It was a fairy tale ending when 33 lions rescued from circuses in Peru and Colombia were airlifted to a sanctuary in South Africa in May 2016. Setting foot on the sandy soil after years of abuse, they must have felt they were in paradise. Right from the start, two of the male lions, José […]
Tag: rhino horn
POLL: Should there be a total ban on trade in rhino horn?
September 22 was World Rhino Day. Rhinos were once widespread across Asia and Africa and even in Europe, where they are depicted on cave paintings. Today their situation is precarious. The world population of the northern white rhino now consists of three individuals. Sudan, the last surviving male, is now beyond breeding age. He and […]
South Africa’s First Legal Rhino Horn Auction Threatens Conservation Efforts
South Africa, home to the largest population of rhinos left on earth, could step up as a conservation leader in protecting these unique creatures. Instead, the country is hosting the first-ever online auction of rhino horns, which will take place this week. Thousands of rhinos have been ruthlessly killed by poachers to meet the demand […]
POLL: Should the illegal rhino horn trade be shut down?
How do you disrupt the illicit rhino horn supply chain from Africa to Asia? That’s the question spurring a new investigation into rhino horn trafficking in China and Vietnam undertaken by the Elephant Action League (EAL), a Los Angeles-based conservation NGO. Rhinos are being decimated by poaching. In South Africa, home to almost 80 percent […]
POLL: Should South Africa’s domestic trade in rhino horns be banned?
A rhino breeder in South Africa is planning an online auction of rhino horns to capitalise on a court ruling that opened the way to domestic trade despite an international ban imposed to curb poaching. The sale of rhino horns by breeder John Hume, to be held in August, will be used to “further fund […]
POLL: Should the sale of rhino horns be legalized?
A top court in South Africa just made it legal to trade in rhino horns within the country. The South African government, in 2009, imposed a moratorium that banned domestic trade in rhino horns. But after years of legal battle between commercial rhino breeders and the government’s Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), the constitutional court […]
POLL: Should zoos protect rhinos by removing their horns?
A Czech zoo has said it will use a chainsaw to remove the horns from its herd of rare rhinos after a brutal attack last week in a French zoo where poachers shot dead a white rhino and hacked off its horns. “It’s for the sake of rhino safety,” Andrea Jirousova, spokeswoman for the zoo […]
High price of rhino horn leaves bloody trail across the globe
On the black market it is reputedly worth more than its weight in gold or cocaine, and this week the lure of rhino horn brought the bloody business of poaching to a zoo near Paris. There, in the dead of night, criminals broke in, shot a white rhino called Vince three times in the head […]