shanta Chaudhary, calling for the government to subject rhino poachers to harsh punishment.

Chairperson Chaudhary responded by encouraging the students to continue their valuable work and urged them to continue advocating for endangered species conservation.

We will hold consultations with the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation and propose amendment to the existing law.

Strong action by law enforcement stops rhino poachers

Indeed, strong law enforcement action has proven to be effective in Nepal.

Take a look at Bardia National Park. Although rhino poachers claimed the lives of 10 rhinos from 2007 – 2008 (reducing the small population to just 21), there has not been a single poaching incident in Bardia National Park since the capture of an organized rhino poaching gang in May 2008 (pers. comm., July 2010).

Combining lifetime jail sentences, as advocated by NYARC, with a hard line approach by law enforcement could prove to be a very successful deterrent to would-be rhino poachers.

Rhino horn ‘worthless’ as a medicine

Rhino poaching in Nepal, India, and southern Africa has surged alarmingly in recent years, as demand for traditional Chinese medicine “remedies” containing rhino horn are in great demand by consumer markets in China and Vietnam.

Although extensive scientific analysis has proven that rhino horn is worthless as a medicine, cultural myths and superstitions (stemming from early beliefs that the rhinoceros was a unicorn) claim rhino horn is a cure-all for nearly everything from fever to phlegm to devil possession.

Source: The Himalayan Times

Photo: istock.com

Assam forest officials and a team from the Center for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) rescued a 45-day-old rhino calf from a trench and reunited her with her mother in Haldibari Reserve Forest .

Forest officials heard the distress calls of the mother rhino, and upon investigating, found that her tiny calf had fallen into a trench and could not climb out by herself. The mother and calf are presumed to have crossed National Highway 37 towards the Karbi Anglong hills to avoid flooded areas of Kaziranga National Park.

Veterinarian Dr. Anil Deka, who assisted with the rescue, said via The Assam Tribune that highway traffic was halted during the rescue operation.

The rhinos were perhaps grazing near Hathikuli TE, when the calf fell into the trench. We could hear the calls of the mother rhino which was hiding in the nearby woodlands and was clearly agitated. As the NH was barely 100 metres from the hiding place of the mother, the Forest Department officials stopped traffic during the operation to prevent alarming the rhinos.

The reunion of mother and calf marked an exciting achievement by the CWRC. Currently, three orphan rhino calves and two subadult rhinos whose mothers could not be found are being hand raised at the Center.

After releasing the calf near the mother’s hiding place, the reunion was confirmed when both rhinos could be heard grunting to each other.

Source: The Assam Tribune

Photo: istock.com

Our wonderful friend Suman Bhattarai of Partnership for Rhino Conservation (PARC/Nepal) has provided us with these fantastic photos of greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) in Chitwan National Park. Enjoy!