Last year I joined a club on campus that I told myself for two previous years that I would. Finally I had joined and I am very glad I did. One of the first meeting that I attended a guest speaker would be talking after the meeting. This man was a professor from South Africa and his presentation was two-fold: he wanted to promote the ability for students to go down there and have a veterinary experience as well as discuss some of the issues facing wildlife in South Africa. That second part is what fascinated me the most; don't get me wrong I would have loved to go work with veterinarians and learn about exotic animals in South Africa, but that trip was expensive. I enjoyed the professor talking about some of the disease that affect hoofstock in Africa. A part of his talk that he did not spend a lot of time on, was my favorite. He mentioned that many in South Africa were pushing to legalize the trade of rhino horns. At first this shocked me but as I continued to listen I began to see the point they were making.
Rhinos are one of the most threatened and poached species in the world. There are only 20,000 white rhinos and only 5,000 black rhinos left in the wild. This number is don from 70,000 total in the 1970s and 500,000 total in the early 20th century. During the last century poaching and over-harvesting on legal hunts decimated their populations. It is estimated that about three rhinos are poached every day and approximately 1,215 were poached in 2014. When the average income of a person in the country is $1,700 a $360,000 sale of a rhino horn is very tempting and what leads to so many of these animals being killed. Their is high demand in China where it is a status symbol for the growing middle class and countries like Vietnam where many, incorrectly, believe that it cures cancer and hangovers. Demand in the Far East is currently a major driving force of many poaching activities due to false beliefs, traditional medicine, and increased wealth. One country in which most of these animals reside in is South Africa. South Africa has strict poaching laws, but not as strict as Botswana which allows law enforcement to shoot them on sight. South Africa relocated some rhinos there and to other nearby countries for protection. There are plans in the works to find the rhino an even safer home half-way around the world.
The future of rhino protection is Texas. the South African government has been working with the Exotic Wildlife Association to transport 1,000 rhinos to southern Texas where the brush land is comparable to southern Africa. The majority of the rhinos transplanted would be white rhino orphans.There is a lot of discussion going on between the Department of the Interior, the state of Texas, South Africa, and the EWA. to help ensure the safety of the rhinos the potential owners have to undergo background checks and build special enclosures for the rhinos. There is also talk of them having to meet zoo accreditation (not that that means much from the USDA). The DNA sequences of every rhino would be kept so that they could be tracked and recorded. There will also be microchips implanted into their horns. These rhinos would be very safe in Texas where they would not be hunted and when poaching has been stopped they will be returned to Africa. The EWA would also like to set up a breeding program for the future that would allow them to return even more animals to Africa in the future.
A step further than just bringing them to Texas is raising them like farm animals. Many of you may have the misconception that to take a rhinos horn it has to die but this is not true. A rhinos horn is made of keratin like your finger nails and hair; it grows back. A rhino can be sedated and the horn removed with no problems to the rhino. Poachers kill rhinos for their horns because it is easier than sedating them (and that is not how they think). There is one man in South Africa, John Hume, that raises over 800 rhinos and cuts off their horns with no problems. I recently spoke to a couple of people from South Africa and they too believe that farming is a practical future to help preserve rhinos.Currently the trade of rhino horn is illegal, on the black market one kilo of horn goes for $90,000. If trade was legalized it would allow people to raise rhinos and have a source of income by keeping them. The professor that spoke to us at school said that no animal that has ever been raised for profit has gone extinct, look at cows they are not going extinct any time soon. Captive raising of animals has been successful on other animals and even brought them back from extinction like the Père David's deer. Legal trade would also help fund more protection in South Africa's parks, who have stockpiled horns.
There are problems with farming or even moving them to Texas. The transportation costs are high and rhinos are not the best of travelers. Many of the ones being moved to Texas would still not be very old and would require bottle feeding which is a lot of work. All of the animals would have to undergo a quarantine period to be tested for diseases. Rhinos also need a lot of space and are expensive to care for. Some species of rhinos form small herds but many are solitary and do not like to be near others. Currently you cannot make money from the rhinos so you are basically just putting money into them to save the species.
I think moving them to Texas is a great first step and I think farming would be a novel way to try and save the rhinos. There would be a lot of effort put into keeping them around. You should also have to prove you own the animal through matching DNA of the animal and its horn to your records before you can sell any horn. The trade should be heavily regulated. I would love the opportunity to work with or raise rhinos and help save the species. I do not believe that we should reduce rhinos to a commodity. Farming and relocation should be required to return some animals to the wild when it is safe so that wild populations can be reestablished. If something is not done it is estimated rhinos will go extinct in the wild in the next five years. I lean towards supporting the legal trade of horn, but some of the stuff I have read keeps me from fully supporting it. I do think that raising them will help, but is it being done for profit or is it being done to help the rhinos. Those who have stockpiled horns want trade opened so that they can sell their horns claiming it will flood the market and push prices way down, but what about when all that horn is bought up? Are they doing it to make money or save the rhinos? I will remain on the fence until I know specifics and know that the have pure intentions. I do want them moved to Texas to have a safe haven and I also believe that South Africa and other countries need to crack down even harder on poaching and remove the permitted hunts. A lot can be done to help rhinos and every bit helps.
The future of rhino protection is Texas. the South African government has been working with the Exotic Wildlife Association to transport 1,000 rhinos to southern Texas where the brush land is comparable to southern Africa. The majority of the rhinos transplanted would be white rhino orphans.There is a lot of discussion going on between the Department of the Interior, the state of Texas, South Africa, and the EWA. to help ensure the safety of the rhinos the potential owners have to undergo background checks and build special enclosures for the rhinos. There is also talk of them having to meet zoo accreditation (not that that means much from the USDA). The DNA sequences of every rhino would be kept so that they could be tracked and recorded. There will also be microchips implanted into their horns. These rhinos would be very safe in Texas where they would not be hunted and when poaching has been stopped they will be returned to Africa. The EWA would also like to set up a breeding program for the future that would allow them to return even more animals to Africa in the future.
A step further than just bringing them to Texas is raising them like farm animals. Many of you may have the misconception that to take a rhinos horn it has to die but this is not true. A rhinos horn is made of keratin like your finger nails and hair; it grows back. A rhino can be sedated and the horn removed with no problems to the rhino. Poachers kill rhinos for their horns because it is easier than sedating them (and that is not how they think). There is one man in South Africa, John Hume, that raises over 800 rhinos and cuts off their horns with no problems. I recently spoke to a couple of people from South Africa and they too believe that farming is a practical future to help preserve rhinos.Currently the trade of rhino horn is illegal, on the black market one kilo of horn goes for $90,000. If trade was legalized it would allow people to raise rhinos and have a source of income by keeping them. The professor that spoke to us at school said that no animal that has ever been raised for profit has gone extinct, look at cows they are not going extinct any time soon. Captive raising of animals has been successful on other animals and even brought them back from extinction like the Père David's deer. Legal trade would also help fund more protection in South Africa's parks, who have stockpiled horns.
There are problems with farming or even moving them to Texas. The transportation costs are high and rhinos are not the best of travelers. Many of the ones being moved to Texas would still not be very old and would require bottle feeding which is a lot of work. All of the animals would have to undergo a quarantine period to be tested for diseases. Rhinos also need a lot of space and are expensive to care for. Some species of rhinos form small herds but many are solitary and do not like to be near others. Currently you cannot make money from the rhinos so you are basically just putting money into them to save the species.
I think moving them to Texas is a great first step and I think farming would be a novel way to try and save the rhinos. There would be a lot of effort put into keeping them around. You should also have to prove you own the animal through matching DNA of the animal and its horn to your records before you can sell any horn. The trade should be heavily regulated. I would love the opportunity to work with or raise rhinos and help save the species. I do not believe that we should reduce rhinos to a commodity. Farming and relocation should be required to return some animals to the wild when it is safe so that wild populations can be reestablished. If something is not done it is estimated rhinos will go extinct in the wild in the next five years. I lean towards supporting the legal trade of horn, but some of the stuff I have read keeps me from fully supporting it. I do think that raising them will help, but is it being done for profit or is it being done to help the rhinos. Those who have stockpiled horns want trade opened so that they can sell their horns claiming it will flood the market and push prices way down, but what about when all that horn is bought up? Are they doing it to make money or save the rhinos? I will remain on the fence until I know specifics and know that the have pure intentions. I do want them moved to Texas to have a safe haven and I also believe that South Africa and other countries need to crack down even harder on poaching and remove the permitted hunts. A lot can be done to help rhinos and every bit helps.
Articles
Endangered African Rhinos Might be Moving to Texas
1,000 Orphaned, Endangered Could Come to South Texas
Out of Africa?
Farming Rhinos
South Africa Consider Rhino Farming, Horn-Trading
Fight for Rhinos
Exotic Wildlife Association
Pictures
Rhino on Grass
Bottle Feeding Baby Rhino
3 Rhinos and Feeders
Rhinos and Feeders
P.S.
To me it seems that I flip-flopped towards the bottom. I think this was meant to happen. It is a truly challenging issue and If you stand firmly on one side or the other you may not be clearly seeing both sides of the argument. I truly do not know what to do, but I will continue to research and keep up with those trying to find a solution.
Wow, tough subject. Many reserves in South Africa do remove the horns for the animal's safety. When I was there, our vehicle was actually checked for poaching. There is no middle class in RSA, it's dirt poor, unlike most reading this can imagine. Or, you're wealthy. I like the idea of farming the rhino in Southern Texas.
ReplyDeleteManaging the sell of the horns is like legalizing drugs. Control the harvest and the price will go down. If the price goes down, the lure of easy money is removed. Maybe they should hire some of the poachers to help with the harvest. They will be less tempted to poach if they have a job.
ReplyDeleteThey have to think of something before the black or white rhinos are gone.
Awesome article, Justin! It really kept my attention. Living in South TX and having an acre of land, I would love to raise one! I would definitely at least contribute money to save them since you said they're expensive to raise. I think farming them is an excellent idea, but like you, I'm not sure about doing it for their horns. I suppose the farmers would need the revenue though to raise them unless a non-profit organization was started to save the rhinos. I'll look forward to an update on this important issue. Thanks for getting the word out!
ReplyDelete