The International Rhino Foundation has set an ambitious target of raising $10,000 on “Cinco de Rhino” — May 5^th — and you can help make it happen!

On May 5^th (or anytime!), set aside a moment to make a donation to International Rhino Foundation — or go all out and host a Cinco de Rhino party! (Check out what the International Rhino Keeper Association and San Diego Zoo Safari Park are doing for Cinco de Rhino!)

Hosting a Cinco de Rhino celebration is a fun way to raise money for rhinos, and IRF has posted a party guide with ideas and recipes on their website.

For your Cinco de Rhino party, you can set a fundraising goal and ask your friends to donate. You can send your party proceeds to IRF via their online donation form (or mail a check).

Every dollar makes a difference!

• $25 will provide four days of food and veterinary care for an orphaned baby rhino in Zimbabwe.
• $50 will employ an Indian rhino monitor for 2 weeks on anti-poaching and monitoring patrols.
• $100 will provide 1 week of food and veterinary care for a Sumatran rhino at the Sumatran rhino sanctuary.
• $500 will purchase a high-quality GPS unit for rangers in South Africa to help track rhinos and help fight poachers.

To learn more about the amazing work of the International Rhino Foundation, visit their website.

“Cinco de Rhino” image #1: Saving Rhinos. Additional materials supplied by International Rhino Foundation.

Rhishja Cota-Larson

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

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See Rhino Horn is Not Medicine for more information.

South Africa’s rhino death toll has risen to at least 199 since the start of 2012, according to the most recent statement made by the country’s Department of Environmental Affairs.

It was noted that 119 rhinos were massacred in Kruger National Park, and the total for Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and KwaZulu-Natal provinces together was 73.

The DEA also said that 122 people have been arrested this year for rhino-related crimes, “of which 108 were poachers, 10 receivers/couriers and four couriers/buyers”.

To report tip-offs, the Department asks South Africans to call 0800 205 005.

Faster rate of killing than last year

In 2011, the number of rhinos killed did not reach 200 until July 4^th.

With 199 rhinos murdered during these first four months of 2012, the body count could unfortunately reach 600 by the end of the year, if this pace continues.

Rhishja Cota-Larson

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

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook

See Rhino Horn is Not Medicine for more information.

Rhinos, lions, and other imperiled wildlife are being exported from South Africa to a Bangladeshi zoo with a dark and suspicious history.

After purchasing at least 19 wild animals from a “safari park” in South Africa, government-run Dhaka Zoo apparently received its first shipment last week – pairs of white rhinos, white lions, striped hyenas, and a spotted hyena.

The New Age reports the new captives are among some 270 animals (many of them threatened or endangered) that the zoo recently bought from other countries to add to their collection.

However, Dhaka Zoo’s past is riddled with corruption, scandals, and an alarming number of concerning and even suspicious deaths – including those of many wild animals imported from South Africa.

As the circumstances at the facility have even been described as “an insult to the concept of a modern zoo”, one wonders why anyone would consider selling an animal to the establishment.

It is unclear from whom they purchased the rhinos and other animals, but the zoo appears to have bought wild animals from the private sector of South Africa’s game industry in the past.

One Indian rhino dead, another dying

Dhaka Zoo received a pair of six month-old Indian rhinos (also called Greater one-horned rhinos) as a gift from the King of Nepal in 1992.

The male of the duo died in 2004, reportedly from self-inflicted injuries sustained in a violent episode they say stemmed from an unsuccessful attempt to mate with the female.

In a scientific report published in Zoo Print Magazine two years later, researchers suggested that the bull’s injuries had not been properly care for.

Larger zoo animals are really difficult to manage for treatment (Acharjyo, 1999) and even more difficult with inadequate facilities.

The researchers also explained that the rhinos’ enclosure was not suitable for the animals to be kept in.

The clay soil is not comfortable and there is no gradual sloping which is a very major problem for this species. There is no jungle or enough area to maintain privacy from the visitors the whole day.

Indian rhinos are known to live for 35-40 years and even the Dhaka Zoo website says this species lives for as long as 47 years in captivity, meaning the female currently in their possession would be far from “old” at her current age of 20 years.

But that didn’t stop the zoo’s curator from claiming, in a 2009 article from The Daily Star, that the rhino was expected to die soon from “old age complications” and (along with several other animals) was already in “critical condition”.

It was later confirmed that she was suffering from pyometra, an extremely painful uterine infection that requires surgery — one that the zoo was apparently unable or unwilling to provide.

Amazingly, photos taken a month ago prove the pachyderm was still alive — although she appeared quite thin and her overall condition seemed concerning. (A disturbing photo can be seen here.)

South African giraffe scandal

In June 2008, Dhaka Zoo imported five giraffes (and 22 other wild animals) from South Africa – and a scandal was born.

Instantly the star attraction, The Daily Star reported that the zoo had not had any giraffes since 1998.

In July 2009, the zoo apparently told the publication that the giraffes all had Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) – a potentially fatal virus that affects even-toed ungulates, which the curator claimed had probably spread from a “slum” area that borders the zoo.

He added that other animals in their establishment were also infected.

Two months later, three of the giraffes died within a month’s time.

• September 7, 2009: The Daily Star reported that a giraffe less than three years old had died of dehydration, after refusing food and water for a week.
• September 30, 2009: The zoo told BdNews24.com that a three year old giraffe died suddenly, despite being in “good condition” up until that point. A **graphic** and disturbing photo (seen here) of the dead animal seems quite unnatural and certainly seems to warrant an explanation.
• October 4, 2009: A three and a half year old giraffe died after falling ill a few days before, according to BdNews24.com.

After the third death, the zoo curator admitted that, not only is the climate in Bangladesh unsuitable for giraffes, but that the zoo also lacked adequate facilities and equipment to care for them.

Mounting controversy over the 2008 purchase of the giraffes in South Africa and their subsequent deaths prompted the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries to investigate the issues in 2010.

BdNews24.com said evidence of corruption and misappropriations of funds in the transaction were discovered.

The probe body also found evidence of corruption and misappropriation of funds in the purchase of the five giraffes, as officials falsely represented the animals as younger and more costly, which incurred a loss of nearly Tk 5 crore [around US $611,277] for Dhaka Zoo.

The investigation committee claimed that despite being specifically instructed to purchase five giraffes between the ages of 18 and 24 months, their procurers had instead bought five aged five and a half to six years old and failed to submit the required documentation on the animals’ ages and health statuses.

This, the Ministry said, was the reason the three giraffes had died – from “old age complications”.

However, giraffes live an average of 25 years and even the Dhaka Zoo website says they live up 26-30 years of age in captivity, which means none of the animals they bought in South Africa could have truly been considered “old”.

In July 2010, BdNews24.com reported that a fourth giraffe was sick, and yet the zoo has already purchased more giraffes in South Africa and plans to fly them in soon.

(It’s worth nothing that this is not the only case of corruption allegations and financial discrepancies. BdNews24.com reported on a scandal involving funding allotted for the purchase of food for the animals in 2010.)

Animals from South Africa dead within one year of arrival

Dhaka Zoo imported 27 animals (including the five giraffes) from South Africa in June 2008, according to The Daily Star.

The publication later reported that twelve of the animals (44% of all imported) from South Africa died within a year.

In addition to the three giraffes, there were also:

• Two kudu – one of which died in quarantine within 15 days of its arrival at the zoo and the South African supplier of the animal, “Hoor and Company”, was forced to repay the amount it was purchased for.
• Two kangaroo, two oryx, and an impala that all died within three months of landing at their new home. A wildebeest died less than a year later.
• A mountain zebra that died (fourth months after arriving) from a gangrenous leg injury it apparently sustained while being transported from South Africa.

The zoo curator explained to The Daily Star that infection was a leading cause for many of the untimely deaths.

“Although timid in nature they reacted violently in their cages in the beginning and sustained injuries. Most of these animals died of infection in their hind legs while a few of them developed a type of infection in the horn,” he added.

Somehow, an investigation into the wave of deaths did not find any negligence.

Keepers killed tigers to sell skins

In 1996, four tigers died over a three-day period at Dhaka Zoo and it was later determined that the felines had been intentionally poisoned to death by their keepers.

The Daily Star reported that the keepers had planned to procure the animals’ valuable skins, probably for sale on the black market.

Of 14 zoo staff arrested for the crime, Dawn said nine were acquitted nine years later and five were fined and sentenced to fourteen years in prison.

Highly sought after body parts of deceased captive animals – especially tigers and lions – have been known to enter the trade from the back doors of unscrupulous zoos, safari parks, and tiger farms throughout Asia.

A plethora of big cat deaths

Numerous tigers and lions have died at Dhaka Zoo under alarming and sometimes suspicious circumstances over the years.

Apparently, all of the lions and tigers at the zoo are hybrids of multiple different subspecies – a fact that seems to have been withheld from the media.

In 1999, BBC News reported that four tigers had died from trypanosomiasis (a disease caused by blood parasites) over a four week period, while a fourth remained quite ill.

At least four tigers and one lion died over the next five years.

• 2000: A tiger died of “acute renal failure and shock”.
• 2001: News.ch reported that the zoo chief had been fired after it was determined that a lion’s death had been caused by being fed excessive amounts of fat in its diet. (The same year, the zoo announced plans to begin breeding tiger-lion hybrids. A disturbing and **graphic** photo, seen here, shows the horrifying condition of one of the zoo’s lions at the time.)
• 2003: A tiger died from a “severe cold” and another from an “inbreeding effect”.
• 2004: While it reported in Zoo Print Magazine that a 16 year old tiger had died from “shock (senility)”, the zoo appears to have told The Daily Star that it died of liver cirrhosis.

Another two tigers died in 2009 (one is said to have died from “old age complications”), as did a lion that apparently hemorrhaged to death after suffering from paralysis for at least a year.

Inbreeding in tigers and lions

Over the next few years, Dhaka Zoo’s tiger and lion populations multiplied to overwhelming levels – and so did inbreeding amongst the animals.

In fact, the business considered castrating the male felines to control the problem in 2005, but later opted for non-permanent measures in case they decided to breed the animals again in the future.

In 2004, a report in Zoo Print Magazine explained that Dhaka Zoo only had the resources to sustain a maximum of eight lions and nine tigers.

However, the zoo has consistently had far more than that for over a decade.

Despite sending seven tigers and two lions to other zoos in 2004, AFP reported in 2005 that 36 tigers and lions were crammed into enclosures that were meant to hold no more than 16 of the felines.

Today, it purportedly holds 10 tigers (down from 18 in 1999) and thirteen lions (down from 22 in 2007) — including the two new white lions from South Africa.

BdNews24.com reported that the inbreeding had caused physical abnormalities in the big cats and other animals at the zoo – including a crippled lion and a tiger with painful spine curvature.

Researchers reported other oberservations resultant from inbreeding in a 2006 Zoo Print Magazine article.

Due to inbreeding effects, weak Kittens with various nervous syndromes, developmental anomalies occur and many unnatural behaviours are observed.

A 2007 study in the Bangladesh Journal of Microbiology suggests that the inbreeding problem could’ve been prevented fairly easily.

Here in the Dhaka Zoo, the inbreeding effect is a serious problem by not having any breeding policy or road map.

Unusually high numbers of reckless deaths

Dhaka Zoo has a long and dark history when it comes to deaths stemming from unsanitary conditions, negligence, and a general lack of proper equipment and expertise.

• BBC News reported that over 250 animals had died at the zoo over a six month period in 1999.
• The 2007 study in the Bangladesh Journal of Microbiology said that a total of 144 had died between February 2002 and September 2006.
• News Today reported last year that 80 animals died at the zoo in 2009 and 50 in 2010.

There was little media coverage of negative events and accounts of death at the zoo in 2011.

Infectious disease disaster waiting to happen?

The Dhaka Zoo curator recently told The New Age that their policy requires imported animals to remain in quarantine for a period of 21 days.

A 2006 report in Zoo Print Magazine explains that the zoo’s quarantine block is situated in very close proximity to a commercial poultry farm that abuts the zoo.

Obviously, this raises grave concerns over the risk of diseases spreading from the farm animals to zoo animals and even potentially to the three million human visitors that patronize the zoo each year on average.

In fact, in 2008, an avian influenza (bird flu) outbreak at the neighboring poultry farm resulted in the culling of 19,000 chickens.

A Daily Star article reported that a rhea died suddenly a few days later and showed signs of bird flu. (IRIN News also reported that both an emu and a rhea had died.)

The zoo claimed the exotic bird had died of enteritis (a cold-like disease), but felt it necessary to put the zoo on high alert for bird flu – which included spraying disinfectants throughout the zoo grounds and disinfecting all bird cages twice per day.

It appears the zoo lacked a formal plan of action for dealing with urgent cases of infectious diseases at the zoo (e.g. avian influenza, tuberculosis, FMD, etc.) prior to their actual occurrences.

Tuberculosis outbreak

Failure to develop a long-recommended pathology lab (to diagnose diseases and assess the health of the animals) at the zoo likely contributed to another ticking time bomb situation.

After tuberculosis killed a lion in 2005, BdNews24.com revealed an extremely concerning situation unfolding at the zoo.

Sources said though the authorities fear that the disease has affected almost 90 percent animals at the zoo, many of those are yet to go through blood test.

The article also claimed even staff had been infected.

A 2007 study published in the Bangladesh Journal of Microbiology reported that tuberculosis was responsible for 35 (24%) of the 144 deaths that occurred at Dhaka Zoo between February 2002 and September 2006. (It’s worth nothing that the report also found that an additional 30 of the deaths could only have been caused by “physical/traumatic injurious death by any objects or by predators”.)

Indeed, the study found that tuberculosis and Coccidioides immitis (a fungus native to the western hemisphere) were the “most common causes of death” of animals at the Dhaka Zoo.

Alarmingly, a 2005 Zoo Print Magazine article explained that an adult lion and five cubs were living in the quarantine block during this time because there were not enough cages to house them in.

Zoo’s inabilities threaten animals’ health and welfare

The aforementioned 2007 report suggested that the spread of infectious diseases at the zoo was being encouraged by zoo’s inabilities, with the researchers noting:

• The lack of a proper veterinary unit and adequate laboratory facilities
• Methods used to clean enclosures were not scientific and feeding areas were not hygienic
• Water houses were outdated, poorly constructed, not cleaned regularly, and promoted algal growth – a recipe for “repeated contamination”

All of these things have been referenced as being serious concerns for the zoo multiple times over the years.

Earlier this year, Professor Anwarul Islam (CEO of the Wildlife Trust) was quoted by TheIndependentBd.com in discussing the abysmal conditions in which the animals live at Dhaka Zoo.

“The problem with such animals is that the zoo authorities do not know what to do with them. Obviously, hostile condition and poor supply of food make it almost impossible for the animals to survive. The animals are brought from abroad at a huge cost, only to be pushed to death through utter neglect. The overall situation prevailing here is an insult to the concept of a modern zoo”, Prof Anwarul Islam, chief executive of the Wildlife Trust of the government said.

Professor Islam also said that the establishment did not have any zoologists on staff.

According to BdNews24.com, the zoo only had one veterinarian on staff in 2009, but had requested funding to bring on two more.

Despite multiple members of the zoo staff being suspended, fired, and replaced numerous times over the years, the zoo’s conditions appear to remain the same.

”Overburdened” with animals

In 2009, when the zoo apparently had 2,160 animals, an official told The Daily Star that they were “overburdened” with animals and were in need of more space.

“Right now we are overburdened with some animals as we have 17 pythons, 17 lions, 14 tigers and nine hippopotamus and many deer. We need lots of space if we want to ensure proper management of these animals,” he said.

The New Age claims the establishment has some 1,974 creatures today, but plans to add 270 more to its collection within the next three to four months.

In 2010, the zoo told The Daily Star that they had submitted a proposal to purchase more animals, despite admittedly being unable to care for the animals.

“We need more space to take good care of the animals. We are doing our best within this limited space and budget,” said Shahid Ulla claiming that all the staff of the zoo work hard all day long.

Last year, a zoo spokesperson admitted to the zoo’s ongoing inadequacy for accommodating its animals in a Priyo News article.

‘The current environment at the zoo is unfriendly for the animals because of sound pollution, visitor’s aggressive behaviour to the animals and also the improper health care management,’ he added.

At a total of 2,244 animals (if all of the 270 new ones survive), the zoo will continue to exceed its apparent threshold, as it appears that housing has not yet been expanded nor improved – another thing experts have urgently recommended multiple times over the years.

’New’ zoo modernization project not new

The zoo reports the new animals being procured for their collection currently are part of a new ‘zoo modernization project’ – a plan that was first proposed eight years ago, according to The Daily Star.

The details haven’t changed much since 2004 and include updating caging systems, importing more animals, constructing a railroad for a train to circle the perimeter of the park, erecting jumbotron screens at entrances for guests to watch what is happening inside the facility, and introducing boat rides to allow visitors to view caged animals from the zoo lake.

Although experts have long recommended that the zoo immediately improve the living conditions for their captive animals, establish a desperately needed pathology lab, and drastically improve veterinary care, it seems the zoo’s main priority is to first replace their diminished collection — apparently starting with the wildlife they recently purchased from South Africa.

Additional sources:
Ahasan, S.A. and A.Z. Rahman, “Mortality in Dhaka Zoo due to Microbial Agents,” Bangladesh Journal of Microbiology 24(2007): 154-156.

“Dhaka Zoo Activities,” Zoo Print Magazine XIX (2004): 5-6.

Ferdous Ara, “Dhaka Zoo to have 270 new animals,” The New Age, April 20, 2012, Accessed April 23, 2012.

Malakar, B., Hasan, M. K., et al., “The Zoo as Ecotourism Attraction­ Visitor Reactions and Perceptions: The Case of Dhaka Zoo, Bangladesh”, Dhaka University Journal of Business Studies 28(December 2007).

Pinaki Roy, “Lion dies in Dhaka Zoo,” The Daily Star, September 11, 2009, accessed April 26, 2012.

Rahman, Z.A. and S.A. Ahasan, “Status of Bengal Tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) in Dhaka Zoo,” Zoo Print Magazine XXI (2006): 13-14.

Raihan Sabuktagin, “Dhaka Zoo: Fund constraint stalls breeding program,” The Daily Star, December 27, 2006, accessed April 26, 2012.

S.A. Ahasan, “Bangladesh: Seminar and Animal Donation Ceremony Held in Dhaka Zoo,” Zoo Print Magazine XIX(2004): 8.

“South Asian Zoo News,” Zoo Print Magazine XX(2009): 22.

“Zoo News from South Asia,” Zoo Print Magazine XXII(2007): 21-22.

Sarah Pappin

I am a writer for Saving Rhinos, as well as for her sister blog, Project Pangolin. You may know me from my previous role at Bush Warriors. I am a biologist-turned-writer, with a BSc in wildlife science from Oregon State University. When I'm not blogging, I enjoy loud music, creating art, hula hooping, and being outdoors.

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See Rhino Horn is Not Medicine for more information.

Groenewald’s rhino permits raise more questions than answers.

International outrage was sparked last year when the public learned that permits to hunt, convey, import, and export white rhino had continued to be issued to alleged crime syndicate kingpin, Dawie Groenewald, after his arrest for suspected rhino crimes almost a year earlier.

Groenewald, his wife, and nine other individuals were arrested in late September 2010 and face 1,872 charges that include racketeering, illegal rhino hunting, permit violations, illegal trade in rhino horn, money laundering, and violating the Biodiversity Act and the Act on the Prevention of Organised Crime.

Information made available to the public illustrates some quite concerning trends in his permit activity, as well as what appears to be some significant discrepancies in the number of permits issued to him.

Judge formally questions permit-issuing body

In July 2011, Africa Geographic magazine posted on their Facebook page a document containing questions asked of the South African Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism by the Honourable D. van der Walt.

The inquisition revolved around Groenewald’s permit activity over the nearly two and a half years prior and included an inventory of all permits to hunt, convey, import, and export wildlife that were issued to the Limpopo-based game farmer by the Department.

According to the document, a total of 102 permits were issued to the suspected criminal between 1 January, 2008 and 11 March, 2011 – including 55 pertaining specifically to white rhinos.

A single permit may enable an activity to be carried out for more than one animal belonging to a particular species.

Those consigned to Groenewald between January 2008 and March 2011 appear to pertain to a total of 84 white rhinos.

More rhino permits issued after arrest than before

According to the information provided by the Department, more permits were issued to Groenewald for white rhino trade and hunting activities in the six months after his arrest than the total number issued in the nearly two years leading up to it.

Between 2008 and September 2010, it appears only eleven white rhino permits were issued to him – including two in both 2008 and 2009 and seven in 2010.

In the six months following the Out of Africa Adventurous Safaris owner’s bailed release, he was allotted a total of 44 white rhino permits – all of them within the first three months of 2011.

The reason for the significant increase in the number of permits issued to Groenewald after his arrest is unclear.

However, it is possible that his permit activity was more closely monitored due to the criminal allegations made against him.

Dramatic increase in permits to convey and hunt white rhinos

The document also indicates that, although the game farmer had not received any permits to hunt white rhino between 2008 and 2009, he was given seven such permits in 2010 (in the months preceding his arrest).

That number rose sharply to a shocking total of 18 for just the first three months of 2011.

A similar trend was observed with respect to permits for conveying white rhinos.

Only a single such permit was allotted to him in each of 2008 and 2009, followed by zero in 2010 and a whopping 18 in 2011.

Between 2008 and 2010, he was apparently not issued any permits to export rhinos – but he was granted at least two in 2011.

Interestingly, Groenewald was consigned only a single permit to import white rhinos in both 2008 and 2009, but did not receive any others in 2010 nor 2011.

Permits missing from Department’s 2008-2011 inventory

A document* published by the Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG) details at least some white rhino transactions between 2007 and 2010.

These records suggest that some permits may not have been recorded in the information provided by the Department last year.

The PMG file indicates that five rhinos were delivered to Dawie Groenewald in 2010; however, the only permits the Department claims to have issued to him that year were seven permits to hunt white rhino – not import them.

The transaction records also demonstrate the game farmer’s apparent purchase of at least 43 white rhinos in 2009 through a total of three transactions – one of the purchases was made by his alleged veterinary accomplice, Dr. Karel Toet.

Yet the Department’s information shows that only two white rhino permits were consigned to Groenewald that year: one for conveying a total of eight animals and another to import four.

Additionally, the safari operator was said to have purchased 36 rhinos from South Africa National Parks (SANParks) between June and July 2009, but the only two permits he received that year account for a total of just twelve rhinos.

One of the permits was granted in March for conveying eight of the pachyderms, while the other (for importing four of the animals) was issued in May.

Both required the specified activities to be completed within one month’s time (from the date of issuance).

While his auction purchase of four white rhinos seems to be reflected in the Department’s data by the one import permit, it would seem that Groenewald may have imported 39 rhinos without permits.

Of course, it is also possible that there may have simply been some sort of clerical error in the Department’s record-keeping.

Finally, the PMG document illustrates that the suspect obtained eleven white rhino in 2008 via three separate purchases – including six from the owner of the world’s largest private rhino collection, Mpumalanga’s John Hume.

However, the Department recorded only two permits being issued to Groenewald that year – one to transport a single rhino and the other to import an unidentified number of rhinos.

Permits for other animals

In addition to rhino permits allotted to the owner of the ‘Pragtig’ game farm between 2008 and April 2011, he was also granted 47 others to hunt, convey, import, or export a variety of wildlife.

These include:

• 19 for baboons
• 5 for tsessebe
• 3 each for civets, African wild cats, and crocodiles
• 2 each for hornbills, leopards, roan antelope, sable antelope, servals, and Sharpe’s grysbok
• 1 for a ‘buck’ and 1 for a vervet monkey

Some permits were issued for more than one animal at a time (e.g. one permit to convey 20 crocodiles) and others did not specify the number covered by the permit, but most were for a single individual.

Note: Of the two authorizing Groenewald to conduct leopards hunts (one granted in 2009 and the other in 2010), neither seem to account for the illegally hunted and exported leopard that led to his April 2010 felony conviction in the US.

SANParks halts permits to Groenewald

In July 2011, Times Live reported that “at least 50 white rhino sold by SA National Parks in the past four years have ended up in the hands of alleged rhino horn smuggling kingpin Dawie Groenewald.”

South Africa National Parks (SANParks) spokeswoman, Wanda Mkutshulwa, told the newspaper that most had been sold to the man before his arrest.

She said the 58 white rhino that Groenewald bought were sold to him “before any criminal charges were placed against him” and that the whole industry should not “be tarnished by the actions of a few rogue individuals”.

Another Times Lives article said that recent discoveries regarding suspicious transactions led SANParks to deciding not to issue anymore permits to the suspect.

“When delivery was supposed to happen, we were informed that these rhinos were not going to the farm that we approved . they were actually going to Groenewald,” said Mkutshulwa.

“We decided to halt everything. Groenewald had been rejected by SANParks as a buyer because he doesn’t meet the criteria to buy rhinos from us.”

The ‘Groenewald Gang’

The eleven individuals who comprise the now notorious ‘Groenewald Gang’ include veterinarians and their assistants, professional hunters, a helicopter pilot, and a farm worker.

The group is believed to have killed hundreds of rhinos for their medicinally useless horns and shortly after their September 2010 arrests, a mass grave containing at least 20 mutilated rhino carcasses was unearthed at the Groenewalds’ ‘Pragtig’ farm property.

A 637 page indictment detailing their charges and a witness list 185 names long were presented to the court in September 2011.

Since their arrests and bailed releases, Dawie Groenewald’s record-breaking R1 million bail (US $126,603) has been reduced by a shocking 90%, passports were returned to two of the professional hunters so that they may travel to hunting expos in the US, all passports were later returned to the eleven so that they could vote, and much like their alleged leader, the veterinarians appear to have returned to ‘business as usual’.

After their trial being postponed three times over the past year and a half, the ‘Groenewald Gang’ is expected to appear in court for the fourth time on 24 April.

Image: ©Bhatti Ijaz (altered by author)

Sarah Pappin

I am a writer for Saving Rhinos, as well as for her sister blog, Project Pangolin. You may know me from my previous role at Bush Warriors. I am a biologist-turned-writer, with a BSc in wildlife science from Oregon State University. When I'm not blogging, I enjoy loud music, creating art, hula hooping, and being outdoors.

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See Rhino Horn is Not Medicine for more information.

Tragedies in Kenya.

Security has been increased in Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and Solio Ranch, following the recent discovery of two separate rhino killing incidents.

Kenya Wildlife Service reports that the body of a pregnant white rhino was found by Lewa rangers; her horns were missing.

A male black rhino was also slain for his horns at Solio Ranch.

It is believed that the murderers cut the sanctuary’s electric fence. Although authorities heard gunshots, the culprits escaped.

Two cartridges from a .303 rifle were found.

Finally, skulls and bones from three rhinos were discovered in Lake Nakuru National Park.

The six-month-old remains were found in a “previously inaccessible” area; one of the bodies was a black rhino, and the other two were white rhinos.

Staff Writer

Saving Rhinos website: savingrhinos.org | Blog: Rhino Horn is NOT Medicine | Web series and podcast: Behind the Schemes | World Rhino Day: worldrhinoday.org |

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A sigh of relief.

A quick follow up to the shocking news that the KAZA partner states planned to “sell rhino horn powder in clinics and pharmacies”, as reported earlier this week in South Africa: Reliable sources close to the situation have indicated that this information is a rumor and no such agreement was made.

The Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, or KAZA TFCA, is potentially the world’s largest conservation area, spanning five southern African countries; Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, centred around the Caprivi-Chobe-Victoria Falls area.

To learn more about the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, visit the KAZA-TFCA website.

Image © iStockphoto.com

Rhishja Cota-Larson

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

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See Rhino Horn is Not Medicine for more information.

Update 27 March 2012: No sale of rhino horn powder in Southern Africa.

An unsettling article in the Times Live reports that the five Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) partners — Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and Angola — have “agreed to the sale of rhino horn powder in clinics and pharmacies”.

Zimbabwe’s Minister of Environment and Tourism, Francis Nhema, was quoted by the South African news site as saying, “We agreed that we will demystify the rhino issue by selling horn powder in clinics as well as pharmacies in all the Kaza member states.”

It’s illegal

Selling rhino horn powder in clinics and pharmacies? It’s illegal.

The sale of rhino horn products was banned internationally by CITES in 1976, and China (“officially”) removed rhino horn from the Chinese medicine pharmacopeia in 1993.

All of the partner states, except Angola, are CITES member countries.

The main rhino horn consumer countries, currently Vietnam (1994) and China (1981), are also signatories.

However, it is important to note that CITES itself is an international agreement between governments: Member countries are responsible for enforcing the Convention at the national level.

(Read the text of the Convention here.)

No mention of ‘rhino horn powder’

The KAZA-TFCA website notes that the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area was “officially launched” on March 15^the, 2012, at an event in Katima Mulilo, Namibia.

The KAZA Ministers in their strategic policy direction have selected tourism as the major driver of sustainable economic development for the TFCA.

The alleged plan to “sell rhino horn powder” was not mentioned.

If indeed there is no truth to this scheme, here’s to hoping the KAZA partners put a quick end to the speculation.

Image via Wikimedia Commons

Rhishja Cota-Larson

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

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See Rhino Horn is Not Medicine for more information.

In July 2010, we began our article series about China’s rhino horn scheme. This is the latest development.

Environmental activists in China are taking a closer look at the Longhui Pharmaceutical Company’s rhino horn farm, and here are a few of their recent findings.

According to Jing Zhang, the founder of China’s Student Alliance for Animal Rights, most of the rhinos have been moved from Sanya to another farm in Yunnan Province.

Ten rhinos were identified at the Sanya location — one male and nine females. The rhinos were observed outside with a large mud wallow.

Jing’s team interviewed residents living near the Sanya location, who claimed that the “company was unsuccessful at breeding rhinos”.

While specific health issues could not be confirmed, it is suspected that some of the rhinos have died.

The Student Alliance for Animal Rights (SAFAR) has partnered with Green Beagle, a Chinese environmental NGO, to investigate the rhino horn scheme at ground zero.

SAFAR is opposed to the rhino farm. We at Saving Rhinos are assisting SAFAR with their upcoming awareness campaign about the rhino farm, rhinos, and the rhino horn trade.

Timeline and background

For the timeline and background on this disturbing situation, see:

• “Revealed: China’s ‘Rhino Horn Cancer Treatment’ Scheme.” Rhino Horn is Not Medicine. 26 January 2012.
• ““Suspicions Confirmed: China Investing Millions in Rhino Horn Scheme.” Rhino Horn is Not Medicine. 02 June 2011.
• “In Plain Sight: China’s Rhino Horn Scheme.” Rhino Horn is Not Medicine. 12 June 2011.
• “Reports of More Rhinos Arriving in China from South Africa.” Rhino Horn is Not Medicine. 19 December 2010.
• “Chinese Researchers Hope to Turn Rhino Horn Cultivation into Thriving Enterprise While Avoiding CITES Scrutiny.” Rhino Horn is Not Medicine. 17 November 2010.
• “Concern Grows Over Possible Links Between Rhino Horn Demand and China’s State-Funded TCM Research.” Rhino Horn is Not Medicine. 05 October 2010.
• “Chinese News Reports Arrival of 12 Rhinos From South Africa.” Rhino Horn is Not Medicine. 03 August 2010.
• “Revealed: Location of China’s Rhino Farm and ‘Horn Harvesting’ Experiments.” Rhino Horn is Not Medicine. 20 July 2010.

About SAFAR

Student Alliance for Animal Rights is dedicated to promoting animal rights on various campuses and the local communities through student engagement. On college campuses, Student Alliance for Animal Rights intends to let students realize the major conservation and animal cruelty issues in United States, China, Costa Rica and other countries, and encourage them to educate the rest of the people in the community, through petitions, presentations, seminars, and other activities held on and off college campuses.

Learn more here.

Source: Pers. comm. Jing Zhang (Feb. – March 2012).

Image © iStockphoto.com

Rhishja Cota-Larson

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

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook

See Rhino Horn is Not Medicine for more information.

Another member of South Africa’s game industry has been found guilty of rhino horn crimes.

Limpopo game farmer Jacques Els has reportedly been found guilty of illegally possessing a large number of rhino horns. Meanwhile, his defense team is lodging an appeal.

According to News24, Magistrate Pat Cloete has ordered Jacques Els (of the Thabazimbi Game Reserve) to pay a fine of R1 million (just over US $130,180) and to serve eight years in prison – a reduced term, as two years were apparently suspended – for illegally possessing 30 horns.

Els’s legal team immediately applied for bail, which was paid on Tuesday afternoon.

The State also asked the court for the national prosecuting authority’s asset forfeiture unit to be given permission to seize Els’s property.

He will appear in court again on July 2.

The bail amount was said to be R300 000 (nearly US $39,055), up quite a bit from the R30 000 (US $3,905) bail he was initially released on.

Another case of game industry insiders’ networked attempts to sell rhino horns

Els was first arrested for attempting to sell at least 30 rhino horns in late 2010 and the News 24 report says he bought them for R760 000 (US $98,939) from Tom Fourie, a farm manager at Maremani Game Reserve.

Tragically, Mr. Fourie committed suicide in November 2010, just after his trial had been postponed until months later.

An article published in Zoutpansberger last July suggests that at least some of the horns in question had been removed from fifteen rhinos at Maremani by wildlife veterinarian, Dr. Andre Charles Uys.

Uys was arrested in January 2011 on allegations that he had performed the procedures without the permits legally required to do so.

The vet claims he did, in fact, have the appropriate permits and according to Zoutpansberger, the case was later dismissed when he became a state witness in the trial against Els.

Cleared of his charges, Uys continues to work in the conservation field and wrote a blog article in August 2011, in which he proposed legalizing the rhino horn trade.

A lesser punishment because no rhinos killed?

Attorney Andre Weideman claims via News24 that Els’s crime did not involve slaying the animals in order to acquire the horns, as they had instead been sedated.

However, wildlife trade experts, such as the Environmental Investigation Agency, point out that any rhino horns entering the black market will only fuel the trade.

Image ©Pam Krzyza, Adapted by author

Sarah Pappin

I am a writer for Saving Rhinos, as well as for her sister blog, Project Pangolin. You may know me from my previous role at Bush Warriors. I am a biologist-turned-writer, with a BSc in wildlife science from Oregon State University. When I'm not blogging, I enjoy loud music, creating art, hula hooping, and being outdoors.

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See Rhino Horn is Not Medicine for more information.

Syndicated via Planetsave.

Rhishja Cota-Larson

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

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook

See Rhino Horn is Not Medicine for more information.