In the July edition of Africa Geographic, Ian Michler exposed the poaching crisis devastating South Africa’s rhino population. 279 rhinos have been killed in 2011 alone. That’s approximately one rhino every 20 hours. What is the government doing? Environment minister, Edna Molewa, says they’re considering a moratorium on the trade of rhino horn, but “definitely not be before 2012”.
How many rhinos need to be killed before we recognise that this is an international crisis requiring our urgent attention?
We need to know who is using rhino horn and why. If South East Asian countries use powdered horn for traditional medicine, then there must be widespread education programmes to debunk these myths. The South African government, large conservation agencies and rhino owners, should pressure the UN and EU to get countries that provide markets for rhino horn committed to solutions. We can debate the merits of legalising trade and dehorning rhino for another decade.
But by then, there won’t be rhinos to save.
