A key additive
to the Sabi Sand treatments is an indelible pink dye which exposes the presence
of smuggled horns on airport scanners worldwide and warns consumers that the
ground-up product is hazardous.
Extensive
rhino horn poisoning to counter poaching upsurge
April 2013.
Toxic infusions are the latest weapon to counter the thriving industry of rhino
poaching in the big game areas adjoining South
Africa 's Kruger
Park .
Consumers can
become very ill
Consumers of the powdered horn inAsia risk
becoming seriously ill from ingesting a so-called "medicinal product"
which is now contaminated with a non-lethal chemical package. The 49,500
hectare Sabi Sand Wildtuin has launched the country's first large-scale
operation to toxify the horns of its rhinos, together with an indelible pink
dye which exposes the illegal contraband on airport scanners worldwide.
Consumers of the powdered horn in
Many world
famous safari properties on the border of the Kruger National Park
are engaged in a costly struggle against relentless rhino poaching. The Sabi
Sand Wildtuin Association of property owners this year will spend R6.5m on
security operations to intercept and head off the incursions - a budget
allocation which has tripled since 2008, when the crisis first came to the
fore. These defensive strategies, undertaken with the police and SA National
Parks (SANParks), are facing heavily armed and highly motivated gangs.
The poachers
themselves, the starting point of the criminal traffic inside and around the Kruger Park ,
receive a mere fraction of the R2-2.5m value of each horn from the syndicates
that plan the raids and export the material. Yet the size of their pay-offs in
the neighbouring low-income communities is ample enough to keep the poachers
safe from being identified.
Poaching stats
Intelligence is a prime asset in the escalating conflict. For this reason the numbers of rhino located in the area are kept confidential, as are the numbers lost to date. The national statistics are harrowing enough to the future of wildlife conservation and game tourism. The first spike in the incidence of rhino poaching was in 2008, when 88 animals were lost. This year more than double that number have been butchered in only the first three months.
Intelligence is a prime asset in the escalating conflict. For this reason the numbers of rhino located in the area are kept confidential, as are the numbers lost to date. The national statistics are harrowing enough to the future of wildlife conservation and game tourism. The first spike in the incidence of rhino poaching was in 2008, when 88 animals were lost. This year more than double that number have been butchered in only the first three months.
Lorinda Hern
of the Rhino Rescue Project, who has co-developed the ectoparasitacide
treatment since 2011, measuring the horns for research purposes while Brent
Leo-Smith assists.
The Sabi Sand
Wildtuin Association's game-changing toxification campaign is as much about
sending a message to the illegal trade worldwide as it is about rendering the
rhino horns inside its perimeter both worthless and hazardous as traditional
medicine.
Andrew Parker,
41, CEO of the SSWA, says that compromising the product is the most effective
deterrent to the illegal market.
A key additive
to the Sabi Sand treatments is an indelible pink dye which exposes the presence
of smuggled horns on airport scanners worldwide and warns consumers that the
ground-up product is hazardous.
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